The new throwbag from Liquid Logic, aka the Speedloader, was billed as the best thing since the wheel with regards to the speed and ease of repacking the bag after use. After Colm at I-Canoe got a shipment in, I got a chance to put this product through it’s paces on a number of Swiftwater Rescue Courses I ran in March and April of 2010 in Co. Wicklow and Co. Clare.

As I run a number of SRT courses and thus use a lot of throwbags in demonstrating and instructing throwbag techniques I try to expose students to a variety of throwbags so they can make informed judgements about various pros and cons of the different bags; thus when a new bag comes on the market I try to ensure I have it for the next course. In the past this was the case with WRSI Hail Mary Bag and, now is the case the the LL Speedloader Bag.

Well, returning to the story: how does the bag fare in trials? In my personal opinion, like all throwbags and most gear I have used, it has its plus points and its minus points.

The most important factor in any bag is how well it throws and how accurately and true it sails to its intended target, and how well the rope tails out of the bag. On this I found the bag threw reasonably well, both underarm, sidearm and over arm, and true in comparison to most of the other bags used, yielding an average score of 7.5 / 10.

Turning to the major selling point of this bag the speed of repacking (hence the name: Speedloader) how good is this bag in comparison to most other bags? My answer is good but not as good as expected, yielding a score of 8/10. It was quick, and certainly far quicker and easier than most bags, but not much quicker than for example the HF Weasel. Maybe with more practice the speed maybe increased, but I found that you had to place it on the ground to reap the maximum benefits of a fast repack, whereas I could repack the HF Weasel almost as quickly still standing up.

The thickness of the round rope for me is the biggest drawback as it is not very user friendly, yielding a score of 6/10; it is a bit like handling cheese wire when the load comes on in comparison to some of the thicker and flatter ropes. However the thinner rope allows a greater length to be packed in a compact bag which means a greater range of people can more easily throw the bag to its full length; which is after all the most important factor. On the plus side the rope, for its diameter, seems stronger than some of the alternative bags with flat ropes, as well as some of the ‘larger’ diameter ropes giving larger, more unwieldy bags. On the negative side this rope is quite pricy, especially if cost is an issue, in comparison to some throwbags and this may be a deciding factor for some paddlers!

Overall I would score  this bag 7/10; it is a decent alternative to some of  the bags out there and is worth considering, especially for people with smaller hands as it’s lightweight, compact design means that it is easy to throw and easy to pack.

In the future I would like to see developments such as a thicker rope, although not at the expense of a too large a bag (there is a fine balance!) and a waist mounted belt system.

a few other considerations..

Personal Paddling Gear

• Drysuit or equivalent
• Thermals (possibly 2 sets)
• Warm socks / neoprene socks
• Footwear
• USCG approved B. Aid, preferably with a harness and cow’s tail…towing a boat if needed will probably be the quickest way to get a boat to shore after a rapid; it will be hard to bulldoze a boat in whilst in a rapid…the nature is pool / drop…
• Sling and Krabs (optional I would say as the chances of getting a kayak pinned are remote and the raft will be equipped with safety lines / flip lines etc)
• Spraydeck
• Paddle
• Helmet
• Throwrope….although how much use they will be is debateable
• Pogies or decent neoprene gloves maybe a good call as headwinds for 4-5 hours / day can be tough on the hands

Personal Off River Gear

• Headtorch
• Camera + batteries (hopefully most people will have small enough cameras to fit into B. Aids)
• Hat, Gloves
• Spare warm socks
• Warm trousers, tops
• Warm jacket, preferably down jacket as they pack up smaller and weigh less
• Rain jacket and pants
• Shoes, preferably ones you can hike in, unless you want to use river shoes to hike
• Sleeping bag plus compression sac
• Thermarest
• Passport (needs to be brought on the river in case requested by Rangers and needs to be shown to Ranger at Lees Ferry)
• Watch / clock / phone (there is no coverage in the Canyon) with alarm so you can get up in morning
• Small dry bags
• Sunglasses
• Possibly chill out footwear, such as crocs, flipflops for some camps, shorts?

(remember to pack as light as possible; less is more! Or we tend to overpack!)

Camping Gear

• Tents, preferably shared between 2 people

Other Gear

• Soap / shampoo
• Camp towel

Other info:

• You may have noticed that there is no First Aid Kit in personal paddling gear. We will have a major and a minor first aid kit from the Outfitter and Stu is supposed to be looking after another minor F.A.K., which will be sufficient. If you want to bring a thing personal first aid bits and pieces, such as compeed, lipsalve, suncream, pills then that would be a good idea
• I will be bringing a spare paddle and a good set of splits, which is sufficient for our needs (we need to spares)
• We need to spare USCG B. Aids…I have a spare and when we see what B. Aids we have between us if we are short we can slways hire an extra off Brady
• I am also going to bring a good spare drycag and drypants in case of a seal etc breaking on anyone.It maybe an idea for someone to get hold of a spare seal kit
• I will be bringing my GPS which already has all coordinates for camps and rapids for the Grand Canyon, along with our river map / guide books which have notes / info from insider knowledge from last year. I will also be bringing a Grand Canyon Hiking Book
• If anyone has a solar charger with fittings for phones, cameras etc then please bring along
• Any spare clothes etc that may be worn in and around Flagstaff can be left with the Outfitter in Flagstaff etc
• Brady will supply Bill’s Bags for personal gear for the trip. This also makes it easier to pack the raft with all bags being the same
• If we take two rafts then space isn’t an issue; however if we take 1 raft as a cost issue then space is an issue: we will have to travel a little lighter, cut down on luxuries, reduce / get rid of altogether any alcohol if this is on people’s radars, get more people sharing a tent and share the Bill’s Bags (ie 1 bag for 2 people)…
• Any questions please get in touch etc
• I know it’s short notice, but if possible would people be interested in meeting up beforehand?If so let me know

Finally….

• All being well with BA most of us leave Dublin at 6.40 (apart form Aisling who leaves a little later that morning) so we need to collate paddles and pack them into 2 bags. We will be using Fran’s which can take about 6 or so plus a little padding and apparently Aisling has a bag to take about 5. These two bags will suffice for all paddles, but mean that whoever checks in the paddle bags in lieu of a ski bag can then only check in one other bag so we will need to share a bit of space. Myself and Fran will get by on 3 bags between the two of us plus the paddle bag easily enough but Aisling may have to put some stuff into some other bags etc; in any case we do need the paddles, ideally before hitting the airport…