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Thread: Water survival and how to avoid drowning

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    Resident Wildman Wildthang's Avatar
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    Default Water survival and how to avoid drowning

    I don't remember ever seeing this specific topic on here, and thought we might come up with some interesting tips and stories on the subject of drowning.
    I have only came close to drowning once on Matagorda beach on the east coast of Texas. I was around 25 years old then, and had never swam in the ocean before. My wife hadn't either since we were both from Oklahoma where there are no beaches or oceans.
    She was floating and bobbing around about 100 feet off the shore line, and I was on the beach with my son. I noticed that she kept going farther and farther away from the beach, and figured that maybe she was just paddling out farther. In a few minutes she had gotten way out there, maybe 200 yards or so, and I knew something wasn't right.
    I told Brad to stay on the beach, and I swam out to her. She did not have a clue that she was being pulled out to sea by undertow. I didn't know about undertow either, but I could feel it and knew at that point we both up a creek without a paddle.
    I told her that we were getting ready to drown, and told her to start helping me paddle so we could get back to the beach, and of course she just panicked and started crying. I grabbed her and started trying to pull her back to the beach. Swimiing was getting me nowhere, but when the waves went out, I could still touch bottom so I would pull her as far as I could until the waves lifted us off the bottom, and then it would pull us back out for a distance. I kept doing that until I finally got us back to shore, but I barely made it and was so tired I dropped to the sand as soon as we got back on the beach.
    Nobody had ever told me to just go out so far and swim parallel to the shore line until I was out of the undertow, and then just swim back in. We came very close to drowning that day, an the lack of knowledge almost cut our lives short.

    So lets share our stories and knowledge on drowning avoidance, and how we got out of a bad situation! There are many ways to die in the water fromm canoe accidents, swift water rapids, freezing water accidents, falling through the ice, and so many more cases where water can take your life!


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    I am a wimp. Once i went white water rafting and they told us, if you fall out and try to stand up, you will drown if your foot gets ledged in a rock because the rapid will push you down. I fell out and remembered that with my heart racing and lied on my bak and let the rapids carry me to a shallow calm pool. Also, had a snorkeling incident once (long story). I do not play in the water. If I go to the ocean, I will only go in the water in a calm area. If you see waves, you can have an undertow.

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Lot of my water experiences are and have been lakes and rivers, canoeing, boating, hunting.......

    I have gotten caught in a current flowing under trees and logs in fast moving rivers, and banged around on rocks and brush in white water.

    A real possibility of panic drowning is swamping hip boots and waders, or getting stuck in a deep muddy bottom..

    It's important to remember that even if everything is wet, including wader or hip boots, your buoyancy is less than dry, but equal to the water you are in.
    We, hunting buddies and I, actually tried swimming in all our duck hunting gear, in the summer when the water was a little less cold....and tried the canoe swamp and flip, for practice.

    You would be surprised if you don't panic how buoyant you are, but a PFD is very helpful,id not essential and the right one will also help keep your core warm if wet.

    Panic is a killer.

    Lake Michigan is right here, been boating and sailing many times, but I gotta tell ya, I'm a small water guy.........
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    grew up around water... A couple things to help 1) always start crossing above where you want to land when crossing rivers and streams with strong currents and /or require swimming.. with riding and pack stock start by loosening their cinches so they can fill their lungs with air also on pack stock loosen their load ropes also. 2) keep their heads pointed up river when swimming stock as this will help prevent them rolling over.. 3) when trapping beaver under Ice ( or traveling on ice ) keeep a pole 10-12 ft. long so that when you go thru the ice you can bridge the hole with your pole. This will also prevent you from being swept under the ice on rivers and fast moving streams. Hope this helps
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    One step at a time intothenew's Avatar
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    One area that claims a disproportionate amount of lives here, is not the calm lakes, or the rapids in the rivers. It's some of the calm sections in the rivers. Mainly plant material drops out and builds a bed, decomposition produces gases which are trapped. Wade fishing and step on a bed of it, and allow the gases to escape, and it feels like you are falling out of the sky. You can't swim in CO2, and a PFD does little good for the initial "fall". It happens so fast you have no time to react. Without a PFD, it's lights out. With a PFD it's cough, hack, gag, snot..........you get the picture.

    Careful where the pool first starts, out of the main current, that is typically where the majority of debris falls. Inside corners are always suspect too.
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    When I lived in CA when I was in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade, I got caught in a riptide all the time. But, I just swam on my back and made it back no problem. You should be able to swim on your back for a long time, without getting tired.
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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by finallyME View Post
    When I lived in CA when I was in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade, I got caught in a riptide all the time. But, I just swam on my back and made it back no problem. You should be able to swim on your back for a long time, without getting tired.
    That's how I got my "Mile swim" badge in Boy Scouts.....friends made fun of me as they took of at a fast "crawl".......They rode in the boat for most of the way watching me complete the swim.....could have gone a lot longer, ......but did get cold.....Leader made us run all the way back.....at the time I thought he was just being an bass-hole.....Now I know better.....LOL
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    We get a lot of rip currents here. With that, and the amount of tourists that come to our beaches that are not familiar with them we see quite a few deaths each year from them. Sadly, there is often more than one because another member of the family will attempt a rescue and get caught up much like WT talked about.
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    I'm probably just saying something everyone knows, but it's better to swim parallel to the shore and only slightly aim inland when escaping a riptide, because you won't have to fight as hard. Likewise, falling in a river should be remedied by swimming across without fighting the current. Aiming for one spot on the bank makes you tire a lot faster, which is dangerous on long or cold crossings. I have less experience with riptides, but I have had experience with rivers.
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    Quote Originally Posted by intothenew View Post
    One area that claims a disproportionate amount of lives here, is not the calm lakes, or the rapids in the rivers. It's some of the calm sections in the rivers. Mainly plant material drops out and builds a bed, decomposition produces gases which are trapped. Wade fishing and step on a bed of it, and allow the gases to escape, and it feels like you are falling out of the sky. You can't swim in CO2, and a PFD does little good for the initial "fall". It happens so fast you have no time to react. Without a PFD, it's lights out. With a PFD it's cough, hack, gag, snot..........you get the picture.

    Careful where the pool first starts, out of the main current, that is typically where the majority of debris falls. Inside corners are always suspect too.
    Whoa! They have soem lakes in africa that release large amounts of CO2 all at onme time. In the US, that is a new one to me. Seems this is an excellent thread, no one would have thought ofthat one.

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    +1 on what wildgarlic said about the white water rafting. i live close to the ocoee river. they make you watch a video and sign a waiver before rafting with an outfitter. if you fall out remain as calm as possible. lie on your back. point your legs down river and NEVER EVER EVER EVER STAND UP. you can catch your foot in a crevace and the weight and current will break your leg and hold you down. pull your knees towards your chest a little and try to use your feet to push off boulders as you come to them. and hopefully you are wearing a helmet. if you are lucky enough to still be holding your paddle you can use it to help to help push away from rocks too. use your arms or paddle to help navigate yourself to a safe spot on the shore or a calm eddie. only stand up when you butt touches the bottom and your are able to just sit there.

    also if it floods in your area. DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED AREAS. 6 inches of water can float a small passenger car away. 6 inches is the length of a dollar bill. DO NOT WALK IN FLOOD WATERS THAT ARE MOVING. i believe water up to your ankles or shins that is moving about 2 mph can knock you down. and please don't see the flood waters as an opportune time to play in it with your kayak or canoe. and don't let your small children play in overflowing ditches in front of your house. it takes very little for them to get swept into the culvert. the force of the water can suck them in and it is extremely difficult to pull someone out.

    we had 2 guys here in a chattanooga a few years ago bet each other that they could swim across a concrete drainage canal.it had just rained several inches and it was flooded and moving fast. well the first guy somehow made it across. so the other guy went. he didn't make it. the water swept him down through canal. somehow his body went through several grates. they found most of him about a mile-ish down the drainage canal from where they were a few days later.

    one day i would like to take a swift water rescue course. my dad has 11th and 12th commandments that moses needs to add.

    11. thou shalt wear a lifejacket at all times while in his boat.
    12. thou shalt wear a seatbelt at all times while in his car.
    and above all else use your best judgement when it comes to water hazzards

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    Quote Originally Posted by SQWERL View Post
    DO NOT WALK IN FLOOD WATERS THAT ARE MOVING. i believe water up to your ankles or shins that is moving about 2 mph can knock you down. and please don't see the flood waters as an opportune time to play in it with your kayak or canoe. and don't let your small children play in overflowing ditches in front of your house. it takes very little for them to get swept into the culvert. the force of the water can suck them in and it is extremely difficult to pull someone out.
    That happened to my dad when he was a kid. Thankfully he was okay, but he's had severe claustrophobia ever since.
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    If you go through ice into deep water keep your head up and don’t lose sight of the hole. If you get caught in a white water eddy struggling can keep you trapped. It’s often better to go limp and let the current pop you out.

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    Resident Wildman Wildthang's Avatar
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    If you run off the road into deep water in a car, roll down the windows before the car sinks below the top of the doors. The pressure differential can prevent you from opening the doors if the windows are up. And most electric windows do not like operating under water! It is wise to carry an emergency glass break tool that will pop the glass easily, there are several sold on line.

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    Yada,yada,yada. It's very easy to survive water.

    Be one with the water, do not fight the currents......go with the flow. Fight the current and drown.

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    As a former lifeguard aand rescue diver, I can add there is plenty to know about the various water environments, so I would advise some training for whatever water activities you are going to be involved in. Flotation devices, or for scuba bouyancy devices, are critical. First aid training including CPR and Oxygen training are helpful as well.

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    Senior Member Daniel Nighteyes's Avatar
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    Excellent thread.

    Excellent advice.

    In summary, "think before you act," and "learn what to do beforehand."

    -- Nighteyes
    Last edited by Daniel Nighteyes; 01-25-2013 at 05:17 PM.

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    Senior Member PineMartyn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Blade View Post
    Yada,yada,yada. It's very easy to survive water.
    Be one with the water, do not fight the currents......go with the flow. Fight the current and drown.
    This is potentially deadly advice. One of the early lessons when learning how to paddle in moving water is how to "read the water" or "read the rapids". There are conditions when one wants to simply go with the flow and not fight the currents and conditions where doing that will positively drown you.

    For instance, if you fall into moving water and find yourself in a souse hole, you will not get out by going with the current, not before drowning. A souse hole or 'keeper' is a water turbulence pattern in a rapid where the water currents circulate objects within them, in a kind of tumbling pattern, rather like a front-loading washing machine. Objects that end up in a souse hole just roll around in them, sometimes for hours or days, be it a log or person. When one is swept into a 'keeper' (as they are also called) one must strive to swim down to the bottom of the river against the current that is trying to roll you up and down in a circle. When a person is swept into a keeper, his or her body can can be tumbled around for days until pulverized. Fortunately, there is a way to distinguish a souse hole from similar turbulence formations that will eject you after tumbling you over only a few times (non-keepers), and these can be discerned upstream so one might be able to avoid the keepers.

    A much more common scenario when one does not want to go with the current is to avoid being pinned or trapped in an eddy at the outside of a sharp bend in a river. One can be repeatedly battered against rocky shores unless one uses every ounce of strength to swim against the currents that will tend to push you to the outside of a bend.

    And even more common scenarios is what are called strainers or sweepers. These are fallen trees which span part of a river (almost always near outside bends where faster currents erode shorelines and cause trees to fall into the water), and if you have the misfortune of letting yourself go with the current, you'll be swept right into these. When pinned against a strainer or sweeper with the weight of current pushing you into it, you can be impaled, but most commonly people drown because they can't get unpinned. If you're in moving water and you see a strainer or sweeper ahead, swim across the current as hard as you can to try not to get pinned or entrapped in it. The only exception to that is if there is a souse hole or a deadly drop off beyond, in which case...go for the strainer in the hopes that you can stop yourself before being swept into something deadlier.

    There are many other moving water situations where going with the current will simply get you hurt or drowned. One can't just glibly recommend going with the current. Some currents will carry you to safety and some will carry you to destruction.

    Hope this helps,
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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    True story, Quick version
    Young boy (10 or so) riding a home made raft, down a fast moving creek in the spring melt, raft got sucked down under a large log, a last minute jump/dive landed me pretty much on the log.....so was able scramble out, and to walk away.

    30+ years later a friend was cleaning out the creek, was starting a canoe float trip passage.........pulled out that raft, had been stuck under that log all that time.
    Had to call me to come take a look.....did it ever seem small.......
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    Default Some tips to avoid drowning when walking on ice.

    Since it's winter, I should mention a bit of safety gear that can save your life when crossing ice.

    Pictured below are 'ice claws'. For winter trekking across frozen water, they are a must-have. They are carried in one's coat pocket until one comes to a frozen body of water. Before setting out onto the ice ones wears the string behind one's neck and holds an ice claw in each hand. If you should break through the ice, these can be used to help you climb back out onto ice by jamming the steel point into the ice or frozen snow cover, effectively clawing your way out. They are especially important if you're crossing a river, as current can carry your legs or body along and make it impossible for you to get or stay in the position you need to be to climb out. With ice claws in hand, you can hold yourself in a fixed position, reposition yourself better to help yourself get your legs up, etc.

    Some companies manufacture and sell these (eg: the "Pick of Life"), but you can also make them out of an old broken hockey stick, which is what we did when I was a kid. The one's shown in the photo below (not mine, by the way) allow you to interlock them for safe carrying in your pocket when you're not on the ice so as not accidentally poke yourself or your gear when you don't need to wear them.

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    To make these, just cut the hockey stick handle to the desired length (2 pieces),
    Drill a small pilot hole into the end of each piece. Pound a heavy nail into each hole, leaving about an inch of the nail sticking out.
    Use a hacksaw to cut off the nail heads, then use a rasp or file to sharpen the exposed nails to a point.
    Drill holes through the opposite ends of the pieces of wood so you can thread a cord through them. This is important. You have to wear these around you neck when you're crossing ice. They're no good sitting in a pocket or pack.
    You can also glue and screw a small square of the hockey stick to the sides, as shown in the photo above, and then drill a hole in that part to receive the nail from the opposite ice claw.

    I don't venture out onto ice without them.

    In a survival situation where you found yourself without such a precaution and you had to cross ice, the next best precaution to avoid drowning or hypothermia from a full immersion is to carry a long sturdy pole and walk while holding it horizontally, like a tight-rope walker's balancing pole, but firmly gripped. Should you break through the ice, the pole can prevent you from falling right through and keep you partially out of the water and will help you climb out. If you're with another person, he or she could extend his or her own pole out to you for you to grab onto and use it to help pull you out.

    One last basic tip for crossing frozen bodies of water: People often attempt crossings where the body of water is narrowest in order to get across quickly, but where lakes, rivers, streams and other frozen bodies narrow is precisely where it's most dangerous. Narrows are constriction points, where the water tends to speed up, resulting in thinner ice. You may have noticed that such junctures between lakes or narrowings in rivers and creeks often freeze up last, are the first to thaw, or may not freeze up at all. These are very unsafe places to cross. It is counter-intuitive, but crossing where a water body is wide is usually much safer.

    Hope this helps,
    - Martin
    No one has ever been heard to say on a deathbed, "I wish I'd put in more time at the office."

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