Each Reach Safety System comes with the patent-pending Reach Device, 60' of specially designed 2,000-lb.-test polypro/spectra floating rope, and the advanced Reach Throwbag. Also included are a web sling for securing the Reach to a strong swimmer's belt, the Reach Capture Plate, the Capture Ball, two line clips, and an instructional DVD.

The Reach System comes with extensive instructions in writing and on DVD.

The Reach System consists of three main components: a small, specially designed throwbag, 60 feet of strong spectra/polypro floating rope, and the revolutionary Reach Device™ (patents pending). The Reach is an elegant mechanical device with one simple yet important job: securely capture another line from afar. When the Reach Device is thrown across any line, rope or cable, it will Cross, Clip & Capture™ that line as securely as a carabiner. The entire system (which weighs less than 1.5 pounds) is easily attached to each individual's PFD, belt, or boat.

If a team member falls into the water, gets pinned or entrapped, or is swept downstream, he or she detaches their Reach Throwbag and releases it (in swiftwater), or throws it overhand like a football (in open water). This feeds out the rope and provides a long tag line to the victim. Other team members become instant rescuers, throwing their own Reach Device anywhere across the victim's line. When a rescuer cross-clips the victim's tag line, they can immediately pull the victim out of danger, bringing them back to the boat or over to shore.

The Reach can be used to clip any line with an object at the end, including a buoy, throwbag, another boat, a fixed line overhead, or even bushes near the shoreline. The Reach is intuitive to use, but as with any new tool, training and practice are required.

For more info check out the manufacturer's website at: www.crosslinesolutions.com

New Product Review: The Reach Rescue System

by Jim Segerstrom

Published in Technical Rescue Magazine, Issue 41

During the past 25 years of teaching swiftwater rescue, we have come up against numerous rescue problems that were difficult to solve. Through collaborative research, discussion and experimentation, we eventually solved them. We dealt with the early safety and rescue issues by developing new equipment and techniques, and technology has evolved to continually support our efforts to meet thorny challenges. Few problems remain unsolved.

One problem that has remained unsolved until now is the recurring issue of "grabbing" a line floating in the current. Many rescue evolutions and practices have faltered because we haven't been able to get a rope across the river or around somebody or something. As a result, events grind to a halt when we find ourselves (well trained and superbly equipped) stymied and teased by a rope or a victim floating out in the middle of the river, at times only dozens of feet away, but what might as well be miles.

Michael Croslin is a physician, inventor, and one of the founding members of Rescue 3. He was an early instructor and course developer of the Swiftwater Rescue Technician training program (with this author), and he is a relentless problem solver. While developing rope-based evolutions for Rescue 3, he brought the strong swimmer belt from Europe in the early ‘80s and helped develop the current series of solutions now taught in swiftwater rescue programs for entrapments and kayak pins. He has never been satisfied with the time required to safely execute them. This problem continued to haunt him until he invented a solution. His new product, the Reach Rescue System™, solves these problems, and expands our ability to rescue people under the most difficult circumstances.

The patent-pending Reach Rescue System is unique and multi-purpose device that solves many floating line problems as well as providing a significant increase in personal safety and rapid rescue for kayakers, high-risk creek boaters, and swiftwater rescue teams. Michael is now working with other rescue experts to adapt the device for use in power boat and helicopter rescue operations, as well as other marine applications.

The Reach Rescue System consists of three parts: the mechanical Reach Device™, a strong spectra/poly 6mm floating line, and a 3-function (throw/escape/reach) bag that can retrofit onto any lifejacket, strong-swimmer belt, or can stand alone. The system can be used in multiple ways:

1. It can be used as a basic, but much improved, throwbag. The light spectra/poly line and the design of the bag allows it to be thrown like a football, assuring a far more accurate and longer toss than most bags. It has a built-in prussic device for ease of handling and hauling. In this case, the Reach Device is held and the bag is thrown. The bag also has an adjustable tow/tether feature at the base of the bag which is easily accessible and continuous with the main tow line, and a small daisy-chain webbing runner that allows the entire system to be anchored off. The bag is small and light, yet re-stuffing is easy with a unique zipper-gusset system.

2. The Reach Device is a small mechanical tool that is designed to clip any line it crosses. When thrown across a line and hauled back, the device clips the line it crosses as securely as a carabiner so that the floating line can then be pulled to shore. For instance, in a situation where rescuers are trying to get a line from bank to bank in distances of more than 75 feet, the person on one side can throw their bag as far as possible, and the person on the other side merely crosses that line with theirs. When it clips, you have a secure line across the river up to 100 or more feet across. The device is small – it fits inside a coffee cup – and is collapsible. It springs open when deployed, and can be thrown with the same accuracy as a baseball. Not only does the device grab lines, it captures them securely. If the line that is grabbed has any type of stopping mechanism at the bitter end, such as a the Reach System's built-in capture plate, a throwbag, buoy, or even a large knot, the secured line can be hauled safely.

3 If a trapped boater (pinned in a kayak, foot entrapped, etc.) jettisons their bag, the floating line and bag deploy downstream – up to 65 feet. The Reach Device stays attached to the victim's strong swimmer's belt, (photo), and those on shore or in another boat throw their Reach Device across the floating line. The Reach Device clips the line, captures it, and the rescuer has a secure line to the victim with which to quickly assist their escape.

Croslin calls his technology Secure Line Capture, and he uses the phrase “Cross-Clip-Capture™” to explain the 3-step process of the invention. Using this revolutionary but elegant technology, numerous new rescue scenarios have been worked out, such as the one-sided rescue of a person caught in the middle of moving water. When a throwbag is thrown upstream past the victim, the line is then left dangling downriver. Now, with the Reach Device, you can securely grab the rope and bring it to shore, giving you a line looped around the victim. One can also perform a self-rescue or self-belay below a rescue site by simply setting up a fixed line along a longshore eddy. When the free swimmer tosses his Reach Device across the fixed line, whether the line is floating in or strung above the water, he or she can “self-capture.”

Other established evolutions in swiftwater rescue will need to be revised to reflect this new technology which speeds deployment and execution. Michael admits that there are scores of other scenarios in which the Reach Rescue System will be useful, such as solo self-belay tool for stream crossings, a new tool for flood canal rescue, and to enhance swimmer recovery during those deadly high water swims. But doubtless there will be kayakers, guides, and rescue teams who will add other valuable techniques as they apply their minds to the many uses of this new technology. Most importantly, it becomes a powerful tool for self-belay, self-rescue, and to enhance rescuer safety. The Reach Rescue System will quickly become a standard piece of swiftwater rescue gear – as important and essential as the life jacket and helmet.