Directional Figure 8  The Directional 8 or in line 8 is one of several knots in the family of eights. It is tied in the middle of a line for an attachment point intended to bear a load that is unidirectional [in line with the direction of pull]. Check out the step by step photos...

We braved the early winter weather that came through the Sierra Nevada this week, and had a great few days training on the Truckee River and the surrounding mountains.  We had two students all the way from Argentina joined by a few other folks from various parts of California's fire rescue. Rain snow or shine,...

How does Sierra Rescue do it?  One would expect that February in the foothills of Central California would be cold and possibly raining.  Most of the time they would be right but this year during our Technical Rope Rescue course in Knights Ferry, CA we were lucky enough to have 70 degree sunny days the...

Fun, professional people + 4 out of 5 days of sunny beautiful weather + Sierra Rescue trailer full of ropes, harnesses and hardware = February 2012 TRR!  It is hard to imagine a better scenario then what we had during the Feb. 2012 TRR.  Thank you all for making things run smoothly.  8 out of 10 students wanted...

Happy New Year! There are thousands of knots out there and while that simple fact can be overwhelming, in swiftwater rescue we use surprisingly few. Knowing how to tie, and when to use the right knot can be a big help in swiftwater rescue scenarios. Please don’t heed the advice of “if you don’t know...