Over the years, I’ve seen the Clean Line Principle evolve into simply the “Clean Principle.” The Clean Principle directs paddlers to actively identify and mitigate potential entrapment hazards on our Personal Flotation Device (“PFD”) or equipment.

As I travel and paddle, I still hear stories of entrapments and near-miss situations which could have been avoided by applying the Clean Principle.

Below, I’ll give a few illustrative examples and discuss solutions to avoid them.

Open-Gate Carabiners

Open-gate carabiners attached to rafts, PFDs, or around the waist, are one of the biggest entrapment hazards.

The video below has been on YouTube for a while. In it, the guide falls back onto an open gate carabiner securing his throwbag to the raft. The carabiner attaches to his PFD, locking the guide and raft together as it surfs the hole. This could have been very nasty.