I thought I'd share a near drowning incident for everyone that happened back in the mid 1980's to me while tubing in a river.

My wife and I decided to join another couple to go tubing in a river near Deckers, Colorado. This little stretch has some great (but short) white water, then a bunch of very slow, lazy river. I promptly went and bought the orange life preservers that spin you face up in 0.05 seconds or less, then left them in my truck when everyone laughed at me. Strike one and two.

We shot through the rapids just fine, and while floating down the river in less than 2 feet of water, my tube was positioned such that I was meandering down the river head first, and everyone else had drifted about 100 yards ahead of me. Strike three.

My foot caught under a rock, my tube squirted out from under me like a watermelon seed, and I went down. Now I'm laying on my back with my legs folded under me because of that stuck foot, and the river is inexorably pushing down on my chest. All in less than 2 ft. of water. The only thing that saved me was that I was 22 or 23 and in very good shape. I was able to get upright enough (barely) to jerk my foot out of the hold it was in, this was after at least a minute or two of fighting the current with all my strength, fighting to keep my mouth above the water. Imagine kneeling on the ground with your legs together, all the way down to your ankles. Then, bending just at the knees, lower your head back to the ground, and using just your thighs, raise your entire body back up. I doubt that I could do that now...

This was in a part of the river that was so shallow and lazy, no one would ever hesitate to just walk right in.

That was the LAST time I EVER gave a @#$% what anyone ever thought of me and my gear. I've always been prepared from that moment on.

Glad you made it!
Swimming may be one of the most important survival skills of all. If you need to swim and can't you may be dead.

PFD's and helmets always feel lame until they save your life.

A lot of the dumb things we do are determined by peer pressure.

At least you learned your lesson. Sometimes Mother Nature likes to see if we're paying attention, I think. I hate to see people making similar mistakes all the time, until they're eligible for a Darwin Award.

Sue

Yes, glad you lived to tell the tale. Moving water is deceptively powerful (I'm sure many of us have stories to tell).

Your story illustrates how easy it is to be led astray by "groupthink."

As I get older, I find it's easier to ignore the chaff and do the right thing. Fashion be d****d.

Hm. Lucky. My river survival trip was just that: I slipped on some freakin granite, and in I went. King's River, up in the Sierra Nevada's. In July, so the melt off was wicked quick. After going over 3 or 4 waterfalls (it was hard to keep count while bouncing off boulders), I made it out.

Anyway, my point is, I had no lesson to learn besides: Stay off wet granite!

Even 15 years later, there isn't one piece of equipment that would have helped, besides maybe tying myself to a tree while on that lunch break. Sometimes survival is just dumb luck.

Glad you made it alright, with a lesson learned! That sounds like a classic foot entrapment, which is probably one of the more common water accidents around current. And also common with 'tubers in the summer.

When kayaking, we teach people not to stand in more than knee deep water, if they're coming back from an unintentional swim. Also while you're swimming, keep flat, whole body near the surface, and feet first so you can push off obstacles as needed.

All that gear is worth it.
Jason

Excellent story Sodak. It's a good thing you made it out. Even shallow, lazy water can be dangerous it seems.