Trashbag for floatation?

L

lmalterna

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Dec 12, 2002
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Thinking about river crossings or immenant dunking. How useful would a strong trashbag be inflated inside a three daypack?? How about tucked down the front of your jacket and inflated by mouth, then tied off?
I am familier with using pants but they do tend to leak air. The pack starrped on or the bag inside the jacket should handle rough water better...
Who was it that invented the plastic trashbag again?? :)

Bill
 
Didn't he?:D

I'm sure the plastic bag would work, but it's a lot of effort to get the bag out, empty the pack, fill the bag with air, tie it tight, put it back in the pack, whoops, too much air, take it back out....;)

What scenario do you envision needing the flotation for? Being forced to cross a river it would work GREAT! You have time to get set up. In fact, you could strip down, put your clothes in the bag, overfill it with air and use as both flotation and dry-storage (Zip-Loc makes huge bags now...). In fact, I remember seeing footage (real or staged, I'm not sure) of Cambodian refugees crossing rivers this way.

If you're thinking of a "whoops, my boat, canoe, kayak, just flipped" situation, where's your PFD? An ounce of prevention...

J-
 
If you had a 3 day pack, I'd think you'd want to put it inside the bag, double tie it, and then make your crossing. The pack has weight to it, but overall, inside a heftybag, it would be bouyant.
Also, ziplock baggies are great. If you have gear like food, and such, in separate zip lock baggies, you will get good bouyancy that way, too.

Too much bouyancy can work against you in a current taking you much farther downstream, as you try to get all the way across.

I always read and hear about swimming at a 45°, "with" the current while crossing, but they never really tell you if you are looking straight across at the ponit you want to swim to, then before jumping in, walk upstream a bit, then go for it, you'll end up closer to where you had eyeballed in the first place.

It always pays to scout for the best crossing, this may mean walking a mile of river bank to find it.

Crossing a decent sized body of water, by yourself, should be your last option.
 
This is for a pre determined crossing. Something like the situation the elderly lady found herself in not too long ago in the Nat Park in SW USA. The river was swollen on her return route but chance of someone finding her was pretty low.
My concern about using the bag without putting it inside something like the pack or a jacket is structural intergrity. It does not take much to rip into the bag- fingers grasping at it or any inpact with a branch or rock would delfate it. I do not like swimming and try to avoid it if at all possible. I CAN swim fairly well just and not comfortable doing so. I always joked I can swim from the boat to the bank but would NEVER swim from the bank to the boat!! LOL!!
For gear- I am going to try the trick with the poncho shelter as a lightweight raft for wading a stream.
Bill
 
cresson kearney writes about the waterproof bag inside the pack, in his book jungle snafus and remedies.

the floating back pack will push your head under water so he advises attaching something to the front straps to give boyancy to your front also he reccomended the 5 quart flexible canteen like this one:
http://www.majorsurplusnsurvival.co...en=PROD&Product_Code=084737&Category_Code=208
the waterproof liners for the alice system will cause the pack to float if sealed properly. you could also carry a large bag and put the pack inside it to float it.

alex
 
lmalterna said:
Thinking about river crossings or immenant dunking. How useful would a strong trashbag be inflated inside a three daypack?? How about tucked down the front of your jacket and inflated by mouth, then tied off?
I am familier with using pants but they do tend to leak air. The pack starrped on or the bag inside the jacket should handle rough water better...
Who was it that invented the plastic trashbag again?? :)

Bill
Click to expand...

Good in a SHTF pinch, but how much do you want to trust your life to the setup? For a planned crossing, maybe a regular PFD that could be hidden for the return trip or a pack raft or inflatable kayak used the same way. A lightweight Thermarest won't completely float you, but it could be a swimming aid. Again, we're talking in a pinch. These are techniques for slow moving warm water. Period.

If you want to float or waterproof your pack, check out the Sea to Summit pack liners-- best deal going. Their waterproof stuff sacks are great too-- all I use anymore.

Don't play around with rough water--- think of it like rock climbing-- tolerably safe with the right training and equipment, and deadly if you don't know what you are doing. I've run white water and dieing by being trapped underwater is a nightmare scenario for the whitewater crowd. It happens every year. It's not the water that gets you most of the time, it's the obstacles. Imagine being trapped against a jam of logs and brush with the pressue of a mountain stream pressing agianst you. No air and freezing cold. Holes and whirlpools are next scariest for me-- you go in and you don't come out. In my part of the country, the wild water is also glacier cold, so there's no margin for error. In desert country, it's a matter of waiting it out--- it will go back down pretty quick once the rain stops. A flash flood desert river can be full of floating crud that will trap you or beat you into a pile of hamburger. With all the silt, you can't see a thing. Think of the beating that the tsunami victims took -- the water was bad, but all the debris was the real killer.

If you are thinking about roping up to cross whitewater, just shoot yourself-- it will be a much kinder way to die and just about as certain. Basically, if it is more than knee deep, it's a no go. There are some group techniques that work pretty good. Read up and get some training.
 
Plus you can use them and lawn chairs to fly over a prison wall :D

I know its true cause I saw it on THE A TEAM. :)
 
If it is a planned cossing, PLAN it. Use the right gear. If you want to play "what if," bring your plastic bag, or many, and goof around safely as a training experience.
 
if its any help I took the suffing out of a childrens life vest put it in budles wrapped it in sran wrap and duct taped it like crazy I keep em i tied to each piece of gear with about a 10 foot leader so If I dum I can at least see where the gear is I also have a similar thing directly attatched to my gun case so it'll float. Just a few thoughts
 
No sweat, Next time I go hunting far enough back in the hinterland, I will take a kayak and my PFD...


Bill
 
Subject to the wise cautions above, you might try this.

I prefer using an oversized "stuff sack" for my sleeping bag so that the stuffed bag is less like a solid object - easier to fit in the pack.

Such a stuff sack, lined with a goose-necked HD trash bag, floats well. The nylon stuff sack helps prevent seam failures and holes pocked by branches/rocks while the plastic bag holds the air. Two of these ropped together 18" or so apart let one of a backpacking pair cross a river. Tow it back for the other guy/gal. Stronger swimmer first. And only if you have to.
 
During my time in Cadets (Australian), we put all our possessions in our hutchie (a plastic sheet used for sleeping under) then tied all the corners together at the top. As long as your not packing bricks the thing floats. I also put all my stuff in a garbage bag before putting it in the hutchie and everything was completely dry. Heres a photo:



That water was bloody freezing and at least 2 metres deep.
 
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