BCAB Whitewater Safety

The British Canoeing Whitewater Safety course is designed to give you and your buddies the skills to stay safe and solve problems in the moderate water (grade 2(3)) environment

Although there is no formal requirement for this course, a basic understanding of whitewater is helpful, along with an ability to paddle on grade 2(3) as some of the course is focused on safe paddling we will be doing short journeys in this environment.

This is a wet course with lots of time spent on and in the water so we highly recommend either thinking carefully about what you wear.

Personal clothing –

Layers are the answer to success if you are choosing to wear a drysuit or cag and trousers, if you are choosing to wear a wetsuit them make sure its a good quality one.

Footwear is also really important as we'll be climbing around on the river bank and bed, so make sure they are grippy and attach securely to your feet.

There's always the temptation to just wear "what I always paddle in" but remember we want to stay in the learning zone so bring more layers to keep you warm!

In addition to this you will need;

1. Buoyancy Aid with quick release chest harness

1. Throwline – Floating high visibility rope, minimum length 15m, minimum diameter 8mm.

1. River Knife – sharp, safely stowed but easily accessible single-handed.

1. 2 to 3 Karabiners – Locking HMS pear shaped anodised alloy karabiners are the best.

1. Tape - An un-knotted 3 – 5m length of tape webbing

1. Whistle

1. and of course a Kayak, Canoe or SUP fitted with bow and stern airbags

There's not a fixed itinerary for this course as we chop and change around the syllabus based on the team and the water levels, but a good way to break it down is;

Personal safety skills,

Group safety,

Self Rescue

Rescuing others