flightliner
Well-known member
Swim enough to save yourself if you fall into a lake or river ??.
Can everyone here ----
- Thread starter flightliner
- Start date
B
binka
Guest
It's a good question flight.
Under normal circumstances I wouldn't hesitate to say yes but add the shock of cold winter water and layers of heavy clothes and boots I wouldn't be too confident.
Dog spike and a knotted rope every time if in doubt on a tricky bank.
Under normal circumstances I wouldn't hesitate to say yes but add the shock of cold winter water and layers of heavy clothes and boots I wouldn't be too confident.
Dog spike and a knotted rope every time if in doubt on a tricky bank.
dorsetandchub
Well-known member
If the river is the Blackwater, yeah
The Mersey or the Rhine, probably not.
Revels Fishery Match Lake, yeah
Coniston or Windermere, probably not.
Depends on the venue
sam vimes
Well-known member
With the combination of soaked clothing and the shock effect of cold water, it's unlikely even the very best swimmers could say they'd be guaranteed to be OK. However, without the unpredictable effects of cold, I'm pretty confident I'd be OK. I swim well, have trained to swim fully clothed and have done offshore training.
Agree with the previous correspondants - generally OK - but falling into a ressy or a Lake District body of water from a boat - almost certainly not! Those waters are bad news!
They always used to joke about the NW rivers like the Mersey and the Irwell - that you were more likely to die of poisoning before you drowned - the good news now is that you're less likely to be fatally poisoned but more likely to gain female traits - is that why we're trying to clean it up?mg:
They always used to joke about the NW rivers like the Mersey and the Irwell - that you were more likely to die of poisoning before you drowned - the good news now is that you're less likely to be fatally poisoned but more likely to gain female traits - is that why we're trying to clean it up?
mg:
Last edited:
maggot_dangler
Well-known member
Well i float like a lead brick .
I dont care what anyone says about natural human boyancy , i aint got none.
One of the reasons i fish shallow waters :wh . althou you can drown in an inch of water so swimmer on not you can drown ..
PG ....
I dont care what anyone says about natural human boyancy , i aint got none.
One of the reasons i fish shallow waters :wh . althou you can drown in an inch of water so swimmer on not you can drown ..
PG ....
wanderer
Well-known member
I can swim, but fully clothed and in cold water i dont think i would stand a chance, there was an incident a decade or so ago, when two anglers fly fishing from a punt at Ringstead in Northants drowned after falling over.
S-Kippy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
- Messages
- 14,508
- Reaction score
- 5,838
In summer I'd feel pretty confident. In winter or in flood conditions I'm not sure. I'm a decent enough swimmer, I don't panic in water and I know what to do and what not to do.....but I'm a lot older than I was and not as strong. I've been in a bank high Thames in January and survived but I couldnt honestly recommend it as a life enriching experience....life threatening most definitely.
I'm certainly a lot more cautious than I used to be. I look as some of these big rivers and there is no way I'd contemplate fishing certain bits. No fish is worth that sort of risk.
I'm certainly a lot more cautious than I used to be. I look as some of these big rivers and there is no way I'd contemplate fishing certain bits. No fish is worth that sort of risk.
thecrow
Well-known member
In my mind I like to think that I could but in reality I don't think that with my health problems that I would be able to get very far, my only option is to fish upstream from Binka and hope he can snag me as I pass by although if it was at the expense of damaging his new rod I would not be to sure about my survival.
When I was younger I had a friend that was prone to passing out, twice he passed out fell in and floated along (luckily face up) until he was pulled out by us, doctors never did find out what caused it and it eventually stopped happening to him.
When I was younger I had a friend that was prone to passing out, twice he passed out fell in and floated along (luckily face up) until he was pulled out by us, doctors never did find out what caused it and it eventually stopped happening to him.
I have been in during a December. Not pleasant and luckily close to the bank. I always have a spare set of old dry clothes under the car seat now. They may be a bit whiffy by now but should do the trick.
As for the difference between summer and winter......Whilst on one of my Lake District jaunts a few years ago I overturned in a canoe in the middle of Derwent Water during a very hot(rare) May bank holiday. I somehow got stuck underneath it and tangled up. I was underneath for only about 30 secs but the cold got to me even in May and I thought my lot was up.
A passing row boat reluctantly paused for me to grab and right the canoe enough to get back to shore.
Blooming canoes..nothing but trouble all round:wh
As for the difference between summer and winter......Whilst on one of my Lake District jaunts a few years ago I overturned in a canoe in the middle of Derwent Water during a very hot(rare) May bank holiday. I somehow got stuck underneath it and tangled up. I was underneath for only about 30 secs but the cold got to me even in May and I thought my lot was up.
A passing row boat reluctantly paused for me to grab and right the canoe enough to get back to shore.
Blooming canoes..nothing but trouble all round:wh
Last edited:
B
binka
Guest
my only option is to fish upstream from Binka and hope he can snag me as I pass by although if it was at the expense of damaging his new rod I would not be to sure about my survival.
Searching ebay as we speak for a nice sharp extendable gaffe
robtherake
Well-known member
It's uncommon; you're the only other sinker I've come across. For some reason, some people aren't buoyant enough to float - for example, I can sit on the bottom in the swimming baths. People with negative buoyancy can't effectively tread water or float on the surface, so they start to sink as soon as they lose forward momentum. It's bloody knackering! I can manage a length of the baths and then need a lie down. You don't know you're born, you floaty, swimmy, lucky bleeders.
sam vimes
Well-known member
My old man sinks like a brick too. He found a use for it by taking up scuba. He needed far less lead than everyone else.
The bad one
Well-known member
I try not to put myself in such a position that if I went in it could be life threatening these days. I know I have in the past and got away with it. One scary incident that send shudders down me when I think about it was on one of the very large meres where we used boats with outboards to get around.
I arrived and all the boats I'd used in the past and knew their limits were being used and the only one left was an ally rowing boat type I'd never used. Loaded it up put the outboard on, a Johnson 4 Horse and set off up the mere. Rounded the corner from the landing stage and whacked the power on as I'd done many times before with the other boats. The thing lift right up despite the weight of all the weekend gear being in the front. It was on the point of back flipping as I cut the power. To say I sh!t myself is an understatement!
We sank that bast*rd in the deepest (50 ft) point of the mere a week later because of it's dangerous characteristics. Over the next winter we built 4 flat bottomed punts 20ft long by 8ft wide to replace all the small boats we'd been using. And they need every bit of the Johnson power to push them up the mere, but boy were they stable.
I arrived and all the boats I'd used in the past and knew their limits were being used and the only one left was an ally rowing boat type I'd never used. Loaded it up put the outboard on, a Johnson 4 Horse and set off up the mere. Rounded the corner from the landing stage and whacked the power on as I'd done many times before with the other boats. The thing lift right up despite the weight of all the weekend gear being in the front. It was on the point of back flipping as I cut the power. To say I sh!t myself is an understatement!
We sank that bast*rd in the deepest (50 ft) point of the mere a week later because of it's dangerous characteristics. Over the next winter we built 4 flat bottomed punts 20ft long by 8ft wide to replace all the small boats we'd been using. And they need every bit of the Johnson power to push them up the mere, but boy were they stable.
Last edited:
S-Kippy
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
- Messages
- 14,508
- Reaction score
- 5,838
Sod that ! I don't do boats and that's why......plus the fact that my boat partner would almost certainly be the Big Feller and that's as close to a nailed on scuttling as you can get.
My mate Alex does float tubing and you can stick that in the same place as carp and bream fishing as far as I'm concerned. I've no desire to get shipwrecked in one of those things.
no-one in particular
Well-known member
Stamina gives out, this is why even the best swimmers can drown. Do not panic, that wastes a lot of energy. Keep calm if you fall in and your brain will work better as well.
Last edited:
flightliner
Well-known member
Wasnt it Hugh Falkus who dispelled the myth of an angler with thigh waders on falling into a river being certain to drown by jumping into a fast moving river and exiting safely on tv many years ago.?
On the subject, if someone is in the water and panicking,be very careful if you decide to go in and help them.You could end up drowning yourself as they are inclined to climb on anything that offers some buoyancy.
I learnt this in scuba training but have forgotten the exact procedure to avoid this.I think you had to approach from behind them and grab the back of their collar so they can't get at you.
I learnt this in scuba training but have forgotten the exact procedure to avoid this.I think you had to approach from behind them and grab the back of their collar so they can't get at you.
robertroach
Well-known member
One of my favourite swims on the river is about 12ft deep under the bank. It would be so easy to slip on the mud and fall in, so I'm careful.
The problem in the Winter would not be staying afloat but actually getting back on the bank. There are no handholds and with a steep slippery bank I don't know how you could climb back. The only way would be to drift downstream about 100 yards to shallow water. By that time you would be having problems with hypothermia.
Scary stuff.
The problem in the Winter would not be staying afloat but actually getting back on the bank. There are no handholds and with a steep slippery bank I don't know how you could climb back. The only way would be to drift downstream about 100 yards to shallow water. By that time you would be having problems with hypothermia.
Scary stuff.
seth49
Well-known member
No, I lefT school just as they started doing swimming lessons,
.story of my life always just miss out on things.
Mind you I must be being careful, I've got to sixty six without drowning.
No near misses either.
.story of my life always just miss out on things.
Mind you I must be being careful, I've got to sixty six without drowning.
No near misses either.