Greetings, esteemed Swiftwater + Search and Rescue Community! Spencer Cooke here, with Effort, Inc.
It is a privilege and a pleasure to know some of the Swiftwater Rescue community, and I’m truly honored to play a small role in the services you offer to keep people safe and out of harm’s way.
I represent Astral and Immersion Research in the Southeast, catering to SAR and Outdoor Recreation communities. Swiftwater is something these brands and I come by honestly and naturally. Having been an avid whitewater paddler for 33 years I’ve used a bunch of gear – trials, errors and successes of all sorts, with all manners of equipment. I’ve worked with these two brands, IR (since 1999) and Astral (since 2005) and have poured a lifetime of energy, teamwork and partnership into building these companies. If you’re receiving this email, you are part of that teamwork and partnership, for which I am grateful 🙂
The brand and product story is fairly simple, and rather parallel for Astral and IR, even though they operate as two different companies – for decades we have built gear to survive and thrive through the unforgiving demands of the world’s best kayakers. It has taken an incredible amount of time and investment in innovation, product testing, service and communication to reach the point where we are today. And we do intend to keep going! Through these strides we have built products that we are proud to offer to Swiftwater Rescuers, and we are 100% confident these are the best products for the job. To that effect, we have built only premium products, ones that are meant to be used for a long time – not destined for a landfill. We can service and repair your Swiftwater kit (in the case of IR, we can even repair dry wear you may own from other brands!)
If you have purchased Astral or IR products I hope it is living up to your expectations. Please consider this a two-way street of communication. I do want to hear what is happening with our gear.
I’ve left some pertinent links and info below. Please plan to hear back from me periodically with more info and news!
Sincerely,
Spencer Cooke, Effort Inc.
The essential Swiftwater Rescue Gear Kit:
Astral Indus or Greenjacket PFD
Astral Footwear; Pusha, Hiyak or Rassler
Astral Throw Rope
IR Operator LX Dry Suit
IR Operator Semi Dry Suit
IR Debrief Union Suit
IR OPS Gear Bag
Swiftwater Team Highlight:
Justin Padgett of Landmark Learning is located in Western North Carolina and uses Astral and IR gear.
Through his curricula Justin instructs Swiftwater Rescue training and is author of Swiftwater Rescue, a manual for students and instructors. I recommend reaching out to him for formal training and education on Swiftwater Rescue technique at his website https://www.landmarklearning.org.
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