Whether you are out for a hike or facing a survival situation, crossing a body of waster can pose immense risks, but is sometimes unavoidable.

Cutting across a lake, for example, can save miles of circuitous hiking and sometimes, crossing a river or stream is unavoidable in order to get to your final objective.

The risks are more than just drowning.

You can be affected by hypothermia, injure yourself if you fall, lose your gear to a strong current, – the list of stuff that can happen to you when crossing water is extensive.

That is why you must do a basic assessment when faced with an unavoidable water crossing and when possible, use all available tools to make it safer.

Click on the next page to learn what you must contemplate before crossing water as well as some suggestions for how to make crossing easier and safer.

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