Safety

Most packrafters come from a solid backpacking background but lack experience in water sports. You can either blow your raft to paddle down a peaceful river or tackle some gnarly class IV: there are many ways to enjoy packrafting. But the kind of paddling you prefer doesn’t really matter: as soon as you are on a boat on moving water, there are some gear and skills that you need to have, regardless of the type of river. Packrafts are very forgiven boats, which means people tend to paddle harder stretches of water than  their actual abilities would normally allow in a kayak. Overconfidence can be dangerous on the river. This is why you should always think twice before you decide to paddle something big. The usual saying is “don’t paddle something you wouldn’t swim”.

Here is a list of gear that all packrafters should carry on every packrafting trip.

.Paddling helmet (preferred to climbing or bicycle helmets)

.Type III PFD

.River throw rope

.Whislte

.Drysuit

.River specific knife attached to PFD

Interesting resources:

• Excellent series of articles about safety in packrafting y Mark Oates