Throw bag grab

Before you begin

• Before you get stuck into this activity, you could book a visit from the RNLI to learn about water safety.
• Check your throw bag is in good condition, with the rope securely attached.
• Get used to the way your throw bag works, as some examples look different to others, with extra handles and other attachments.
• Make sure you have the right length of rope in your throw bag for the area in which you’ll be working, when you take it out onto the water. It should comfortably reach the spot you’re throwing it to with some slack.
• A good knot to attach the line with is a bowline.

Run the activity

1. Show everyone the throw bag and explain what it’s for. Show everyone how to throw, catch and reel in the bag.

The bag is thrown underarm and once caught should be reeled in with the ‘z grip’. To take the z grip, start with your hands held around the rope with your thumbs pointed towards your body and knuckles to the sky. Then, turn your hands to point your thumbs to the sky and shorten the rope.

2. Begin the demonstration of how to use the throw bag. Start with the rope stuffed into the bag. Get everyone to stand in two lines facing one another with about three metres between them.

The demonstration is clearest if there’s between eight and 10 people working with one throw bag.

3. At one end of the line, a person should take the throw bag and throw it to the person opposite them. The person who catches it should coil the rope loosely rather than stuffing it back in the bag, before throwing it to the next person down in the opposite line.
4. Continue in this way until the throw bag reaches the end of the line.
5. When they’ve done this, have everyone take some steps back. There should now be six metres between the two lines. Repeat steps three and four.

You may need to move outside if you’re short on space.

6. Now, have everyone stand in a circle of diameter six metres and throw the bag to one another. When they throw, they should call the name of the person they’re throwing to. The person who catches the bag should reel in the loose rope using the z grip, with their thumbs pointed towards them and their knuckles pointed upward, rotating their hands and turning their thumbs upward to take in the slack. Then they should throw to the next person in the same way. Continue until everyone has had a chance to try the z grip.
7. If practising this rescue technique further on flowing water, like a river, here are the steps you should follow:

• • Throw the rope to a buoy or marker, rather than a person, as this is much safer.
  • The designated rescuer should stand on firm ground at the water’s edge.
  • The rescuer should check above them for obstructions like branches or power lines, and change their position if they see any.
  • Take the rope securely at about 1.2m from the free end and take the bag in the throwing hand.
  • Throw the bag underarm to the target in the water. If the target’s moving in the current, throw the bag slightly ahead of where it’s moving, so as not to hit it, but to drop into its path.
  • If the throw misses, the rescuer should quickly gather in the rope and coil it loosely, as it’d take too long to restuff the bag.
  • If the throw is on target, reel in the rope with the z grip and reset the throw bag for the next rescuer to try.