Tried a new lift bag setup on a salvage job and it went sideways fast

We were pulling a small crane off a river bottom near Pittsburgh last month, water was maybe 30 feet deep. My boss got this new double-chamber lift bag system, said it would give us more control. First chamber filled fine, but when I hit the valve for the second one, the whole thing shot up like a rocket. It ripped the rigging right out of my hands and the crane slammed back down, kicking up a huge silt cloud. Took us an extra two hours to find and re-secure everything in zero viz. Learned that new gear needs a real shallow water test run, not a trial by fire on the actual job. Anyone have a go-to method for checking new lift gear before you commit it to a dive?

4 comments

4 Comments

logan_wells2mo ago

Tell me about it, had a bag roll once in a current.

gray8752mo ago

Yeah @logan_wells, that "spinning" part sounds like the worst lol.

king.eric1mo ago

Wait, did yours actually flip over completely like a roll? I had that happen with a dry bag on the Ocoee a few years back and I thought I was gonna lose it. The trick that worked for me was keeping a tight grip on the main handle but also using my paddle to push the bag back against the current until I could get it lashed down. It was sketchy though, I definitely learned to clip my bags in better after that.

leewalker2mo ago

That exact thing happened to me on the Colorado last summer, @logan_wells. My dry bag got pulled under and started spinning. I had to swim hard downstream to catch up with it. Grabbing the shoulder strap was useless, so I went for the main bag handle instead. Took a lot of effort to drag it back to the kayak and get it secured again.