{"id":874,"date":"2012-04-27T12:30:28","date_gmt":"2012-04-27T19:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com-2\/?p=874"},"modified":"2022-01-05T15:17:44","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T23:17:44","slug":"life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve Come a Long, Long Way, Baby"},"content":{"rendered":"

All the life jackets<\/a> we carry are U.S. Coast Guard Approved. In Making Sure Your PFD is Safe<\/a>, we explain how extensive the testing is to earn that certification. This testing goes a long way toward assuring that any jacket you choose will do its job to keep you safe while you\u2019re on the water.<\/p>\n

After seeing a girl get her \u201chorse collar\u201d Type II vest pulled off over her head as she \u201cmaytagged\u201d in a hole, I began looking for alternatives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We\u2019re fortunate to have so many jackets to choose from. Whether you\u2019re kayaking on rivers or the ocean, rafting, fishing, canoeing, SUP boarding, sailing or enjoying any other watersport, there\u2019s a life jacket that\u2019s perfect for you. And they\u2019re comfortable! Pick one that fits you well and you can wear it all day, no problem. There\u2019s just no excuse for not wearing one. All those lame excuses for not wearing yours are just that \u2013 lame excuses.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t always this way. When I started boating back in the mid-70s, the jacket selection was much more limited.<\/p>\n

Minor confession time \u2013 I\u2019m not much of a swimmer. Growing up, we moved once or twice a year as my dad followed construction. Just never did get the practice. I\u2019ve learned a bit since, but I\u2019m still poor at it. After seeing a girl get her \u201chorse collar\u201d Type II vest pulled off over her head as she \u201cmaytagged\u201d in a hole and watching a buddy\u2019s big old Type I \u201cMae West\u201d come undone and up around his ears, I began looking for alternatives.<\/p>\n

\"Complete<\/a>
Complete instructions for making your own life jacket. \u00a9Wildwater Designs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My criteria: a good secure fit, durability and lots of flotation. I looked around but didn\u2019t find it. However, the boating magazines of the day carried ads for Wildwater Designs, a company owned by Charlie Walbridge. Charlie is an internationally recognized whitewater safety expert, coauthor of the pioneering Whitewater Rescue Manual<\/em> and one of the original inductees in the Whitewater Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

One of the products Charlie carried was the Hi-Float Life Vest Kit. That\u2019s right\u2026 I said \u201cKit\u201d. A sew-it-yourself life jacket kit. It contained precut panels of burly nylon fabric, strips of soft buoyant foam, a heavy-duty zipper, nylon thread, and complete instructions. I don\u2019t remember how many pounds of flotation were advertized, but it was well up in the 20s. Charlie later sold the design to Extrasport. The classic\u00a0Extrasport Swiftwater Ranger Rescue Jacket is a child of the Hi-Float, and it has design flotation of 24-27 pounds, depending on size.<\/p>\n

I was sold and bought my kit in early 1980. $24.50 \u2013 still have the receipt. Now, I didn\u2019t know how to run a sewing machine, but I wanted to sew it myself. Luckily, my wife was an excellent seamstress, and she coached me through the process. End result \u2013 a tough, snug-fitting, high-flotation jacket! You could fold up the portion below the waist tie to make it more compact, or wear it down full length. At some point, I added a leg strap, and that made it perfect.<\/p>\n

\"Hi-Float<\/a>
Hi-Float Life Vest. \u201cLook, Ma, no Coast Guard label!\u201d \u00a9Ashley Grittner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That jacket kept me floating high and saved my bacon lots of times, down hundreds and hundreds of river miles. The only reason I quit wearing it was because the zipper finally failed. In 2004, as he often does, Charlie came to NRS to put on a swiftwater rescue clinic for us. I brought out the jacket to show him. When I explained why I\u2019d quit using it, I think he thought I was trying to get it warrantied!<\/p>\n

Well, today we\u2019re lucky. We can buy any number of great-fitting, great-performing, ready-made life jackets right off the rack. They\u2019ll all have the U.S. Coast Guard Approved label inside, and the river ranger won\u2019t look at you like you\u2019re from Mars.<\/p>\n

I got that look one time at the Grand Canyon. She had a gun, so I showed her one of my spares and they let me get on the water. Then, I stuffed the spare back in the load and put on my Hi-Float.<\/p>\n

\"Posing<\/a>
Posing on some forgotten place and time. You gotta admit it\u2019s a badass looking jacket. \u00a9Clyde Nicely<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boat Often, Boat Safe, and don\u2019t let me catch you not wearing your life jacket!<\/p>\n

\u2014Clyde
\ne-News Editor<\/p>\n

p.s.
\nHere\u2019s a fun section out of the Life Vest Kit instructions:<\/p>\n

Note: Some people have complained that these life vests trap water. If yours does, you can allow for drainage in this way. Get a nail, a candle, and a pair of pliers. Light the candle, grasp the nail with the pliers, and heat it until it is quite hot. Use the nail to punch holes in the bottom of each foam compartment. The heat will seal the edges of the hole.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Luckily, I never had to punch holes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All the life jackets NRS carries are U.S. Coast Guard Approved. As modern boaters, we’re fortunate to have so many jackets to choose from. It wasn\u2019t always this way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[46,324,316,37],"class_list":["post-874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-goods","tag-gear","tag-gear-review","tag-rafting","tag-safety-rescue","post-grid"],"yoast_head":"\nLife Jackets: We\u2019ve Come a Long, Long Way, Baby | Duct Tape | NRS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As modern boaters, we're fortunate to have so many U.S. Coast Guard Approved life jackets to choose from. It wasn\u2019t always this way.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Life Jackets: We\u2019ve Come a Long, Long Way, Baby | Duct Tape | NRS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As modern boaters, we're fortunate to have so many U.S. Coast Guard Approved life jackets to choose from. It wasn\u2019t always this way.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Duct Tape Diaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nrsweb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-27T19:30:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-05T23:17:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/ClydesJacket_4_29_2012.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Clyde Nicely\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nrsweb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nrsweb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Clyde Nicely\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Clyde Nicely\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1049601491db8f701aa150e203c63a8a\"},\"headline\":\"We\u2019ve Come a Long, Long Way, Baby\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-27T19:30:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-05T23:17:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":868,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\\\/duct-tape\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/31191823\\\/ClydesJacket_4_29_2012.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"gear\",\"gear review\",\"rafting\",\"safety & rescue\"],\"articleSection\":[\"The Goods\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/\",\"name\":\"Life Jackets: We\u2019ve Come a Long, Long Way, Baby | Duct Tape | NRS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\\\/duct-tape\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/31191823\\\/ClydesJacket_4_29_2012.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-27T19:30:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-05T23:17:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1049601491db8f701aa150e203c63a8a\"},\"description\":\"As modern boaters, we're fortunate to have so many U.S. Coast Guard Approved life jackets to choose from. It wasn\u2019t always this way.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\\\/duct-tape\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/31191823\\\/ClydesJacket_4_29_2012.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\\\/duct-tape\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/31191823\\\/ClydesJacket_4_29_2012.jpg\",\"width\":100,\"height\":100},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/27\\\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"We\u2019ve Come a Long, Long Way, Baby\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/\",\"name\":\"Duct Tape Diaries\",\"description\":\"Duct Tape Diaries, NRS's official blog, entertains, educates, inspires and celebrates the paddling lifestyle through compelling storytelling and photography.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1049601491db8f701aa150e203c63a8a\",\"name\":\"Clyde Nicely\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/82edd96d66165af1d6cb2f66cc44976b7741286adfd037cb5fd4bc084aeb2168?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/82edd96d66165af1d6cb2f66cc44976b7741286adfd037cb5fd4bc084aeb2168?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/82edd96d66165af1d6cb2f66cc44976b7741286adfd037cb5fd4bc084aeb2168?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Clyde Nicely\"},\"description\":\"Clyde Nicely, a former NRS employee and lifetime member of the NRS family, has been rafting since we lashed driftwood together with buffalo gut, and he's paddled and rowed a variety of improbable craft over the years. For the past five, \u201cLady Godiva,\u201d an NRS E-150 has been his ride. He just had to put the first small patch on her ample bottom, but she\u2019s still beautiful. Multiday boating is his vice, his favorite singer is the Canyon Wren, and he has a great laugh.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/community.nrs.com\\\/duct-tape\\\/author\\\/clyde\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Life Jackets: We\u2019ve Come a Long, Long Way, Baby | Duct Tape | NRS","description":"As modern boaters, we're fortunate to have so many U.S. Coast Guard Approved life jackets to choose from. It wasn\u2019t always this way.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Life Jackets: We\u2019ve Come a Long, Long Way, Baby | Duct Tape | NRS","og_description":"As modern boaters, we're fortunate to have so many U.S. Coast Guard Approved life jackets to choose from. It wasn\u2019t always this way.","og_url":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/","og_site_name":"Duct Tape Diaries","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nrsweb","article_published_time":"2012-04-27T19:30:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-01-05T23:17:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":100,"height":100,"url":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/ClydesJacket_4_29_2012.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Clyde Nicely","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@nrsweb","twitter_site":"@nrsweb","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Clyde Nicely","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/"},"author":{"name":"Clyde Nicely","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/#\/schema\/person\/1049601491db8f701aa150e203c63a8a"},"headline":"We\u2019ve Come a Long, Long Way, Baby","datePublished":"2012-04-27T19:30:28+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-05T23:17:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/"},"wordCount":868,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/31191823\/ClydesJacket_4_29_2012.jpg","keywords":["gear","gear review","rafting","safety & rescue"],"articleSection":["The Goods"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/","url":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/","name":"Life Jackets: We\u2019ve Come a Long, Long Way, Baby | Duct Tape | NRS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/31191823\/ClydesJacket_4_29_2012.jpg","datePublished":"2012-04-27T19:30:28+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-05T23:17:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/#\/schema\/person\/1049601491db8f701aa150e203c63a8a"},"description":"As modern boaters, we're fortunate to have so many U.S. Coast Guard Approved life jackets to choose from. It wasn\u2019t always this way.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/31191823\/ClydesJacket_4_29_2012.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d2kl15j267vxtq.cloudfront.net\/duct-tape\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/31191823\/ClydesJacket_4_29_2012.jpg","width":100,"height":100},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2012\/04\/27\/life-jackets-weve-come-a-long-long-way-baby\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"We\u2019ve Come a Long, Long Way, Baby"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/#website","url":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/","name":"Duct Tape Diaries","description":"Duct Tape Diaries, NRS's official blog, entertains, educates, inspires and celebrates the paddling lifestyle through compelling storytelling and photography.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/#\/schema\/person\/1049601491db8f701aa150e203c63a8a","name":"Clyde Nicely","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82edd96d66165af1d6cb2f66cc44976b7741286adfd037cb5fd4bc084aeb2168?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82edd96d66165af1d6cb2f66cc44976b7741286adfd037cb5fd4bc084aeb2168?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82edd96d66165af1d6cb2f66cc44976b7741286adfd037cb5fd4bc084aeb2168?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Clyde Nicely"},"description":"Clyde Nicely, a former NRS employee and lifetime member of the NRS family, has been rafting since we lashed driftwood together with buffalo gut, and he's paddled and rowed a variety of improbable craft over the years. For the past five, \u201cLady Godiva,\u201d an NRS E-150 has been his ride. He just had to put the first small patch on her ample bottom, but she\u2019s still beautiful. Multiday boating is his vice, his favorite singer is the Canyon Wren, and he has a great laugh.","url":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/author\/clyde\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26336,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874\/revisions\/26336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}