How to get out of a sticky hole (aka stopper). Whitewater Kayak Tutorial 

I like to think of my channel as a space where I can help people with their kayaking, so if people are commenting that is a pretty good indicator they want help on something. I will see what I can do on this for you!

Glad you liked it, Let me know if you think of something else that could help your kayaking!

Hope it helped you. Thanks for checking it out.

Thanks for watching! Let me know if there is other stuff that would be helpful

Jason Liggett Hanna for watching!

carl smith my view is if I have time to sit at my computer o can floss whilst doing it.

Angus Robins thanks for watching 😁😁

Thanks for checking it out. Hopefully it gets you out of a hole sometime!

David Fallside thanks for watching Dave, I think an addition video is in the pipeline for sure

Dayum son! that is a beat down. I haven't done a hole swim video yet but being able to take your lifejacket off underwater is a skill kayakers should at least be aware of although hopefully they won't have to do it. Glad you are ok. What were some of the most useful lessons you learned from the experience?

@@SethAshworth First lesson, don't panic. You'll always have a second or two to think about your situation, and options, before getting sucked down so take a big breath and do your best to find a way to brace yourself up and catch a breath. If you can catch an occasional breath, no worries. Just as you talked about, you have plenty of options to brace and work your way to an exit point while remaining in your boat. But if you can't breath, and bracing and pulling gives you no opportunity to see where you are in the hole, or breath, about 10 to 15 seconds is usually a good time to swim (exit your boat). If you're swimming and find yourself repeatedly cycling in and out of the depth of the hole, toss your paddle and on the next downward cycle swim strongly down and into the swift current. Swimming down into the depths of the hole may seem counter-intuitive, but it can sometimes be the only possible way out. After a couple failed attempts swimming down, remove your life vest and try again. Your wet-suit will typically afford you some flotation, but once free of the hole don't relax and don't delay, swim strongly to the surface. Blacking out is a phenomenon that occurs when your blood oxygen falls so low that you lose your vision. Your peripheral fields blacken first and then the blackness quickly works towards your center of vision. Don't panic, you're still conscious and you can still sense up and down, so swim up to the surface. Having free-dived and previously blacked out on a few occasions I knew what to expect, didn't panic, and made it back to the surface.

But if you look back like 5 or six videos you will notice a slow improvement. so thats something

@@SethAshworth thats too funny i am a drywaller tapper by trade , and new to the sport , that seam was the first thing i noticed in in your vids ,all jokes aside thanks for all your shared wisdom at 37 and new to this i find you very helpful esp the safety stuff, (cow tail attachment) now if that seam comes back add screws cut out loose tape , and start fresh , but looks like a pro job so u should be good lol stay awesome

bobby turnbull thanks for checking it out. Glad there is some useful stuff amongst my waffling on. I’ll pass your drywall knowledge along to my landlady in case she needs it. Have fun 🤙🤙

Thank you for sharing your expertise. And the sheetrock finishing IS exquisite! But really you are a great source of info that's well displayed!

@@kennethstallings3182 my landlady did a great job on the wall. See more recent videos. Thanks for watching 😂😂😂

That HPP one sucks when you are tired and don't want to be in it anymore. Especially when you are starting out and maybe don't have best boat control yet.

@@SethAshworth I saw a paddler eventually roll and get ejected as a result of being in a walled hole. Can this ever be a solution? Does the underwater flow catch you when you are inverted?

@@vannicrider7953 great question. And this is where my answer might deviate from what a swift water rescue manual might say. Short answer is Yes but. Yes the bottom of a hole has water flowing out, yes it’s possible to ball up and get into that water and get pushed out. BUT what then? Now you are out of your boat and still going down stream. I always say getting out of your boat doesn’t usually improve your situation and so riding that water out of the hole should be your Last resort, not your plan A. Hence the video. Hope that answers your question! Thanks for checking out the video

more info on what to look for whilst upside down in a hole. I dig it. I will do my best!

Would like to know more how to get back up in a hole and not pull the skirt and swim. Sorry English is not my first language

Ok i think i get what you are getting at. I'll see what I can come up with.

I'm interested to hear what Seth has to say, but what helped me the most with this is playboating. You flip accidentally enough times that, all of a sudden, you get tired of fighting the water, and you start to realize the times that you are fighting, so you stop fighting the chaos and start to go with it. It's hard to explain here. People would tell me to feel the water and what it was doing, etc., but it wasn't until playboating that what they were saying clicked in my head and body. It was like I had to have enough experience being upside down in crazy stuff that I was calm enough to be able to pay attention to what's going on around me. With that said, it helps me to feel for "resistance" in the water. Strong resistance in the water means maybe I'm using the wrong tool and need to try something different. An example: I suck at my offside roll. If I flipped over and somehow ended up in offside setup, I used to fight with everything I had to get over to my onside roll setup. Then I would onside roll, but it was usually an upstream roll, so I'd miss and have to roll again. Now, if I flip over and I'm closer to my offside roll setup, and I feel like I'd have to fight with everything I have to get to my onside setup, then I just stay in my offside setup and try a roll. Like I said, my offside roll form sucks right now, but with the river helping, I usually get up on the first try. TLDR: Get lots of experience being upside down (through playboating), and feel for resistance and go with it rather than fighting it.

@@meldosify1085 Unfortunately not everyone shares your enlightened view of freestyle kayaking. I wish more people did!

Melody Ream second that...especially on holes that aren’t too grabby. The amount of fun I had consolidating my roll on the Thames weirs was considerable and taught me a great deal about ‘feeling the water’ and using the resistance I found to my advantage. Freestyle/play boating is probably the best way to improve roll and also what to when you can’t control the water, just the boat 👍🏻

I prefer to think about options where you are in control the whole time, and also something you could scale to shallow holes too. But if flip and wiggle is working for your situation what do I know!

@@SethAshworth it's called being someone who makes a living of kayaking and attending events for the top kayakers in the world and having a sponsorship with a kayak company run by a multi-world champion. You wouldn't know. 😂😂

@@jamesshort6856 OMG please tell me how to make a living kayaking! Sounds awesome ;)

I have found really focusing on relaxing my hips and core as I obtain the upright, slightly forward position helps avoid a hanging draw and enables the boat to be under you where it should be. The low brace is essential, as a hanging draw keeps you from being able to take the short strokes for the out, which sucks, and usually leads to more beatdown...not that that's ever happened to me 🤔. Thanks for another awesome video!

@@andrewnau433 Thanks for Watching! Interesting PPOV on relaxed core. I generally think always trying to recruit more core muscles is always better as it spreads the load more. THAT BEING SAID, there are no absolutes so I will try and remember to try relaxed core and see how it goes. Thanks for the thoughts!!

Like I mentioned right at the start of this video, lots of ways to het there, this is just my favourite

Got a video? we can probably figure it out

@@SethAshworth I don't unfortunately, I was too busy struggling haha

There is a time where the tactical swim might be the right move. HOWEVER I think it is actually much much much less than people think. Swimming puts you at unnecessary risk, especially from foot entrapments etc. Swimming also puts strain on your group to help you rescue all your gear. Loosing a paddle at any time on the river can create a huge headache. Plus you will quickly run out of people to kayak with if you are swimming in situations you could paddle out of. And to your point of swimming at the start of a long day, there is no better feeling than getting absolutely pitted at the start of your day and working your way out, you feel unstoppable. Whereas knowing you swam already (especially when you could have gotten out of it) has the opposite effect, you will spend the whole day worried about swimming again instead of enjoying what you are paddling. And finally swimming is exhausting! So yea there is my 2 cents on it. There is a time for a tactical swim, but if you can paddle out that should be plan A

@@SethAshworth great comment! thanks a lot

#SoPitted

Not sure what that means but thanks for watching!!!