Drownproofing

[jay_merrill]

In another thread, incidents in the Mississippi River, in New Orleans, have been discussed. The title of the thread is "How Not to Drown."

I think that is a great title and is deserving of some discussion on a technique that can help people do exactly that - not drown. The following link is about an extremely effective technique for survival in the water - even if the affected person can not swim! In fact, Special Forces arond the world (U.S. Navy Seals, etc.) are trained to do this with their hands and feet bound!

I hope that everyone on this forum will read it and tell everyone that they know about it. I can tell you that I learned it in boot camp in the U.S. Coast Guard over 30 years ago and it works - very well.


http://www.drownproofing.com/

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Drownproofing

Great post jay. I've never heard about that tactic before, cool.

 

[BF]

Re: Drownproofing

I haven't thought of drownproofing for a long time... as a kid (in the 70's), we learned that in swimming lessons. I forget what level, but part of passing it was doing drownproofing for the whole lesson (1 hour) in the deep end. Is waaay less work than treading water.

I do know that I think sometime in the 80's, the Red Cross (at least up here) removed it from their swimming curriculum. I remember the reason being explained to me, but I don't remember why (my sister was a lifeguard and taught swimming). Maybe it was because with your face in the water most of the time, you're not likely so see and signal potential rescuers(?).

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Drownproofing

Too bad they quit teaching it because the simple fact of that matter is that it works.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Drownproofing

I just tried this sitting in my chair.

I got winded, light-headed, and passed out.
Woke up 3 minutes later, on the floor.

 

[The_Kid]

Re: Drownproofing

It does work. We had to do it in Marine Corp boot camp for 30 minutes in full uniform. If you happen to be wearing a pair of long pants you can tie a knot at the bottom of each leg. Grab the pants by the waist, lift them up out of the water and then bring them back into the water waist first. Air will get trapped in the legs and act as a float. The air slowly leaks out so you just trap more as necessary.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Drownproofing

That's a good one too, Kid!

 

[ilmostro99]

Re: Drownproofing

It does work. We had to do it in Marine Corp boot camp for 30 minutes in full uniform. If you happen to be wearing a pair of long pants you can tie a knot at the bottom of each leg. Grab the pants by the waist, lift them up out of the water and then bring them back into the water waist first. Air will get trapped in the legs and act as a float. The air slowly leaks out so you just trap more as necessary.

That works great, but instead of tying a knot in each leg, tie the bottoms of them together, slip it over your head after inflation, and you have a makeshift lifejacket.
Erik

 

[bhammer]

Re: Drownproofing

Great post and I have never thoguhgt about it in a lake. It works well once you get the hang of it. When I was sent through surival school we all had to learn to do it and we did it in cool water. Our instructors taught us how to time your exhale/inhale with the wave action so that you were in the wave, under water for a few seconds at a time. But, you were not fighting the waves at all, just ridding them.