So, I've been in situations where we didnt have the proper equipment, and we made it work, but I'm generally asking if everyone, at all times, carries a rope and other assorted gear on, let us say, class IV and/or below rivers. These are generally runs where scouting does not occur that often, and safety is never set. What is your take on at least making sure some person has a rope (or a fraction of the group have theirs), and making sure those who know the run and have such equipment are paying attention to the rest of the group?

I ask this because though I'm just getting my feet wet in WA WW, back east we usually didn't carry ropes on the local cl IV run because we never set safety (no need), and there was a generous recoverey area after any point where swims would occur. Funny that we did carry them on non stop wave train high flow cl II, though.

Anyway, for the more general runs, what are people equipping themselves with, and why? I know the few shots at paddling I've had out here are non-critical, and that more committed runs would warrant extra precautions, but what are personal opinions on such gear on 'intermediate' runs with people you know can handle the situations? I'm not saying never carry a rope or some other gear, at least make sure there is a rope or two in the crew. Is the scene too informal to create 'point, pack, and sweep' duties?

I am in no way advocating that safety gear should be discarded, forgot to mention that.

I do know that in a playboat, a soaked bag of rope throws the weight balance off, and that ropes are useful for the people who have them-not useful for the people who will likely need them (you can't throw yourself a rope).

When I was sixteen, a friend and I got a Royalex canoe stuck in a chute on the Hollow River in Ottawa, some unnamed rapid, and I saw the water pile in, pressure build, and rip the bow open. Last year, on class II low flow, I had a couple in a charter group I was guiding for get a canoe pinned on a rock (I think the flow was something below 100cfs). Other stories, too.

Once again, not advocating dismissal of rescue gear, but rather, musing as to our communication about who has what, where we should be with it, and why.

Obviously, heavy creeking situations call for all precautions, but that's not what I'm aiming at. What do you normally bring on intermediate and below runs, and how much do you communicate with people in your group about how to run the reach?

As far as protocols and group dynamics, for a whole host of reasons that is a much more difficult thing to try to standardize. The basic rule of thumb that every boater should ALWAYS have a t-bag is an easy one to throw out as a standard. Its also easy to chime in with inuendos centered around the word "t-bag".

But there are so many types of boaters who interact with the river on many varying levels in many ways with widely varying skill sets, experience levels, group dynamics, diverse water craft other than hardshell kayaks,ect.

With this diverse tapestry in mind, I think it is safe to assert a few basic broad generalities:

- We All should be keenly aware of one another and at the very least watching out for each other. Obviously each member in your party should ideally be within line of sight as much as possible. Suitably tight spacing (not being spread out over 1/4 mile intervals for example) facillitates this best. But this is tough to maintain on swift continuous creeks in this region when boaters a) don't pay attention to anyone and b) haven't cultivated the skill to catch some of the random eddies around here.

- even the most unlikely participant in a rescue (such as the "weakest link") has an obligation to make themselves available to aid in a rescue to the extent possible, even if it means only staying out of trouble themselves. These paddlers can often be seen blowing by their group and continuing downstream as if they are running solo. They need to eddy out as soon as they find themselves at the bottom of a rapid ahead of those they showed up at the put in to follow. Eddy out. I know, its tough on these continuous creeks thats why peeps need to focus on their core fundementals way before tackling Class IV in Wa.

-communication about any issues or concerns related to any aspects of the group's safety should be expressed, and for this to be free to occur, a culture needs to support this virtue, and groups need to listen when a member voices concerns or ideas related to preventing accidents. Traditionally the whole group would scout as a group, for example, if the weakest members of the group needed to scout. This practice has fallen by the wayside in the current era in the interest of expiditing the whole process of running a garden variety run. But scouting as a group, keep in mind, can be a good opportunity to facillitate the kind of communication we are talking about here. It still may be an optional tactic, considered unnecessary by most, but a tactic that can be consciously employed, nonetheless.

Lastly and perhaps most importantly:

- Each group on most river trips should have, however informal, however loosely assembled or acknowledged, some sort of recognized sense of who the basic leadership achetypes among the group are. It shouldn't need to be verbalized all the time, it should be obvious, based on experience and skill, combined in some way with those most familiar with the run being paddled by the group. When less experienced participants drown out the considerations and voicings of those with clearly more experience, they undermine the effectiveness of the whole group.

Any details beyond that widely vary based on any number of interchangeable factors. Suffice it to say that I think WW culture is loose and sloppy in this regard, and often has been in the three decades I've been on the river. But there are always exceptions. That's just my opinion and it doesn't make me feel less safe so much as it adds inefficiencies to the whole trip which detract from my enjoyment more often then they threaten anyone's safety. But ask the novice who gets the short end of the stick during sloppily or complacently executed rescues: while their safety may not be threatened, their PERCIEVED safety often is, which erodes their confidence in their so-called leaders. sh*t tends to work out, but often after some gets colder than they needed to be, or maybe freaked out.

Damn. Past my bed time. Dude was that even helpful at all? The bottom line is we live in a very very informal WW age. What I outlined is weighted more towards the formal strictly meant to be considered within the... Acedemic context of this forum, but realizing that the real world circumstances are often entirely different. I believe that these sort of acedemic considerations can be weighed against real world situations and help us consciously direct ourselves out there based on the case by case circumstances at hand. I hope more of the fixtures of this forum weigh in with their own thoughts regarding your posts.

Great topic!

A little old data that might interest some...   
Whitewater kayaking fatalities were higher than the overall whitewater fatality rate with 2.9 fatalities in 1998 per 100,000 participants. In comparison with other common activities kayaking appears to be relatively safe: scuba diving (3.5), mountaineering (3.2), or driving a passenger vehicle (15.2).
this was taken from:
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Article/view/articleid/1615/display/full/