Thread: River walking. How?

Here's a real foreigner question.

Walking up (and down) rivers.

In another thread I was looking for some nice multi-day armed tramps to do. One came up with a bunch of river walking.

Having spend Saturday falling around the Kaniwhaniwha making arse of myself and scaring trout, I'm wondering how you walk rivers with a heavy pack/firearm?

Do you just step in with your boots on and get on with it?

Can't see Croc'ing it being a viable option?

Make sure you can get pack off fast and easy before heading into a river...

Originally Posted by davetapson

Do you just step in with your boots on and get on with it?

Yep !!

Boots that drain easily are a good idea.
As are walking poles with rubber feet

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Unless alpine hunting it used to be that if you had dry feet you weren't really hunting . . . Wear your boots. Im not sure where Blip is coming from but if you do arse up be bloody sure you hang onto your pack, it's your best flotation and at least in the big Sth Is rivers I've had difficulties with, will save your life.

I keep boots on, but am aware of vibram soles as they can be slippery when wet. I kept my pack on, but undo waist strap in case of an arse up. If using a pole for support, have it on upstream side so water pressure forces it down.
I recall in the late 60’s a mate drowned crossing the Tongariro river. As a non swimmer, he kept his pack on and tied himself to an inner tube. Got upended, with the tube acting as buoyancy and the pack full of meat as a lead keel.

Yes, unless it's winter and dry boots are required for survival just walk through.

What Blip is referring to is ensuring you unclip your waist and chest straps so you can escape from your pack if it gets caught up on something and holds you under water.

A good pack liner keeps your gear dry if you arse up and makes your pack float like Tentman said.

Try getting your boots wet at home first. When my otherwise excellent boots get soaked, they develop a very annoying squeak. I really don't need a hunting handicap!

There's a good book on the topic ...


We can't go over it.
We can't go under it.
Oh no!
We've got to go through it!

Originally Posted by Tentman

Unless alpine hunting it used to be that if you had dry feet you weren't really hunting . . . Wear your boots. Im not sure where Blip is coming from but if you do arse up be bloody sure you hang onto your pack, it's your best flotation and at least in the big Sth Is rivers I've had difficulties with, will save your life.

What rumpy said

There's a fella in a famous book does it really well.

Walking poles and rifle strapped to the back pack

Originally Posted by RUMPY

Yes, unless it's winter and dry boots are required for survival just walk through.

What Blip is referring to is ensuring you unclip your waist and chest straps so you can escape from your pack if it gets caught up on something and holds you under water.

A good pack liner keeps your gear dry if you arse up and makes your pack float like Tentman said.

Pack very nearly killed my wife in 2013, went tits up in the Okuku river after heavy rain (we shouldnt have been crossing it to begin with..) and the combination of panic, cold hands and the violent nature of the water meant she couldnt get it off, it floated, but was on her back and was forcing her under the water, I have never scrambled so hard in my life but managed to get a hold of it and drag her out, still dont know to this day how I managed that but it was just the begining of a complete fuck up that ended in getting dragged out of there by LandSAR

I have the Canterbury Environment River Flow data on my phone. I always check it at home before hunting up rivers. After many trips you get to know what the limit is for certain rivers. Plus it saves you fuel driving there only to find out its a bit too high.

I found you just have to bite the bullet and accept you will get wet and cold feet from the start. Take it slow and methodical. There's no hurry. This is if you are stalking up said river possibly expecting to see a deer.

Bullers and put motorcycle studs in them. Makes a difference. No diving when you hit weedy and slimey rocks. Will find link.

https://www.dkmfishing.nz/orvis-wadi...-in-studs-24pk

These but I bought 1k from USA. Dude on TM sells them but inflated price. Need glue to fix them in when you screw them in.