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Our friend Monica Nigon takes us on an unplanned and exciting adventure down Pine Creek in Colorado. Paddling with one of the local young guns Monica dove head first down one of Colorado’s premier class V adventures in a ducky. Inflatable kayaking is often seen as a silly sport, but Monica and the team proved that it can be just as serious an adventure as whitewater rafting.
One of the biggest issues rafters face is leaky tubes. Generally, this has one of two causes: pin hole leaks or damaged / poorly maintained valves. Valves problems are by far one of the easiest issues to fix on a raft. The issues that we most commonly see are simply dirt and grime working their way into the valve stems and rubber stoppers. Another common problem for boats can be cracks and fractures in the boot of the valve leading to slow leaks. Occasionally the valve threads can get damaged leading to cracks deeper in the walls of the valve. These cracks can be difficult to assess without physically removing the valve to inspect it. In this video we’re taking a look at how to remove, inspect, and service your valves.
The WRSI Current Helmet (WRSI is an NRS brand) is probably one of the best all-around entry level whitewater helmets. The helmet was designed with a ton of safety features in mind at a reasonable price point. The helmet is a classic and a common sight on most rivers with the helmet having undergone a few notable design features over the years. Overall, for what’s included in this helmet it is a great mix of safety, comfort, and value.
In the world of helmets one size definitely does not fit all. Unfortunately helmet manufacturers are forced to make a very small variety of uniform sizes. NRS for instance typically only has 2 helmet shell sizes yet the average circumference rage of American heads is roughly between 21 and 25 inches. Partly there are built in adjustments in helmets, but what happens when my helmet doesn’t fit properly? We reached out to our friend Kristen at The River Store for some advice on how to properly fit a helmet.
Knowing how to effectively flip a raft can be one of the most crucial skills a boater can have. Practicing flip drills and training regularly helps keep you super sharp and ready for whatever the river throws at you. Because of this one of the requirements of the International Rafting Federation (IRF) Guide Training and Education (GTE) standards is the flip test. We want to challenge all of our boating friends out there to see if they can complete this challenge in less than 2 minutes.
The WWTC Classic 20m throw bag is an innovative waist throw bag has some amazing forward-thinking elements to it. Designed by Gaspar Goncz, who is a rescue 3 instructor, with input from our friend Mark Hirst, this throw bag is designed to meet the needs of swift water rescuers as well as follow the clean line principal. So far, I have bushwhacked through scouts, belayed a boat to put in, lined a ton of rapids, swam, and was stuck in a sieve all while using this bag. I feel like I have gotten some pretty good experience with this bag in a variety of scenarios and it definitely lives up to the hype. The bag gives you a lot of lower back coverage which I thought this was one of the best parts of the bag. Since I run a lot of creeky rivers, and I am prone to slipping on rock so I love having a lot of extra lower back coverage below my PFD. You can definitely tell that a lot of thought went into it and the general feel of the bag is super solid.
One of the highest utility pieces of gear a rafter has in their possession is their flip line. This line is one of the most essential pieces of gear because there are so many uses for it on the river: from tying up boats, to hanging gear, and of course righting a raft. Until recently flip lines have remained essentially the same since the 1970s. In this article we’re going to take a look at what flip lines are, how they are changing, and most importantly why the thoughts and techniques are changing around it.
The perimeter line is largely a utility line that is strung between 2 or more d-rings around the perimeter of your raft. In this piece we’ll be covering several uses, advantages, and some important thoughts for working with them.
At first our team was wondering what we could say about NRS straps that boaters don’t already know. Everyone has them, they are super ubiquitous, and we all use them for whatever…easy right? Well after talking to several boaters there’s a lot more to the strap game than meets the eye. What size straps should you use for an oar rig? How strong are they? Should we be using them for perimeter lines? What about flip lines? There’s actually a lot to the subject so we thought we’d take a crack at it.
People always ask me what I am using to capture shots from our trips so this article is going to dive into the Insta360 1R. This 360 degree action camera is designed as an entry level 360 action camera to compete with GoPro. Insta360 redesigned this camera to be more waterproof and shock resistant by incorporating better seals as well as enhanced stabilization.
The Aire Cub is the newest in the Aire line up built on their solid reputation for boat design. After talking with Aire about their design process a lot of thought and input went into creating a strong play boat for rafters. The Hyside Mini Max has long been the bench mark play boat and this boat is Aire’s answer to that niche in their product line. The boat is a light weight design with slightly diminishing tubes at 10.5 feet in length. It is pretty comparable in size to many other play boats on the market. Aire did a great job with the overall shape of the boat creating a raft with great stability for its class and fantastic acceleration.
Mark Hirst international rescue training instructor and International Rafting Federation’s guide training and education program board member shares some of his thoughts on if people are ever truly safe engaging in adventure sports like whitewater rafting.
Continuing our best rafting trips series we are heading to California to learn more about the Kern river. The Kern is an extremely popular river being the closest whitewater run to the Los Angeles Area. Just a 3 hour drive north is some of the best whitewater rafting in the Sierras.
Our friends at Mild to Wild Rafting shared some of Western Colorado’s best rafting trips. Several spectacular canyons carve their way through Western Colorado creating a wonderland for rafters. Durango Colorado Rafting trips offer adventures from class II to Class V. You can also find Multiday whitewater rafting trips in Colorado suitable for all ages.
Team Paddler JoshuaBlu recently hopped on an interview with Kokopelli Packrafts to discuss what being a athlete means to him. They also broke down some packrafting safety issues, what packrafting is all about, and why packrafting is important to him. JoshuaBlu also shared some of his thoughts on runs he has had his eye on for some time and the importance of knowing your gear inside and out. Check out the interview.
In this helpful how to guide, Team Paddler Tony Glassman, walks us through how he rigs his boat in an oar setup with a rowing frame configuration. He will be covering several important factors in how your oar rig should come together.
G-form produces a variety of impact protection devices that I will be covering in this article. Trevor will be reviewing the most important pieces of G-Form Protection to rafters: the G-Form Knee-Shin Pads and the Pro X-2 Elbow Guards. I also have been two secondary pieces that are extremely useful, The Pro-X Compression Shorts and Pro-X Compression Shirt.
In this episode Trevor sits down with Joel Wenblad to discuss his recent descent of Yule Creek as well as learn more about the mind of a class V boater. Joel, along with his friend Casey Vandenbroek took on a massive unrun section of river near Marble, Colorado. We wanted to learn more about what drives an extreme athlete like Joel to take on these expeditions. What kind of planning, preparation, and thinking goes into running some of the steepest and most difficult rapids? Why would rafters want to take this type of rafting trip on, and what do they do to prepare for these adventures physically and mentally? Find out in this interview with Joel.
International boater Messa Rasmussen joins us to talk about her experiences and progression as a boater. From rafting the Daily Section of the Colorado to paddling the Maranon River in Peru during her second season as a boater Messa reflects on ways to improve your skills while keeping yourself moving in a positive direction. She also has some great insight for other female boaters on how to improve your technique as well as how to keep your mind in a positive place.
Sean Clarke from the International Rafting Federation (IRF) joins Trevor for a discussion on the importance of training standards. Sean also shares his thoughts with us on why we need to have standards, accidents, the IRF Guide Training and Education (GTE) Standards, and well as the IRF's vision for the future of professional raft guiding.
