Surviving going thru the ice?

[George Riddle]

On the old forum format there was a link on a Canadian fellow that has been studying and teaching surviving going thru the ice. Does anyone remember and can you share the link? If I remember correctly there was a video on his sight. Thanks in advance and stay safe.

George

 

[George Riddle]

Refined/revisited my google searching and found the old discussion and link to the yukonman.com web site. Cool streaming video about something cold but not cool.

George

 

[Webmaster]

Link to the old forums

Link to the old forums

On the old forum format there was a link on a Canadian fellow that has been studying and teaching surviving going thru the ice. Does anyone remember and can you share the link? If I remember correctly there was a video on his sight. Thanks in advance and stay safe.

George

Here's a link to the discussion in the snowmachine forum.

 

[CG Boating Safety]

Cold water survival

Cold water survival

Dr. Giesbrecht is one of the world's leading experts on hypothermia and cold water survival. He's been in Anchorage at least twice and assisted the State of Alaska's office of Boating Safety in doing a video that was filmed in Homer last summer. Contact their office in Anchorage for a copy of the video. Another resource is Michael Tipton. I'll look up the links and post them here.

 

[CG Boating Safety]

Cold water info

Cold water info

Here's the link to the State's Office of Boating Safety: http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/boating/index.htm The book "Essentials of Sea Survival" by Golden and Tipton is also a great resource and should be available at most bookstores.

 

[George Riddle]

Thanks guys for the replies, I found exactly what I was looking for.

George

 

[groh__frog]

Those videos on the Yukonman.com web site are incredible! I learned quite a bit about surviving a cold-water dunk that I didn't know.

 

[MNViking]

I'm curious to watch the video but here in Kuwait all the video is filtered out. I would like however to share something that I do and have unfortunatly tested. You need two 4 - 5 inch lengths of broom handle, two nails with the heads cut off and some nylon cord. Pound the headless end of the nail into the center of the handle section and drill a hole through the opposite end. Tie a slipknot in the cord and run the end through the hole knotting it so it can't pull through. Keep them dangling from your wrists while on thin ice and they are great and getting a grip to pull yourself out of the water. I went through during some early ice walleye fishing in Wisconsin and they got me out quick.

 

[Rick P]

I'm curious to watch the video but here in Kuwait all the video is filtered out. I would like however to share something that I do and have unfortunatly tested. You need two 4 - 5 inch lengths of broom handle, two nails with the heads cut off and some nylon cord. Pound the headless end of the nail into the center of the handle section and drill a hole through the opposite end. Tie a slipknot in the cord and run the end through the hole knotting it so it can't pull through. Keep them dangling from your wrists while on thin ice and they are great and getting a grip to pull yourself out of the water. I went through during some early ice walleye fishing in Wisconsin and they got me out quick.

Never hit the ice without my Yooper ice climing gear. I usually run the cord through my jacket though like you would for little kids mittens.

 

[akjw7]

I've got a set of the commercially available ice picks - untested thankfully!

 

[Daveinthebush]

Twice

Twice

Been through twice ice fishing. Once in late April, should have known better as the ice was grayish. I just kicked real hard keeping low on the ice and slid along the ice keeping my body weight distrubited until I found thicker ice. Nice warm day and I was able to walk back the 1/2 mile to the truck.

Other time it was -20, 22" of ice in Feb. My son and brother had just walked off the ice ahead of me. As I followed I suddenly went through. A river that enters the lake had risen causing the lake ice to break from shore, then refreeze. This time I went in up to my head. Amazing how fast one can remember to kick hard and keep low on the ice. Again I managed to get out on my own but the ride back home was very chilling.

Main thing in any situation...keep your head.

 

[6XLeech]

"Keep your head"

"Keep your head"

...Main thing in any situation...keep your head.

Good advice in this thread started by George Riddle. As Daveinthebush advised, if you can keep your head, you can avoid the panic that leads to bad decisions, that lead to poor outcomes (as Giesbrecht says).

We face so many situations in which cold water immersion is a factor. Knik Canoers & Kayakers makes a point of planning for dunking. In dry suits, they dedicate time to getting into the water and getting out, getting members past that first wet surprise to focus on what we need to do to survive.

Gordon Giesbrecht spoke recently in Anchorage, still explaining the importance of knowing what to expect and preparing to deal with it. His principles are now condensed into a 1-10-1 rule, explained on www.coldwaterbootcamp.com, a program done first in Canada, then the US. Just click the 1-10-1 tab. Overcome cold water shock, then plan how best to use our minutes of effective muscle control before the relatively long wait (30-60 mins) for hypothermia.

Panic is definitely the first obstacle in these situations, said Giesbrecht, citing a tragic incident at Convict Lake in 1990 (http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19900221&slug=1057185) in which interviewed survivors all apparently reported a concern that the boys only had minutes to live in the icy water. Giesbrecht's research and key points were to survive the first minute, control panic, and use the time to avoid bad decisions. "Keep your head" or risk a poor outcome.

Good topic for experienced Alaskans, to learn...and teach through their stories. Just ask Larry Kaniut.

 

[pinkponger]

Surviving going thru the ice

Surviving going thru the ice

Hey Toy Thats what I was going to recommend to you....the kid is gettting real good on the River....but I kinda wanted to check firstTake him up on it

 

[mainer_in_ak]

I fell through the ice and got all tangled up in my jiffy auger. It sunk me 20ft. all the way to the bottom of the lake, that day was a cold spell @ 20 below, I was submerged for a good while. I did manage to make the B section of the biggest newspaper in Maine. good times, i was kind of an icon at the fishin tackle shop for a while i got free bait! because they read the article where i screamed for help and i said "I can't die! I gotta see these fish we catch today!" don't know if this link will go through but here's the aticle:

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...ountid=AC0109063012545220260&s_upgradeable=no

 

[mainer_in_ak]

On the old forum format there was a link on a Canadian fellow that has been studying and teaching surviving going thru the ice. Does anyone remember and can you share the link? If I remember correctly there was a video on his sight. Thanks in advance and stay safe.

George

My survival technique was fighting my way back to that hole i fell into. gotta love spring holes! It was hard as heck to swim the full 20 feet back up to the surface only to hit ice. I got angry and said to my self "not today, i got fish to catch!". I managed to hold my breath long enough to search for that hole (i think current swayed me away on the swim back up).

Proper technique to recover from hypothermia:


After mild hypothermia......tell the paramedics and cops to pis$ off when they tell you you need to go to the hospital, challenge one of the cops to "make you get in that ambulance".

Go back to the house and crack open between 6-12 bottles/cans of your preffered beer.

Call up that naughty little dark haired, tall legged gal (my younger single years)

Tell her (think her name was kate?) you are (literally) chilled to the bone and you need her "company"

Head over to her house and ahh...............well................show her a good time, but tell her you have to leave early in the morning to head back out that "killer" fishin hole"

 

[mainer_in_ak]

I guess the link won't work because you have to pay $2.00 to view it. They also e-mail the article to you but I think I may be violating copyright by cutting and pasting it to this forum. so anyways here is a link to the search results of that paticular article:

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...rpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no


I could also forward it as an email but I guess I will be violating copyright by cutting it and pasting it........weird deal.

 

[6XLeech]

How to gets folks' attention when you start an outdoors story...

How to gets folks' attention when you start an outdoors story...

I fell through the ice... tangled up in my jiffy auger.... @ 20 below...

Wow, Mainer. Amazing.

A friend told me a story that began with "We had to hike on the edge of the frozen stream a ways...loosened our packs then hiked, keeping some distance between... WHEN I HEARD A CRACK..." But when he goes through the ice...it's not quite up to his knees.