First and foremost-you should get real on the water rescue training. You can get yourself in real trouble by reading an article online and going out to the river and practicing what you think you've "learned".

Having said that, I just picked up whitewater kayaking and haven't taken a rescue class yet. I'm a certified rescue scuba diver, and have taken some other basic rescue/first aid courses. Today I was in the shop looking at rescue pfds and noticed a metal piece that the belt was threaded through, just behind the plastic right hand quick release. Asked a store clerk and he said it was because the plastic buckle could break under a heavy load without it. Could someone explain to me how this works and when it needs to be used, I haven't seen this before, I've simply seen/used/been trained with a simple plastic belt release but they that was just carrying light loads (no live bait rescues, just hauling gear/dropping weight). Would a belt without the metal piece be sufficient to pull a capsized boat to shore?

Thanks much

Since your post has been up for a week with no reply, I'll attempt to jump in on this answer. However, I do so with the disclaimer that I do not own a 'rescue PFD', have never used one, but have seen them once or twice. (In twenty years of boating, I have been fortunate that there have only been one or two instances where I may have actually been able to put one to good use.)

Anyway, as I understand (and recall) the 'quick release' situation on these . . .
The concern is that under HEAVY load, any plastic buckle or release might break or jam. If it breaks, you lose the whole thing to the river when you DIDN'T want or need to. If it jams, you CAN'T release yourself from the tethered object when you DO need to.

A belt without the metal piece might be 'sufficient' to pull a capsized boat to shore, under the most favorable of conditions. However, say you are in your boat doing the towing, and the tethered object or the rope gets hung up on something and is completely snagged. If the 'quick release' fails, you are now just as 'snagged' as the rope and the tethered object. If you can't get the release to work, you had better be able to get to your knife (you DO carry one if you carry a rope, right!?!) and you better be able to hold onto it and be able to get to the rope and be able to cut the rope, or you're dead meat.

A plastic buckle or plastic release can be impossible to release under the forces a strong current will exert upon them. The metal releases (usually something like a metal ring with a metal pin, through which the tether is connected) will not fail, and will be able to be released even under quite substantial load.

It's all about reducing the risk of the 'worst case scenario'. Other arrangements might work fine a substantial percentage of the time. But you don't want to take any more chances than you have to in that situation, and the metal releases are just that extra 'margin of safety' against the worst case scenario.

Hope that helps. Otherwise, write back, or someone else may (eventually) have something to add.

Rob Smage
AW member since 1992, volunteer since 2000, Midwest Regional StreamTeam Editor

Hi Johna and rob

I have and have used a rescue vest for about 6 years. I recommend taking the ACA swiftwater rescue for recreational boaters. This is an 18 hour training and covers the basics, including how to use this vest.

Here is how the harness [ the quick release belt ] works.

As you are wearing the vest and looking down to thread the harness, It threads through to the left side, then through two loops in the back, between which a D ring lanyard can be attached. Then it comes around to the right side, and back to the front. This is where the metal piece is.

This is the load bearing mechanism of the harness. This provides the friction to hold the webbing in place under force. It works much like a bleay device such as an ATC or stitch plate.

The plastic quick-release mechanism merely holds the webbing in the position required to make the belay device work, and keep the webbing from slipping out.

When you pull the quick release open, the angle that the webbing is being held at changes, thus releasing the load on the metal plate.

happy paddling

Hey,

I'm a swiftwater rescue technician and paddler from the UK, quite simply the metal piece is threaded when the belt user is used as a belay/anchor and will NOT go in the water.

If you are on the end of a rope attached to your harness in the water you only use the plastic clip, it has enough strength to hold you against the force of water. And it can be released quickly and easily and won't jam.

Get on a safety course to learn exactly what to do!!!

Jay

Here's the guideline I go by:
Plastic for plastice (towing gear)
Metal for life (live bait, anchored belay, etc.)

Definitely take a course and test it out. As for plastic having the strength to hold you against the current, it obviously depends on the current and I really have no idea where the breaking point should be. Also, the quick release with the belt threaded through the metal should still be quick release. That being said, if the pressure on the webbing isn't enough to undo the buckle (and easy flowing class II usually isn't) you can easily pull the webbing out with your thumb in the front.

This is getting kind of wonky, though and maybe missing the point, which is that you should go find a class and after the class practice everything so you can figure it out yourself. I think the biggest danger of rescue vests is they seem better than they are. Don't depend on it to much and don't use it to put yourself into a situation you and your team can't readily get you out of.

Reading the posts, it is obvious just how many opinions there are on this subject. There is more than one way to skin a cat, or to drown. Just like the plethora of swiftwater technicians and instructors out there, I too teach swiftwater rescue and include the use of rescue vests. So naturally I would like to add a few points to the discussion.
1) the metal plate is not there to keep the plastic buckle from breaking, the loads it would take to break the plastic would be punishing enough to make you want to "blow out" long before the plastic failed.
2) remember that an 18 hour course is just that... minimal and not enough time to really train with advanced techniques such as live bait and v-lowers.
3) This is a KEY point and should be experimented with in a safe and controlled environment: If you need or want to blow out, YOU BETTER BE ABLE TO. It is better to have the system fail than to die, or be severely compromised. The quick release used alone can fail for various reasons, most often from not being securely closed and/ or brushing against it with your hand or the body of a victim you've come into contact with. If you thread the belt through both slots on the metal plate (from left to right, NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER double back by threading right to left), there is simply too much friction to blow out quickly and effectively. If you had too preform some crazy rescue where you would die if you blew out (really not a good idea... you are actually a mortal), then go through both slots on the metal plate and be prepared to possibly be badly damaged.
The best, safest and surest way I have used the belt out of dozens of practice sessions and rescue courses is to thread only through the first slot on the metal plate, this keeps the webbing from pulling too hard on the plastic quick release buckle (which has been demonstrated to fail by opening on its own under heavy current loads), it provides friction enough to at least slow down an unintended release while at the same time releasing fairly quickly when you want to get out of the system.
These jackets are worn by everyone and their grandmother lately, it's a real craze to be seen as a prepared yahoo. BE VERY CAREFUL if employing the belt, it takes a trained and effective team to manage the system and possible loads associated with it.
A swiftwater rescue class is a great idea, BUT it doesn't mean you are competent or ready to use such techniques. You've merely been introduced to them. Don't let heuristic decision making be your mistake (if you don't know what that means, look it up and take another swiftwater class in which the instructors understand what it is).

As the late great Jim Segestrom says, "train like you fight and fight like you train.
Experience is something we get ten minutes after we need it."

HARV