Believe it or not, there was a time before cam straps.
While they’re now used by 99 percent of paddlers to secure their boats to vehicles, they were brought into the river world from the multi-day raft guiding world. Their popularity effectively killed a prominent and meaningful tradition known only to older raft guides.
Cam strap manufacturer Ancra was granted a patent on its now ubiquitous buckle in 1972, but it was another 15 years before the buckles became small enough and cheap enough to be used by river guides. Before that, raft guides rigged with two-inch tubular climbing webbing—one end was girth hitched to a D-ring, while the running end threaded through the frame, dry bags and coolers. The webbing was soaked in the river overnight so it would stretch when cranked down with a trucker’s hitch, and when it dried it would shrink and tighten the load into bombproof rigging (even today, some big water guides opt for webbing on the biggest days). Guides’ hands were always cracked and raw from pulling on wet, silty webbing. Even worse, when it was time to de-rig at camp each night, the knots were locked in place. Every guide carried pliers—channel locks from the hardware store, nothing fancy—to unstick tight webbing knots.
Angled head or straight was a matter of preference and an eternal fireside debate. The pliers also found use on gritty air valves, Dutch oven cooking and repairing tent zippers. Every guide wore them in a holster on a belt…
This article originally appeared in Rapid, Summer/Fall 2013. To read the rest of this article, download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.
