River Tips & Tricks

Floating the river can be a fantastic time if you do it right. There are major do's and don'ts that need to be known!

Tip 1: Less is better

Leave important things in your car, at home, or in the tent. 

ANYWHERE but the river.

Important things should include: Money, ID, phone,

camera(if not waterproof), nice shoes, clothing, good sun glasses

(get some cheap ones! Dollar tree usually has some) etc.

 basically do not bring anything that you do not want to lose. 

Tip 2: Keep it safe

If you do need to bring certain things with you, make

sure that they are secure. If it is absolutely necessary to

bring a phone or a camera with you I highly suggest 

a waterproof otterbox. 

One thing you most likely have to bring with you

is a car key. Try not to bring a battery powered

key/remote. One suggestion would be to tie the key (triple knot it!)

onto a bathing suit

Tip 3: DON'T litter

If you're bringing beer on the river, you are most likely going

to have a lot of trash. You can find a cheap mesh bag

at Wal-mart. Tie it onto your tube and there you go. 

Tip 4: Things to have

ROPE. If you have a group of people and y'all want to stay

together on the river, you need to bring rope. It's difficult

to stay together just by holding onto each other's tubes.

COOLER. Being in the sun in the middle of a river can be miserable

if you don't have the right equipment. Be sure to bring a cooler

as well as a separate tube for the cooler itself. Make sure

there is plenty of water inside and maybe some snacks.

RADIO. A radio is obviously not completely necessary but it

can be a lot of fun to have some tunes for the float.

Though they are not cheap, there are some awesome

coolers with waterproof speakers.

Tip 5: Save money as a frequent floater
If you only go to the river a couple of times a year it might be
easier to go to one of the multiple "rent-a-tube" places
on the river. If you go more than that, it would be smart to
buy your own tube and pump. Renting a tube can cost
$15 a person. I bought a tube from Academy for $12
as well as a pump for $20. I highly recommend an electric pump that
you hook up to your car to blow tubes up. It's pretty
difficult to drive around with tubes in your car. I don't know
how many tubes fly out of people's trucks on the highway.