Waders Danger question

Just curious, what happens if one accidentally gets in too deep and your
waders fill up with water?
I haven't been there yet, but it's crossed my mind if it happens. Sounds
like it could be a dangerous situation....not a great swimmer here.

I'll also pick up an wading staff from what I've been reading here, that ski
pole sounds like a great idea.

-tom

Tom Nakashima wrote:

Just curious, what happens if one accidentally gets in too deep and your
waders fill up with water? ...

Roll over on your back, point your feet downstream and backstroke
toward shore as quickly as possible. If you're wearing a wading
belt, and you should be, you probably won't drown. Some folks
like SOSpenders: http://www.sospenders.com/

--
Ken Fortenberry

Tom Nakashima wrote:
Just curious, what happens if one accidentally gets in too deep and
your waders fill up with water?
I haven't been there yet, but it's crossed my mind if it happens.
Sounds like it could be a dangerous situation....not a great swimmer
here.

I'll also pick up an wading staff from what I've been reading here,
that ski pole sounds like a great idea.

This is a fairly concise list: http://www.flygirls.ws/wadingtips.html
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Tom Nakashima wrote:
Just curious, what happens if one accidentally gets in too deep and
your
waders fill up with water?
I haven't been there yet, but it's crossed my mind if it happens.
Sounds
like it could be a dangerous situation....not a great swimmer here.

I'll also pick up an wading staff from what I've been reading here,
that ski
pole sounds like a great idea.

-tom

I'm a reckless wader--I go down 2-3 (or more) times per year, going
on 40 years now. Sometimes I wear a belt. Usually I forget.
The important thing is to enjoy the swim, keep your feet up
and pointed downstream and go with the flow. If you fight the
current and panic, you're dead. The only really dangerous
obstacles are log jams. They can do you in quickly. That's why
it's important to keep your feet up near the surface and pointed
downstream. Most of the time you have fun ride, until the river
takes you to shallow water, where you can stand up.....and laugh
or curse, according to your inclination.

Neoprene will keep you warm enough to avoid hypothermia, even
in cold weather. Don't use breathable waders in October.
When it's cold, hypothermia will kill you faster than the
water.

Tom Nakashima wrote:
Just curious, what happens if one accidentally gets in too deep and your
waders fill up with water?
I haven't been there yet, but it's crossed my mind if it happens. Sounds
like it could be a dangerous situation....not a great swimmer here.

You get cold and wet, and probably ruin your camera. Some people claim
that you must wear a wading belt for safety. Lee Wulff disagreed, and
jumped in a river with no wading belt to prove it. If I recall
correctly, he claimed that wearing a wading belt is MORE dangerous,
because the air trapped in your legs could prevent you from holding your
head above water. Nevertheless, I wear a belt. It holds my collapsible
wading staff, which is a lot more convenient than a ski pole.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"Tom Nakashima" wrote in message
...
Just curious, what happens if one accidentally gets in too deep and your
waders fill up with water?
---clipped a bit---
Tom here is a link to an article about waders and safety:

http://www.sexyloops.com/articles/killerwader.shtml

Padishar Creel

"Tom Nakashima" wrote in message
...
Just curious, what happens if one accidentally gets in too deep and your
waders fill up with water?
I haven't been there yet, but it's crossed my mind if it happens. Sounds
like it could be a dangerous situation....not a great swimmer here.

I'll also pick up an wading staff from what I've been reading here, that
ski
pole sounds like a great idea.

-tom


I'm assuming that you are talking about not wearing a wading belt?

The popular mythology is that your waders will fill with water, the weight
will drag you down, and just before you drown you will see a *monster* trout
laughing at you. Bulltookey.

The reality (verified from watching some videos at Mike Connor's house last
summer) is that you will have waders full of water, just like your shirt,
vest, ears and hair will be full of water. This really poses no problem at
all as long as you are floating along with the current. It might make it a
bit cramped to kick your legs and do a modified doggy paddle, but for the
most part, they will only act like a really wet pair of pants.

The problem arises when you try to grab on to some brush on the riverbank,
and the waders catch the moving water like a big parachute and continue to
drag you downstream. Or if you try to stand up and walk in shallow water:
the full waders will make your legs weigh about 500 pounds and you will
stumble, fall, and get dragged back into the water. As a result, you should
NEVER try to grab branches and hang on, or try to stand up in shallow water.
The best bet is to try to sidestroke over to the shore, crawl out on your
hands and knees, and lay on your back with your feet in the air to drain
your waders.

But you will not sink. Waders, when full of water, are neutral buoyancy, so
they don't affect your floatability in any way.

OTOH, if you wear a wading belt, your waders will be full of air, and waders
that are full of air are very powerful POSITIVE buoyancy, so your legs will
try to float up to the top like a cork. And that can be a problem.

The problem in that is if you do not keep your legs extended, then your body
will want to flip over with your head down and your legs up. If you keep
your legs extended, the bouyancy in your upper torso will keep your head and
chest afloat, while your waders keep your legs afloat. Getting your feet
back under you to stand up in the shallows will be pretty gymnastic, so
don't try it until you are in the shallows. But if you manage to grab an
overhanging branch as you are getting swept downstream, you will be able to
get to shore that way.

SO to summarize:
IF YOU WEAR A WADING BELT: Keep your legs extended to prevent 'flipping
over'. Backpaddle with your arms while you lay on your back (to keep your
feet between your head and the rocks), float downstream tracking towards
shore with a backstroke. If you manage to grab an overhanging branch, thats
OK, but its better to aim for a clear shoreline to avoid getting snarled in
a tree. Once you reach the shallows, get your feet down and under you, stand
up and get out of the water, go home, and buy some new gear.

IF YOU DO NOT WEAR A WADING BELT: Keep your legs extended to prevent
'flipping over'. Backpaddle with your arms while you lay on your back (to
keep your feet between your head and the rocks), float downstream tracking
towards the shallows with a backpaddle. Expect the current to resist this,
so don't panic. If you manage to get near an overhanging branch, do NOT grab
it!! Your way out is to get into the shallows, then crawl out on your hands
and knees. Once you are out, lay on your back, raise your legs to drain
them, go home, and buy some new gear.

Thanks for the reminder. I think I'm going to go home right now, get my
waders, and go hop in the swimming pool to experiment with wading belt vs.
no wading belt. Look for a TR tomorrow.

--riverman

"Tom Nakashima" wrote in message
...
Just curious, what happens if one accidentally gets in too deep and your
waders fill up with water?
I haven't been there yet, but it's crossed my mind if it happens. Sounds
like it could be a dangerous situation....not a great swimmer here.

I'll also pick up an wading staff from what I've been reading here, that
ski
pole sounds like a great idea.

-tom


I just heard that a friend of mine recently was in a drift boat that took a
huge roller over the bow, swamped the boat, and threw all 3 people in the
boat out. My friend was wearing waders, without a wading belt. He tried to
swim to shore but his waders filled with water and he went down. luckily,
one of the other passengers was not wearing waders and had made it to shore.
She saw my friend in trouble and swam out and got him ( for some distance
below the chute the water turns into a deep slow moving pool). Apparently
they lost the boat, all their gear, and damn near cost my friend his life.
I'm starting to think seriously about the Sospenders and I'm much more
cognizant of wearing my wading belt.

I know the stretch of water they were on, its fairly flat and calm with no
real challenges to even a beginner boatsman, except for one chute between a
couple of rock walls that isn't much more than one boat length (if you
recall the eagle sighting I reported earlier this year it was exactly the
same float probably less than a month before this happened.)-. Somebody
drowns there every year. The stupid thing is, there is a takeout maybe 400
yd. above the chute and one just below the chute.

jh

Since water is of neutral bouyance, it will not pull you down. IF you do
not panic, and roll onto the beach, you shouldn't have too much of a
problem. The neoprenes should increase your bouyancy, since they contain
air. Scuba divers use additional weight to compensate for the bouyancy of
their wetsuits. The problem comes when you try to swin with a really big
rudder, and when you try to get out of the water. If you have neoprenes,
they stretch and will hold 400 to 500 pounds of water. A belt is supposed to
restrict the stretching, not to keep the water out. The problem is not
quite so severe with breathables since they will not stretch.

--


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"Tom Nakashima" wrote in message
...
Just curious, what happens if one accidentally gets in too deep and your
waders fill up with water?
I haven't been there yet, but it's crossed my mind if it happens. Sounds
like it could be a dangerous situation....not a great swimmer here.

I'll also pick up an wading staff from what I've been reading here, that
ski
pole sounds like a great idea.

-tom

"Sierra fisher" wrote in
:

Since water is of neutral bouyance, it will not pull you down. IF you
do not panic, and roll onto the beach, you shouldn't have too much of
a problem. The neoprenes should increase your bouyancy, since they
contain air. Scuba divers use additional weight to compensate for the
bouyancy of their wetsuits. The problem comes when you try to swin
with a really big rudder, and when you try to get out of the water.
If you have neoprenes, they stretch and will hold 400 to 500 pounds of
water. A belt is supposed to restrict the stretching, not to keep the
water out. The problem is not quite so severe with breathables since
they will not stretch.

--


Water in your waders increases your surface area, and the current will have
an easier time pushing you around (including under water, if a current
wants to suck you down). Also, if you try to move a wader leg that's full
of water, it will be harder to move simply because you're moving more
weight. You lose agility at a time when you can least afford to lose it.

I find that water infiltrates my loose-fitting breathables more easily than
a snugger-fitting neoprene.

Bottom line, wear a belt, consider a flotation device, and wade very
cautiously and conservatively if you're not a strong swimmer or if you lean
toward panic when dunked.

Scott