SAFETY AND RESCUE THROWLINES THROWING THE BAG: The manner of throwing the bag is down to personal preference. An underarm throw is easiest but an overarm throw is more accurate with practice. If you miss, quickly recoil the rope and move downstream to a suitable spot. Then throw the coiled rope or half-fill the bag with water and throw.
PULLING THE SWIMMER IN: • • •
Once the swimmer has grasped the rope, they should hold it across their chest and swim on their back to keep their airway clear. Repacking: After use, repack the bag by stuffing it with handfuls of rope. Don’t coil the rope as this will cause kinks.
Repack a handful at a time.
Swim on back with rope held across chest.
THE CLEAN ROPE PRINCIPLE The Clean Rope Principle proposes that any loop or handle at the end of the throwline could potentially snag on objects. It is possible that during the course of a rescue, the handle could jam in a belay set-up or obstacles on the riverbank or riverbed. The principle states that no loop or handle should exist on the end of the rope furthest from the bag. All Palm throwlines have no loop or handle at the end of the rope. This means that all our throwlines adhere to the Clean Rope Principle helping increase your safety out on the river. Please bear in mind that tying knots in the rope will reduce it’s strength and can lower the breaking load by as much as half.
THROWLINE WAISTBELTS The SA510 Resuce Belt and SA456 Zambezi Belt are designed for carrying Palm throwlines around the waist for quick deployment when paddling or scouting. Care is needed to ensure the waistbelt is not pulled under the PFD when worn. When dressing to paddle, put the wasitbelt on last as this reduces the risk of it being hidden under the paddle jacket or PFD. Do not wear under the spraydeck.
TO DEPLOY THE THROWLINE:
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Release throwline attachment strap and unthread from beltloop so it is free to accept a throwline. Thread the strap through the loops on a compatible Palm throwline. Ensure the strap is threaded through the beltloop on the waistbelt to secure the throwline. Thread strap webbing through quick release buckle and close.
To attach a Palm throwline:
Thread compatible throwline onto attachment strap. Beltloop.
Attachment strap.
Pouch at back.
ENSURE THE QUICK-RELEASE BUCKLE IS AT THE FRONT AND EASILY ACCESSIBLE.
TO ATTACH A PALM THROWLINE:
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Wear around waist with quick-release buckle at front.
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The waistbelt allows quick and easy deployment of the throwline. Grasp the throwline with one hand. With the other hand, pull the ball on the attachment strap quick release buckle. Pull the throwline away from your body. The throwline will automatically unthread from the attachment strap. Throw the throwline as usual. To release the whole waistbelt, pull the ball on the main quick release buckle.
To deploy the throwline:
Pull ball to release.
Pull throwline from belt.