If there is not some standard out there, we should, as a community, come up with something we are all familiar with. It seems we end up with different people every trip and may have our own smaller group signals are not universal. I'm suggesting we standardize it for the NW or at least review what's already in place.

 

Darren

 

Some hand signals: Arm, straight up over head means the line is in the center of the river. Similarly, the hand is vertical in front of the helmet brim, motioning from "me to you", which is what it means, the line is from you, straight to me. Arm at a 45 to the left or right is to the river left or river right of the direction the arm is pointing. A "T" or hand stuck out in the "stop' position means stop. Also, a clenched fist means stop. A fist on the bottom with a flat palm bouncing off of it to the left or right indicates a boof to the corresponding direction. As a 'scouter' it is a good idea to make sure the signals are being demostrated to the other boaters in a way that corresponds with their line of sight. In other words, if you are intending to give the 'boof to the river left' signal, make the motion so they see it that way. This about all I use. I've seen some others like "shallow/rocky" , "tight line". I guess the ever important "portage" is the index finger across the neck indicating a sliced throat.

 

All the other comments on the other hand, are all constructive. They are worthy of this forum and contribute to what should be a valid, ongoing discussion about safetey.

 

James sums it up fairly well, I think. I still maintain that you can hear the stress in a long burst (or two long bursts), and you can tell it's not a stressfull situation if you hear a quick chirp or two. Inflection. I mostly like to keep it that simple. To not try to make too much linguistics out of a whistle and mostly use it only as an attention getter:

-"Pay attention-look at me so I can comunicate with you"

-"PAY ATTENTION!! sh*t IS GOING DOWN!!! ALL EYES ON THE ACTION NOW!"

or, if you think it's needed in areas where you are out of sight, as you guys stated:

-"All clear"

To me those three different cominiques are all that should really be needed.

 

Hand signals: Really, I'm amazed that we don't talk about this stuff more. It can be important at any point on the river, regardless of the class rating in question. I won't put the energy into supposing why this stuff doesn't get discussed here. Maybe there aren't enough "core boaters" who post on the forums, self described or otherwise, but I digress..

 

Bret- it's great that you touched on a few. I checked out that video, and I thought Mr. Addison's hand signals were concise and good. A more unified and sophisticated form of what most or us use. There may be 10-15% of his signals that I wouldn't use the way he suggests, but overall he has it distilled down to a nice simple language.

 

One thing's for certain: whitewater is no place for the feeble minded.

 

What is wrong with all these people saying that I am risking my life?

 

James, to answer your question, I've never seen that technique employed, but I think it falls under the ol' 'point positive' rule that applies to creekers, river runners, and play boaters alike. You see something bad, point where the good line is. The only way I personally would do it different is if I motioned at pointed at something, while at the same time I shook my head 'No" and did the ol' "slashin' the neck" signal. But I've only done it a couple times. I try to keep things as simple and least confusing as I can.

 

Unless, Like Bret was saying, you are taking the time to describe the features in detail via hand signals, like the Addison video depicts. But then that's a whole other level of detail and everyone has to be on the same page. Best for people you paddle with all the time, and only used when you are running something long and complex, where time is critical and you really can't have everyone getting out to scout every single drop along the way.

 

Most of the time, if you just PLAN your trip, and get an early start, there should be PLENTY of TIME. If you have to hand signal with that much detail, it's safest for people to just get out and scout. Most of the runs in the Bennet Book are only about 5 miles long.