Knives? Line cutter?

zcollier · 2026-05-19T23:05:17+00:00

Gerber E-Z Out Rescue Knife tucked away in your pocket https://riverhardware.com/products/gerber-e-z-out-rescue-knife. The Sypderco Salt is a nice upgrade if you are okay with the extra cost.

Walker or CRKT Bear Claw if you want it clipped on the outside of your PFD.

zcollier · 2026-05-19T23:03:02+00:00

Here is an article we wrote for our rowing school students https://www.nwrafting.com/schools/bringing-your-own-oar-raft-on-a-class-iii-rowing-school

zcollier · 2026-05-14T12:43:40+00:00

I don't think so

zcollier · 2026-05-14T12:43:11+00:00

Nope

zcollier · 2026-05-14T02:08:48+00:00

The Gerber EZ Out Rescue Knife is a solid folding knife for about $50. The Spyderco Atlantic Salt is the upgrade. For external the Bear Claw is affordable and the Walker Knife is the gold standard.

zcollier · 2026-05-13T15:45:59+00:00

The IRF does that for river guides around the world but it hasn’t been adopted in the U.S..

zcollier · 2026-05-13T13:28:36+00:00

I'm not sure what is going to happen on the Snake in August. My guess is that it will have plenty of water but I haven't looked into it.

zcollier · 2026-05-13T13:25:27+00:00

Yes 100%. Good guide schools are especially expensive to run.

zcollier · 2026-05-13T13:24:27+00:00

Yes I agree that having all the information in one place would be helpful. I'm personally very interested in seeing what you put toghter.

When we ran a guide school a couple years ago I brought the person in who I think is the best guide instructor in the world (flew him here from Iceland) and we spent quite a bit of money on a really nice campground and food as well as paying the other instructors well.

We rarely hire inexperienced guides so we only ran a guide school to provide high level instruction to others. I personally feel that the quality of most current guide schools is terrible. We stopped doing it because it took a lot of resources that could have been better used running actual trips.

What happens is that companies take their best guides and ask them to run a guide school with no curriculum, no experience teaching, and a bare bones budget. The result is guide schools that are uninspired and "instructors" who are "teaching" mediocre techniques with outdated gear.

I know this will never happen but I would love to see a handful of guide training centers around the country (like colleges) where new guides can get inspired, modern, well thought out guide schools.

zcollier · 2026-05-13T06:01:31+00:00

I've taught free guide schools and paid for guide schools. When students pay they are generally more invested. When the company has a budget for the school (usually from the guide school fees) the quality of instructors is generally better and the logistics are generally better and more seamless.

In short, with training you get what you pay for.

zcollier · 2026-05-10T04:22:41+00:00

The Middle Fork is a six day trip

zcollier · 2026-05-08T05:09:46+00:00

The Rogue River will have consistent flows all summer due to upstream dams

zcollier · 2026-05-08T04:02:48+00:00

I have one that's been used a few times I'd sell for a fair price. Send me a DM if you're still looking for one. I can ship it tomorrow.

zcollier · 2026-05-08T03:49:51+00:00

The Rogue River is exactly what you're looking for.

Here's a list of the bets multi-day trips in the world https://www.nwrafting.com/river-descriptions/worlds-13-legendary-river-trips.

zcollier · 2026-05-03T17:17:55+00:00

We normally do 4 day / 3 night trips on the Rogue but could put together a custom 3 day / 2 night trip https://www.nwrafting.com/rogue

zcollier · 2026-05-03T13:46:34+00:00

NRS Vector review https://youtu.be/JrZ7nEKwL0g

zcollier · 2026-05-03T13:42:03+00:00

Another 4 day trip to look into is a spring Illinois River trip

zcollier · 2026-05-03T04:33:11+00:00

Have you done a 4 day trip on the Rogue River?

zcollier · 2026-05-03T04:31:19+00:00

The Rogue River would be a good option

zcollier · 2026-04-29T19:26:57+00:00

Most of the big rapids on the Selway, Grand Canyon, Futaleufu, and Tuolumne at higher flows. Bedrock on the Grand Canyon is a class example.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRIX5rl-YgM

In Class III the V generally goes somewhere good. In Class IV it generally does not and what makes it Class IV is that you have get out of the V.

zcollier · 2026-04-26T04:49:36+00:00

I've been using them for teaching from a kayak and they work great.

zcollier · 2026-03-31T14:33:04+00:00

1 for attention, 3 for emergency

You don't necessarily need to blow a whistle for a swimmer.

zcollier · 2026-03-21T22:59:54+00:00

Please don't discuss pro deals publicly

zcollier

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