Swimming under an obstacle that you can't see the end of

From BearWiki

Claim: Bear's advice to swim under a log jam is dangerous and ill-recommended.

"I cant climb over this log jam because it's to unstable... I suppose I could go back but... If you find yourself in this sort of canyon... and people do find themselves trapped... your ONLY real option would be to try and swim under it but the danger is I just don't know how far it is to the other side."

Bear offers no warning that you should not do this, and actually encourages it over climbing. The standard rule is to never swim under an obstacle that you cannot see the end of. The dangers are numerous (getting snagged, not having enough air for the return trip, collapse, and so on) and the chance of success is low.

From NRSweb's rafting safety tips, in the case that you're knocked out of your raft:[1]

"At all costs avoid being swept under a log or “strainer”. If you find yourself going into one, flip onto your stomach, swim hard and get on top of the obstacle. If you go under it, there’s extreme danger of getting trapped underwater."

See also: No evidence of log jam debris

[edit] Analysis

Support: Bear says it's your only real option. This advise WILL get someone KILLED.... PERIOD...

Support: You shouldn't even be moving around the desert when lost anyways. You should sit down and wait. And what's worse: having a stick you're climbing on fall, or drowning?

Support: He claims he is 5 seconds from the other side but doesn't have the air to make it, yet he manages to swim all the way back to where he started.