River Tracing Equipment Guide
An Introduction to River Tracing Equipment
General community consensus dictates that even on an easy trip, you should always have three essential pieces of safety equipment. This is the case even if you know the route, will have cell phone service throughout the trip, and rescue teams have easy access to the area.
If you are exploring or going on an expedition, you should be taking equipment with you that will keep you warm, safe, and buoyant in the case of an emergency. You might want to consider reviewing the river tracing gear list, and consider bringing equipment for technical river climbing and bivvy gear.
If you are looking for recommendations on where to purchase river tracing equipment in Taiwan, scroll to the bottom for recommended river tracing and canyoning equipment stores in Taiwan.
The 3 Essential Pieces of Equipment For Every Trace
If you’re headed to the river, even if only for an hour, you should carry three essential pieces of safety equipment.
a climbing helmet
a personal floatation device or PDF
a pair of river tracing shoes.
In Mandarin, these three pieces of equipment which might just save your life are known as “溯溪三寶”, which loosely translates to “the three essential pieces of river tracing equipment”. They will help you avoid the most common dangers encountered during a simple river trace. However, if you’re heading into the wilderness where there will be no cell signal, traversing technical terrain, or ambient temperatures are low, you will need to bring additional gear.
Climbing Helmet
A helmet helps to protect your head from falling rocks (only small ones) and other potential impacts during the trace. Helmets should be certified to either EN or UIAA standards (EN-12492 or UIAA-106), the global standards for climbing helmets. Occasionally, cycling helmets are substituted for climbing helmets when none are available. However, while the testing performed for cycling helmets is often more robust, the additional air holes may be large enough for small rocks to fall through, reducing their effectiveness.
Personal floatation device (PFD)
A personal floatation device adds buoyancy and helps to lock in body heat by blocking wind and reducing the amount of water flowing against your body. The added buoyancy is especially beneficial during long gorge swims with heavy packs. Also, in the event of a flash flood, increased buoyancy increases survivability by allowing you to save energy and focus on finding a way to exit the flow of water. Type III or Type V PDFs, the same kind that are used for whitewater kayaking, are the most practical for river tracing since their designs are less obstructive and allow for full range of motion of the shoulders. Optionally, inflatable PDFs offer the advantage of reduced weight and packability, but they need to be protected from abrasion by being worn on the inside of a rain shell.
Felt-bottom waders (also known as river tracing shoes)
Felt-bottom waders offer unbeatable traction on wet rock and moss-covered rock. They have good tracking on most dry rock and lack. The majority of creeks in Taiwan are filled with narrow gorges and numerous shaded sections where algae grows at a rapid pace, which makes wearing rubber-soled shoes (even Vibrams) precarious to say the least.
River Tracing Equipment Guide
Having a full set of river tracing gear—including clothing that is effective at retaining body heat while wet, emergency bivouac gear, and technical gear for rescuing teammates from water hazards—offers peace of mind when faced with rapidly changing environmental conditions (e.g. afternoon summer rains, the arrival of a sudden cold front).
Prolonged immersion in cold water combined with the high-level of physical exertion that is required when river tracing can quickly induce hypothermia. Creeks with shaded gorges or with consecutive swimming sections (e.g. Sanzhan South River in Hualien, Zhakong Creek in Wulai) can also feature water that is unexpectedly, and potentially, unbearably cold. Even during the summer, these gorges can quickly drain your body heat, and creeks at higher elevations can be cold enough to quickly induce hypothermia within minutes of submersion.
When cold, it’s easy to make mistakes and consequently become entrapped in river hazards, such as hydraulics and siphons, which are common in Taiwan’s talus-filled creeks. Teams should be prepared to rescue teammates from drowning without endangering the rescuers by carrying a throw rope and being versed in its usage.
The following is a discussion of equipment useful when going on technical river tracing trips or multi-day expeditions.
River Tracing Gear List
Clothing and Safety Equipment:
Helmet
Whistle
Neoprene / Power Stretch (Polartec fleece) / Finetrack
Felt-bottom Waders
Gloves (work or neoprene)
Personal Floatation Device (PDF)
Altimeter
Bags:
Waterproof Bag (see System A below)
Canyoning Bag / River Tracing Bag (see System B below)
Rescue-related:
Scuba Mask / Goggles
Throw Bag
Clothing for River Tracing
River tracing requires consecutive submersion in cold creek water. With each submersion your clothing will be flushed and re-saturated with fresh cold water, making heat-retention of paramount importance. In the hot and humid summer, there is a chance that running tights and rash guards may be enough. However, if you don’t know the route, or the weather is not-ideal, or you are at elevation, this may be a risky option.
There are generally three clothing systems for body-heat management while river tracing.
One method, favored by the older generation of river tracers, is to wear Polartec Power Stretch fleece as a base layer underneath rain jackets and rain pants. This system works because Power Stretch dries quickly upon leaving the water quickly regains its insulating properties. Rain gear serves to combat additional heat loss due to wind.
A more modern approach is Finetrack’s Water Layers. Finetrack is a Japanese company which specializes in designing and producing equipment specifically for river tracing. Finetrack’s solution is two skin-tight layers which function as a hybrid of fleece and neoprene. They do not absorb much water when submerged, and are quick to dry upon leaving the water. Both layers are covered with a strong DWR coating, which serves to expedite the drying of your skin. Compared to Power Stretch, Finetrack is warmed in water, however drying speed is comparable.
Finally, there is neoprene, the material that wetsuits are made from. Neoprene has one major disadvantage which is that it does not dry nearly as quickly as fleece or Finetrack making it stuffy for non-wet portions of river traces routes.
Comparison: Power Stretch vs Finetrack vs Neoprene
Power Stretch:
Power Stretch is a stretchy fleece material that is preferred by some river climbers in Taiwan for its ability to lightly insulate while submerged and quickly dry off once out of the water. Since certain river tracing routes might involve a lot of circumnavigation of obstacles and dry climbing, Power Stretch could be preferable to neoprene for its ability to dry quickly and curb evaporative cooling. Power Stretch is likely the cheapest option.
Finetrack:
Finetrack’s hybrid water layers like the Flood Rush and Rapid Rush blend the warmth of neoprene with the drying power of Power Stretch. They are also covered with a strong DWR coating which helps prevent flushing while submerged, and in turn, keeps the user warmer while in water. They excel in routes where prolonged cold-water exposure is guaranteed but dry sections are also plentiful. Finetrack is slightly more expensive because of the need to buy and wear several layers at once.
Neoprene:
When in doubt, or it’s extra cold out, layer neoprene and bring trash bags to keep warm. When dealing with prolonged cold-water submersion in gorges, or on waterfall pitches, or canyoning, there is nothing that can provide more guaranteed warmth than neoprene except perhaps a dry suit. Fast drying neoprene can be expensive. That being said, Taiwan actually manufactures much of the world’s wetsuits and it’s not that expensive to get a custom-made neoprene wetsuit produced locally.
Shoes for River Tracing
Felt-bottom waders can be found in most mountaineering stores in Taiwan. They are also one of two kinds of neoprene shoes which are sold in fishing supply stores. If purchasing from a fishing store, make sure you get the version that is just felt, not the studded-felt sole. Studs are meant to add traction when fishing, but they can negatively impact the traction of felt on smooth rock. Hightops are better than ankle boots for the additional protection and warmth that they offer.
Recommendations: Montbell makes an excellent split-toed felt-bottom river tracing shoe that is generally for sale only in Japan. The Yongyue brand is another solid option that is made in Taiwan.
Montbell River Tracing Shoes
Yongyue River Tracing Shoes
(note the lack of nails)
Bag Systems for River Tracing
There are two bag systems to consider when river tracing. The first and easiest is one single large dry-bag-style backpack (System A). This is likely the cheaper system. However, you will likely be forced to store wet gear and dry gear together inside, essentially negating the benefits and functionality of the “dry bag”. The preferred system (System B) is one or multiple dry bags contained in a larger self-draining bucket-style backpack. Canyoning backpacks are designed this way and are an excellent option. Hanchor, a Taiwanese homegrown climbing bag company has designed a bucket-style bag for river tracing as well. Barhar, a Chinese manufacturer, now also makes self-draining canyoning bags. The advantage of System B is that wet and dry items can be stored separately in the larger bucket bag. Other small items (bolt kit, throw rope, ropes, webbing, etc.) can also be stored in the larger bag for easier carrying.
Recommendations: Shawa makes reliable and cheap dry bags available in Taiwan through the Shawa web store. These can be used along or in combination with a self-draining bucket bag. Alternatively, Barhar makes large capacity dry bags. Rodcle, Hanchor and Barhar all make self-draining backpacks.
System A: Large Dry bag
For day trips and non-technical river traces, a single large dry bag is a simple and economical solution.
System B: Dry bag(s) + Self-draining Backpack
Hanchor makes the Xeno bag displayed above. Canyoning bags from Rodcle or any other company are also common options.
Technical River Tracing Gear List
White Water:
Personal floatation device (PDF)
Rope rescue knife
Climbing Gear / Ropes:
Harness (climbing or canyoning)
PAS (x2)
Rigging carabiners and slings
Descender
Ascenders (x2)
Static rope
Dynamic rope
Pitons
Cams/nuts
Friends
Hooks + aid ladder
Bivy Gear
Tarp
Cooking Equipment
Swiftwater Gear
A river-rescue knife is an essential piece of kit when working with ropes in water. Entanglement hazards are life-threatening situations which may end in drowning if a rescue knife is not readily available and the user is not trained in self-rescue.
Recommendations: The European canyoning organization CIC recommends the CKRT Bear Claw rescue knife.
Climbing Gear
More advanced river tracing routes will likely involve climbing over, around or to the side of obstacles in order to progress. Each member of a team should be equipped to create anchors, redirects, belay, ascend, and descend rope. Additional considerations include creating hauling systems, and passive and active protection.
Rappel Anchor
Slings are commonly used as rappel anchors while river tracing.
Floating Rope Usage
Floating rope is useful for securing sketchy crossings.
Bivouac Gear
River tracing requires heavy climbing gear and rock hopping. A tarp is an excellent option which helps to reduce weight and combat condensation-issues when sleeping in humid river valleys.
Likewise, lightweight pots and iso-butane stoves are crucial for saving weight, and the convenience of being able to warm up water on demand without having to get a fire going is likely to be much appreciated on colder days. That being said, Taiwan’s river valleys are often abundant in driftwood, and cooking over campfires is also popular.
Tarp Setup A
Floating Rope Guyline System
Floating rope can be combined with driftwood and temporary anchors to conveniently set up tarps.
Tarp Setup B
Tarps are minimalist setups that excel when space is limited.
Buying Equipment for River Tracing and Canyoning in Taiwan
Most items above can be bought at any of Taiwan’s numerous mountaineering stores or online a number of web stores. The Shawa web store is essentially a one-stop shop which offers locally-produced alternatives to imported climbing gear, as well as bolting supplies, cheap wetsuits, rain gear, dry kegs, rope bags, Rodcle bags, a variety of descenders suitable for white water, and more. Concordia is another large importer of rope access and climbing gear. More recently, the Canyon Torchlight Resource Agency has been designing descenders and ultralight canyoning ropes which can complete with releases by Glacier Black and CE4Y.
Online Stores:
Shawa Canyoning
Sells Rodcle bags and locally made hardware
Concordia
Official importer of CE4Y ropes and canyoning equipment
Canyon Torchlight Resource Agency
Ultralight canyoning ropes designed in Taiwan
Brick and Mortar Shops:
Taipei Shan Shui 台北山水
For general mountaineering gear; located just outside of Taipei Main Station. [GPS]
Ting San Iou 登山友
For ropes and technical gear; located next door to Taipei Shan Shui. [GPS]
Keepon Outdoor 登山補給站
For a larger selection of ultralight packs, and general mountaineering gear; located in Wanhua District. [GPS]
Bilingual River Tracing Glossary
When shopping, it might be helpful to consult this bilingual glossary of river tracing terms which covers common vocabulary in Mandarin and English.