Yesterday I was invited to watch the firefighters practice their rescue techniques down at the "refurbished" dam. This is the first time they have had to really practice there as now the dam is far more appealing to white water enthusiasts They were using a Zodiac motorized raft/trailer outfit pulled behind one of their utility pickups. This looked pretty neat, but it was what was inside the rescue rig that caught my eye. While they were unloading their gear, I was presented with great oppportunity to snoop through some of their rescue devices. They had stacks of PFD's, helmets, throw ropes and long snare poles all properly stowed on a rack above the Zodiac trailer. Underneath all the typical rescue stuff was a bright orange frisbee. It was about two inches thick and 18 inches across, with about 75 feet of 1/4 inch poly rope strung around a deep groove on the side. The firefighters would take turns throwing and rewinding this disc. Most guys could chuck it a lot farther than they could lob the throw ropes. Their was an older guy who said "well, I was never much for Frisbees - but if the Chief says I have to know how to use it..." It was really slick how smoothly the disc flew, uncoiling as it went, the disc was rather large, I can imagine a person leaning on it like a boogie board in the current. When step back and evaluate it I see that it would be too big for continual service on decked boats, as throw ropes take up much less space on board. This device looks great, but the rope is obviously not thick enough to handle rescues in heavy currents. However, it would be great for an onshore rescue rig for swimmers and boaters in distress close to shore. I think back to Bill Nealy's book - Advanced Whitewater Techniques and I always laugh when I read the part about good victims and bad victims. I imagine pegging a really bad victim in the face would humor me more than merely hitting them with a soft bag. As in frisbee, you could blame the wind for any discrepancy that may arise from your throw. Aside from my sadistic need to repel uncontrollably panicky people, what do listmates think of the disk concept? Later, Phil Huck thekayaker_at_yahoo.com _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free _at_yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Jun 02 1999 - 10:58:25 PDT
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