What kind of options for rescue “devices” are available for attaching to your ankle while solo open water swimming? I think I remember seeing a thread about options including one about a homemade device made from a milk carton…but I can’t seem to find it. I am looking for something that you tow behind you and can use in case of emergency. I’d like it to be pretty small as to not create drag…but large enough to support someone. I swim in a protected bay that is within 500’ of help.
Something like this is OK - but is there anything smaller? Cost is not really a concern.
Talk about great timing, I have the same question. Last year I bought an inflatable pirate boat,
and towed in behind me strapped with a rope to my ankle. Would like to see if there is something better.
What does Dick Hoyt use?
That’s funny you mention this. About two weeks ago at the pool I picked up one of these red “Baywatch” lifeguard thingies and got in the water with it and started paddling around. It was fun. The thing provided a lot of floatation and was easily towed with the lanyard. I told my wife, “This thing is fun, I want one of these…”
If you were doing a long open water swim towing an apparatus like this would be a good idea. If it was well designed it wouldn’t produce much drag.
French extreme athlete Guy Delage swam 2,100 miles across the Atlantic Ocean alone and unsupported using a small surfboard-raft like device. He was trumped in 1998 by another French adventurer, Ben Lecomte, who swam 3,716 miles in 73 days in shifts. Lecomte did not use a raft but free swam wearing a Quintana Roo wetsuit and a center snorkel. He did stop for dry land rest, at one point up to five days in the Canary Islands.
Delage’s effort using his mini-raft has raised the question if a man could swim the Pacific non-stop, unsupported, solo by using a mini raft, water desalination apparatus and some type of calorie dense, renewable (?) food source. If it could be done, it would likely take up to 90 days in the water- perhaps the greatest single feat of human endurance in history.
I had the same concern when I began practicing in open water. I considered dragging a fender (“bumper” for you landlubbers) but ultimately settled with just using the wetsuit for flotation. I also wear a bright yellow swim cap so boaters can see me and stick close to shore.
The SwimSafe does look interesting so I may look into it.
OTOH, the good thing about dragging a flotation device behind you is that it marks the spot where you went under. Your own personal bobber.
I made something similar and it was like $5. I got one of those pool “noodles” and bought some rope from Home Depot. I cut a hole in the noodle and tied the rope and was good to go in 5 minutes. I attached it to my waist and made the rope long enough so it wouldn’t interfere with my legs when I kicked
…check at a dive shop. i seem to remember a bright orange tube you can roll up/fold, then inflate if needed.
That’s a “safety sausage” used to wave back and forth and catch the eyes of would-be rescuers. Not intended to be a flotation device. Too thin and wouldn’t hold up.
I use the swimsafe whenever I swim solo open water and it works absolutely great. Once you’re beyond 10 strokes you will not even know it’s there anymore.
I have also inflated it twice as a practice to see if it will work and it did great both times.
this is just a small kid’s styrofoam board. the flag is quite reflective. with just a little breeze the yellow streamers flop around and add more visibility. i do a fair amount of solo time in the small lake where i’m at. any time i go across the half mile width, i always have this with me. i run about 12 feet of rope to the waist belt and i have yet to get hung up in it. i tried an ankle strap and that just felt strange. neighbors and more importantly the bass fishermen going 70…can easily spot me. only once has a boat come close enough where felt i needed to stop and pick it up and wave it around a bit to make sure they saw me.
Okay, I just ordered 2 of them. I have been pulling stuff and it is just such a pain.
Got 2 so with someone else swims with me, I can let them use one and do not have to
worry about them.
I also ordered some of their nose clips, since they are different from what I have been using,
and who knows, might be better.
The pic you posted is of a torpedo. I used to use them when lifeguarding years ago. They’re okay, but the problem is that if you ever have any trouble you have to hold on to it.
There is a new alternative that most lifeguards are using these days. They are called lifesaving tubes I think. I got one last year. It is essentially a long piece of foam on the end of a leash similar to the torpedo. They’re super light and you don’t even know they’re behind you when swimming. They float on the water as opposed to the torpedo that will float lower in the water and create a little more drag. The other advantage to the tube is that it has a ring on one end and a clip on the other. If you get tired and need help you can wrap it around your waist/chest and clip the ends together. No need to hold on.
I purchased mine through the Royal Life Saving Society of Canada. Google their website. It was fairly inexpensive.
