Black Mirror

$300 for Everything! (2 amps, 12" sub, box and capacitor)

$90 for Audiobahn A8002V - 200 watts x 2

$90 for Audiobahn A8000V - 400 watts x 1 @ 4ohm, 800 x 1 @ 2ohm

$160 for Audiobahn 12AWESP 12" Eternal Series Subwoofer, box and capacitor

Questions? Want to see it in person? Call or text 208-598-1898 or email mcdannel@gmail.com.

Audiobahn 12AWESP 12" Eternal Series Subwoofer

• 12" Dual 4 Ohms Eternal Series Subwoofer
• Power Handling:
  • Peak: 2200 watts
  • RMS: 1100 watts
• Impedance: Dual 4 ohms
• 3-Layer poly cellulose core cone woofer
• Woofer surround type
• Multi-connect lug lock terminals
• Chrome plated 3-dimensional cast aluminum basket
• Dual voice coil wound on black anodized aluminum former
• Flat progressive NOMEX Spider
• Aluminum basket and magnet mesh cover
• 180 oz. Strontium magnet
• Frequency response: 18-500 Hz
• Sensitivity: 92 dB

Audiobahn A8000V Intake Series MonoBlock Amplifier

• mono subwoofer car amplifier
• 400 watts RMS x 1 at 4 ohms (800 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms)
• 2-ohm stable
• variable low-pass filter (50-120 Hz, 18 dB/octave)
• bass boost (0-18 dB at 45 Hz)
• variable subsonic filter (20-50 Hz)
• selectable phase shift switch (0 or 180 degrees)
• cooling fan with air intake
• built-in digital voltmeter
• MOSFET power supply
• preamp- and speaker-level inputs
• preamp outputs
• fuse rating: 30A x 2
• 4-gauge power and ground leads recommended — wiring and hardware not included with amplifier
• 11-1/8"W x 2-5/16"H x 13-3/8"D

Audiobahn A8002V Intake Series 2-Channel Amplifier

• 1600W Max , Intake Series 2-Channel Amplifier
• RMS Power Output:
  • 200 watts x 2 chan. @ 4 ohms
  • 400 watts x 2 chan. @ 2 ohms
  • 800 watts x 1 chan. @ 4 ohms Bridged
• Max Power Output: 1600 watts @ 2 ohms
• Class A/B MOSFET Circuitry
• PWM MOSFET Power Supply
• Non-regulated Power Supply
• Semi-double Sided Glass Epoxy Circuit Board
• 4-way Protection Circuitry: Thermal, Short Circuit, Overload and DC Offset
• Air Induction Cooling Fan
• Soft Start Circuitry
• Cobalt Blue Illumination
• Speaker level (high-level) inputs
• Preamp outputs
• Nickel-Plated Block Terminals
• Bass Boost Control: On/Off (0 or +18dB)
• Optional Remote Bass Control (Audiobahn ABR100T VERSION 2 sold separately)
• Digital volt-meter display on amplifier and the ability to have an optional Remote-mount Digital Volt-meter display (Audiobahn ADM100T VERSION 2 sold separately)
• Variable Low-Pass Crossover: 50-120Hz
• Variable High-Pass Crossover: 50-750Hz
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 100dB
• Frequency Response: 10Hz-40kHz
• Variable Subsonic Filter: 20-50Hz
• THD: 0.02%
• Input Sensitivity: 200mV-8V
• Dimensions: 11-7/8"L x 11-1/16"W x 2-1/8"H
• 
  

Questions? Want to see it in person? Call or text 208-598-1898 or email mcdannel@gmail.com.

UPDATE: From the IWA

Recently, a proposal was made to remove a rock from Staircase Rapid on the South Fork of the Payette. In response to the large amount of public concern and debate over this issue, the Idaho Whitewater Association has scheduled a public forum to enable the proponent and the public to discuss this issue.

The forum will be Monday October 11^th at 7:00pm. The location will be Cascade Outfitters, 604 E. 45th Street , Boise, Idaho 83714

UPDATE: Word is the permit has been revoked!

Tom Long of Cascade Raft and Kayak has obtained a permit to remove a rock from Staircase rapid on the SF Payette river. We need public input on this. There has not been any public input yet, so here is a good place to start. And spread the word.

I'm extremely opposed this. One person should not get to decide to make river stream modifications. Staircase is a great rapid - probably my favorite class IV in Idaho. I ran it 20 times just this year. Opening the left channel will make it dangerously close to a class III - we already have plenty of class III's on the Payette. Nobody should be able to craft their own rapids. I think the stated reason for obtaining the permit is that this is a public safety hazard. There is a clean line down the center of the rapid that completely avoids the rock in jeopardy. I rarely run the left entry in staircase, but even when I do, I've never had trouble navigation around this feature.

We (the boating public) need to take a stand. This could set a horrible precedent. What's next? The rock that forms "seymour hole" in slalom? The onto the NF Payette- making it just a steep canal?

Speak up, spread the word.

The public forum is set for 7:00pm Monday October 11^th at Cascade/Maravia.

Here are some photos of the rock(s) in question:

Cascade's number is 800-292-7238 or 208-793-2221. I know most of the Long family is out of town during tom@cascaderaft.com

Cascade R&K on Facebook

Show your support by using this image as your profile pic (facebook, twitter, etc).

6 catarafts, 1 truck, 7 guys (6 boaters and a shuttle driver).

The Ledge

We scouted the ledge, ran the left slot, then moved HARD to the right. I'll post photos as soon as Jerry decides to share them. You can see this rapid in Steve's video below.

Half Mile

I followed Craig through this long class IV rapid. I entered very relaxed and now realize I was too relaxed. I relied on the boat in front of me to show me the line. While Craig had a clean line, I just didn't put the effort into my run to copy. I had an oar pop out in the first drop after hitting a decent sized hole. I probably should have missed it, but I was lazy. I ended up on river right through the second part of the drop. Craig signaled to get left, but it was too late for me. I tried, but ended up hitting a hold, poping my oar AGAIN, and then running the right side backwards. It wasn't that big of a deal, I came out just fine. But it was a reminder that I need to be on my A-game in that kind of water.

Widowmaker

Widowmaker is the scariest rapid I've ever scouted. The line we all chose to run invovled a ferry across 2/3s of the river right above one of the biggest, steepest, deepest holes I've seen. That hole looked BAD from the scout. Check out the videos below.

Steve's Boat-mounted-camera Video

My Video of the first group

Craig's Video of all 6 runs

6 clean runs. BTW - clean means upright and in control IMHO. So, even though Mark had a rough entry, and a few of us hit the bottom hole, it was a successful run. Massive celebration was enjoyed during the entire float out to Rome.

Trip Photos

Lessons Learned from Murtaugh Incident

Here are the lessons learned that were developed from the accident on the Murtaugh stretch of the Snake River that claimed the life of Dirk Gombert last April.  The accident occurred in a rapid commonly referred to as "hooker ledge, " which is located just upstream of the more commonly known rapid "let's make a deal."  The raft entered a ledge reversal after the shaft on one of the oars was broke on a submerged rock just above the reversal.  Three of the rafters were able to escape from the raft/reversal, but Dirk did not.   Note:  This analysis does not attempt to identify all of the precautions/activities done successfully (e.g. wearing life jackets, having appropriate skill/experience, etc.), but is intended to identify items for consideration that might be helpful to others on future rafting adventures.

• Remove damaged equipment from primary service: The root cause of the accident was equipment failure - specifically the oar shaft failed/broke when it struck a submerged rock above the reversal.  It is not clear if this was caused by a defect or a previous stress point.  The oar had been used for several years without difficulty.  Nevertheless, the lesson learned here is that if an oar shaft gets bent or damaged, depending on the severity, it is advisable to replace the oar, or secondarily, downgrade it to a spare.    
• Use traditional routes whenever possible. A contributing cause may have been route selection.  While the route selected was not a difficult route (perhaps Class III), it was not the traditional (far right) route and may have been more difficult (e.g. more submerged rocks).  Furthermore, although the traditional route may have had similar dangers, following a traditional route may improve chances of getting help from others.  (Note that help from others did not occur until after the drowning.  Also note that the route was discussed prior to entry into "hooker ledge," but due to concerns over getting back to the left half of the river for "let's make a deal" and that this center route was previously run successfully, the traditional route was not selected.)
• Have redundant rescue gear for challenging rivers. A contributing cause was related to rescue gear.  The throw-bag with the rescue rope got tangled up with some other gear attached to the front/inside D-ring of the raft.  When it was freed, it was inadvertently washed from the boat due to the violent nature of the reversal.  Perhaps a second/redundant rescue rope (e.g.next to the oarsman's seat) may have allowed a rope to be lowered to their fellow rafters (now rescuers) below.
• Identify alternative medical treatments for remote locations. Another contributing cause may be related to medical treatment.  When the victim flushed from the reversal, mouth-to-mouth was immediately started and CPR was started as soon as possible thereafter.  While a defibrillator may have saved his life, its doubtful these would be considered standard river rescue/medical gear.  But perhaps the "old" technique involving a good thump to the chest might have helped get his heart started.   (The question here is whether the medical community has abandoned a technique due to past problems and/or new technology that is perhaps applicable under abnormal/remote situations.  Note that the medical profession must make this call and that a doctor was on the scene shortly after he flushed from the reversal and this technique was not used.)  
• Rehearse self-rescue techniques.  Another potential contributing cause may have been self rescue.  It is not clear whether the victim used, or attempted to use, the textbook self rescue technique to allow the reversal to take you down and then flush you out below the boil-line.  The victim was well aware of this technique but for any number of reasons (e.g. exhaustion), may not have been able to effectively use it - or perhaps did attempt to use it, but was unsuccessful.  The lessons learned here is that this technique goes against a person's general survival instincts (to keep their head above water) and should be premeditated and at least mentally rehearsed to improve success.
• Consider sequential jumping from raft when abandonment is last resort (situational dependent).  Yet another potential factor was simultaneous jumping from the raft.  However, due to the personal and situational dynamics involved, these types of judgements will necessarily be situationally dependent.  In this case, they collectively decided to jump together.   Although unknown, the rebound of them jumping together or respective locations on the raft may have affected the victim's ability to jump beyond the boil-line.  (Note: Jumping was done as a last resort.  They had no more oars to help free them, no rescue/throw rope, hypothermia was starting to take affect, one person had already been flushed out below the reversal and was safe, and there was no sign of help from anyone upstream.)   Furthermore, had they each jumped separately, it is also quite possible that the final jumper would have been flushed from the raft prior to jumping as this had already happened several times and getting back into the raft alone was highly improbable.  These factors all led to the decision to jump together.  
  

The following are items discussed as good practices, but did not contribute to the fatality:

• Wear proper gear.   Dry suits should always be considered for spring floats on Class IV or higher rivers, despite warm air temperatures.  (Note: The victim had on a dry suit with all new gaskets, but some of the other rafters only had wet suits or splash gear.)  The splash gear on one of the rafters was not tight around the waist and had velcro ankle wraps that were snugged up.  When she washed into the river, they filled with water making it difficult to pull her back into the boat.  (They were eventually cut-off.)  Also, it seems the life vest she was wearing, although appropriate for whitewater, did not readily allow tightening below the rib cage tending to make it ride too high when in the water and potentially coming off (which did not happen in this case).    
• Equip for emergencies. While personnel on the trip were trained in CPR and the victim received the aid of a passer-by medical doctor, knowledge on proper medical techniques, rescue tools/equipment, spare dry clothing, etc. are important.  Resist the temptation to leave this type of gear behind or postpone getting the training.  For example, the other 3 rafters were very wet/cold and had additional dry clothing not been provided by the passer-by kayakers, hyperthermia may have become an issue.
• Inform news media. While perhaps seemingly bothersome at the time, ensuring the news media has an accurate account of the event can preclude mis-information reaching the family and the public.  In lieu of a first-hand account, the media will seek out whomever they can and these individuals often provide inaccurate speculation about what happened, how and why.
  

Additional Thoughts

Don’t allow excess air in your dry suit – you need to squeeze it out periodically and after any zipping.
Make sure your dry suit is in very good shape. They can save your life if they are in good shape. Blown gaskets, holes, or improper fitting can be very dangerous. The suit Dirk was wearing WAS in great shape, there may have been excess air in it – although it could have been a result of all the movement while stuck in the hole.

I wore my dry suit over 20 days this year, and so did most of the people I boat with. I consider them to be as important as a PFD during spring boating. I almost didn’t put mine on that day because it was so warm. I’m very glad I did. Even if you think you won’t swim, dress for it – you may end up in the water for a number reasons besides falling out of your own boat. Dress to swim, always.

Another thing we should consider in the future is maintaining position on the water. Smaller Catarafts and Kayaks can sometimes get to tricky places or eddy out quickly above an accident. So, kayakers first, if available, then have the strongest boater lead, second strongest trail. This was an important rule we followed very closely on my high-water middle fork trip. Others on the river that week had a lot of trouble, but we were prepared and avoided any carnage, partially due to our focus on position. This may not have helped on the Murtaugh, but is more of a general “best practice” for running challenging water.

I’ve also added a permanent small dry box (pelican case #1450) to my boat. I will keep first aid, crib cards (for rescue/cpr), a set of thermal clothes, tools, and then have room for other important things I don’t want to lose (keys, ipod, wallet, etc. :)

I’ve seen and been involved in a few accidents on the river since this. Most of these accidents are very different to the one we experienced because they are the result of people doing something dumb or not wearing a PFD. Others, like the Murtaugh accident and the kayaker that got pinned on the EFSF Salmon, are more a result of something going wrong (broken oar, missed stroke, etc) during a challenging run. I think it’s important to make a distinction between the two types of accidents. The lessons learned are very different.

February 13-15, 2010

Well, after bugging Steve for months to get an Illinois trip together for this winter, we committed to President's Day Weekened. We left Boise Friday afternoon and drove 10 hours to Medford - well, Central Point - where we stayed with Jake & Maryanne who would join us for the trip. Or were we joinging them? Brandon - a kayaker with some rafting experince - also met us that evening after his drive from Portland. It would be Jake and Maryanne on their 14' Hyside, Brandon on one of Jake's other boats (he has a respactable fleet)  - a 12' NRS Otter, and Steve and I each had our 12.5' Sotar catarafts.

After a 5:00 PST wakeup, coffee, breakfast burritos from the corner store, ATM, a final stop for the permit at Ray's Market, we turned down the Illinois Road. The gauge read 3300 with a peak, a dip, then another peak forecasted during our 3-day, 2-night trip. I was hoping for flows in the 1500-2500 range, but you don't have much control over these things. And 3000 cfs didn't see too extreme. Although, having never been on the Illinois, what do I know?

When I first saw the river, my jaw dropped a bit. I was expecting a creeky-looking waterway - this was a big, wide, bank-full RIVER. Tree trunks and foilage were underwater. Suddenly, 3000 cfs seemed pretty damn big.

Well, my camera battery was dead at the put in, so, again I didn't really get any photos of the trip. There is a little bit of video, and hopfeully some more POV video coming soon. Day 1 went along pretty well. Jake knew the river well and led us through clean lines on the sometimes hard-to-see class IV rapids. The class III's were big and punchy, required some meneuvering, but were mostly just fun. We stopped for lunch just below pine bar and the "boat eater" hole. Had we scouted that, I think some of us would have taken on the boat eater, there were clean lines, but they looked too big from upstream.

We reached camp with plenty of daylight left. Camp was a little different scene than I'm used to on our Idaho rivers. We had to stop and scout the landing and have a catcher ready to pull each boat into the overhanging trees. We had to haul all the gear up a steep, rocky bank. There was a trail, but it was still a pretty tough haul. Camp was great, so was dinner. We all struggled to stay up at least until 9:00 so we could at least attempt to sleep through the night.

The rain started to fall sometime in the middle of the night. It could have been 10:00, it could have been 4:00 - I have no idea. But it kept up though the morning. We packed up in the rain, loaded up, and shoved off. We ran several III and IV rapids. They were fun. But all I could think about was the Green Wall.

Well, we had to deal with Fawn Falls first. This is basically a class III leading into blind airplane turn and drop between an exposed boulded and cliff wall aong the outside bend - making it a solid class IV. Jake went first - now at the oars on his 12' raft. I saw him go over the drop, then, a while later, I saw his helmet and I could tell he was still on his boat. Steve dropped in next. I could tell he stalled in the drop, but I didn't know until later that he had a pretty good tail stand, followed immediately by getting pushed into the wall. He landed upright. Maryanne dropped in next with the 14' raft. She hit the outside wall as she dropped in. It turned the boat and she hit the bottom somewhat sideways - I couldn't really see the angle from upstream. I thought I saw the dog (Weber) fall in, then after I saw Brandon jump in, I knew the dog had fallen in. Everything appeared to be under control pretty quickly so I entered the current and lined up, pulling from the wall a bit after seeing the previous boat bump it. I spotted my angle, adjusted and pushed off the 7' ledge (although it seemed taller than that to me). Clean run. OK, this TR is about to get good.

We pulled into the scout eddie above the prelude rapid above the Green Wall. After scrambling along the trail/shore, and poking holes in my new dry suit with blackberry bush branches, I crested over a rise and finally saw the Green Wall for the first time. I stopped in my tracks. My heart sunk. I had seen plenty of photos and videos. They all had some big rocks that constricted the run and made it a technical, rocky rapid. Now, as I gazed upon the white fury below, I could only see ONE boulder in the river. The rest were covered and creating huge holes, waves, and other very interesting hydraulics I tend to stay away from. I think the feeling of "oh, shit, this is bigger than I expected" was shared among all of us on the trip. We continued out way down the bank to a scouting spot on a big boulder overlooking the entry drop. The creek that comes down here was running high and required a 3 or 4 point stance/crab walk to cross it and get over to the scouting boulders.

We stood there, looking for a line, looking at the huge waves, looking at how deep and steep the holes were.  There was a far-left line at this flow. It's not usually there. But the move to get that far left looked very tough - similar to running velvet left at 5 -6 feet. Steve went further down to scout the 2nd part of the left line. There was a left of center line, but that required punching some hefty stuff - and then you still had to deal with the 15' haystack wave at the bottom that pushes right into the wall jutting out from river-right. It didn't look pretty. After at least a half an hour of contemplation and discussing options, Jake decided he wanted to portage. At first, I thought that was a freat idea. Then I started to thiank about all the stuff we'd have to carry over and around the rough terrain. So, we discussed the plan, the possibility of camping there, and what other possible options we had. Steve and I didn't have to decide if we were going to portage just yet, we could just help portage the rafts and then decide. I was leaning toward portage, or partial portage, but I also hadn't scouted the lower half of the rapid yet.

We decided to bring the rafts into the last-chance scout eddy to begin the process. Steve and I positioned in the eddy with rope ready to assist in the difficult pull from the fast current into the eddy. Jake brought the 14' raft in first. After some ugly rope throws, the boat was pulled in. I was standing lower in the eddy - not really in an effective spot - and didn't offer much help. Jake had put my cooler onto the 14' raft so we could have lunch before we got started with the portage.

Next up was the 12' raft. Jake and Brandon came down through the prelude rapid, got bounced around a little and then right as Jake went to make his first big pull into the eddy, his downstream oar popped out. Things went bad in a hurry. Steve threw a rope out to the boat, Brandon grabbed it, then the rope started to pull steve into the river. The boat was all the way in the current, there was no way to pull it out with one guy on the end of a rope. Brandon jumped into the river in an attempt to get the boat and rope. So, in a matter of seconds, we went from bringing in a small raft to an eddy to a raft heading right down into Green Wall, with only one oar, and a passenger swimming. Brandon was able to distance himself from the boat and the rope, but there was no stopping the inevitable. I immediately scrambled to get downstream, swimming across the eddy, creek, scrambling up the boulders until I finally could see downstream. I saw two helmets, near the shore. Whew. They had both made it through. The boat was upright, and nobody appeared to be hurt. I signaled back the "OK" signal and continued down the bank to see if I could help. I was exhausted by the time I got close to them.

They were fine and we went back upstream to assess the situation. Steve and I decided the next step would be for us to bring out cats down to the eddy. We both pulled in. Jake was at the oars of the 14' raft. He turned to us and just said - "let's just get this thing over with and run it." I was a little shocked at first. We went from "let's portage" to "let's run" pretty quick. But, hell, if that little 12' raft could make it, we could make it. And I knew the portage would be horendous after having just run down along that bank.

So, Steve entered first, I followed pretty close behind, and Jake was behind me. Steve and I made the pull left - barely. It was an even tougher pull than it looked like. Whe I first came around the boulder from the eddy and saw the left line, I though - "nah, that can't be the line, that's way too far over there." Well, that WAS the line and I worked hard to make it. After that, there is a small eddy along the left bank. I stayed there while steve carefully picked his line back into the drop. It was a sketchy spot. You had to finesse the boat along the boil lines of a few holes - making sure you didn't get sucked into the hole sideways, or thrown downstream sideways. Once you get out far enough, there is a slot between two slightly submerged rocks that lines up for a clean exit.

While I watched Steve find his line, Jake came plowing through the entry drop - he was taking the left of center run. It's a straight shot, but it's punctuated with big waves and squilry holes. And it still puts the boat into the bottom haystack - although there is room to pull away. Just as he dropped in, his oar popped out AGAIN. And again, he had a successfull, upright run through Green Wall at high water with one oar. Very impressive.

So, now it was my turn to complete my run. I carefully, maticulously worked my toward the narrow drop into the bottom of the rapid. Somehow - and I'm still a littel foggy about how I managed to end up with this angle - I ended up catching my right tube on the left rock in the chute. It spun my tail around and down the drop, but my tube was still hung up on the rock. After a little high-siding and faithful waiting, the current pulled my into the bottom - backwards. But backwards is better than sideways, and much better than upside-down. I looked over my shoulder, steered a bit, and let my boat do the rest of the work. I punched a hole and then rode the left side of the haystack - and then it was all over. We had all made it. I have never been more releived. A celebratory beer was in order.

The next 1/2 hour down to submarine hole was filled with big, somewhat pushy, and really fun class IV and III rapids. We reached camp shortly after. The next day, we had a fairly short run out to the take-out. There were some fun waves. One wave looked really fun, but then Maryanne hit it in the 12 footer and then dropped into the hole hidden behind the wave. It flipped the raft. Luckily, this happened in an area that was easy to recover in. The boat was righted shortly after and our trip concluded.

The canyon is an amazing section of wilderness. I've never seen a canyon so green and filled with so many waterfalls. Water was everywhere. We checked the flow when we got home and we're farily certain we hit the Green Wall right near the peak at 3700 cfs. I can't wait for next time!