Do not trust life raft straps

[gregcope]

Hi all,

Thought I would share a possibly expensive story for others benefit.

I was removing my liferaft, as it needed a service. The boat in on the hard. As I manoeuvred it over the guard rails, the straps broke and it fell 2.5+M to the hard and the canister has an impressive dent/hole.

The straps broke at the stitching. The raft is 11years old (2005 manufacturing date). According to force 4 a new Seago Canister is around £150 odd, hence it might be worth getting a new one.

:-(

 

[Topcat47]

I've had to replace the straps on my lifesling twice in 12 years. The first time the webbing died from UV attack, the second time it was the thread I'd used to stitch the replacements.

At £150 for the new canister AND then servicing, I'd be tempted to buy a new one myself.

The moral is check your straps carefully before you sling.

 

[sailorman]

Hi all,

Thought I would share a possibly expensive story for others benefit.

I was removing my liferaft, as it needed a service. The boat in on the hard. As I manoeuvred it over the guard rails, the straps broke and it fell 2.5+M to the hard and the canister has an impressive dent/hole.

The straps broke at the stitching. The raft is 11years old (2005 manufacturing date). According to force 4 a new Seago Canister is around £150 odd, hence it might be worth getting a new one.

:-(

most service ctrs will have old/ redundant canisters

 

[charles_reed]

It's a sad fact that all stitching suffers from UV degradation, safety-critical stitching needs regular replacement. In the Med about every 3 years. Tape harness lifelines are especially at risk.
My canister liferaft has a single, velcro-fixed strap to keep the clamshell closed, designed to let go easily when the release cord is pulled and the raft inflates out of its canister.
I suspect the OPs is similar and his warning very appropriate. Don't rely on the canister strap - it's not designed for handling the raft weight.

 

[Uricanejack]

I think it is worth mention a small but significant point.
Don't lift a life raft by the straps.
The straps are not usually lifting straps. The straps are just designed to keep the canister closed. And break easily if and when life raft is inflated.
Its a relatively common occurrence for the straps to break if you try and lift by the straps.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I think it is worth mention a small but significant point.
Don't lift a life raft by the straps.
The straps are not usually lifting straps. The straps are just designed to keep the canister closed. And break easily if and when life raft is inflated.
Its a relatively common occurrence for the straps to break if you try and lift by the straps.

Indeed. ''Twas my first thought too. I wasn't sure if that was what the OP was really trying to say or whether he mistakenly thought the straps were there for handling and had developed a weakness. In reality the straps are designed to be 'weak'.

 

[gregcope]

I have handled this and others via their straps. My mistake if I was not supposed to use them.

The strap weak points did not fail first. The Webbing threading have way.

 

[Birdseye]

I've had to replace the straps on my lifesling twice in 12 years. The first time the webbing died from UV attack, the second time it was the thread I'd used to stitch the replacements.

At £150 for the new canister AND then servicing, I'd be tempted to buy a new one myself.

The moral is check your straps carefully before you sling.

Or rather more importantly, to check your webbing jackstays.

 

[bitbaltic]

The straps broke at the stitching. The raft is 11years old (2005 manufacturing date). According to force 4 a new Seago Canister is around £150 odd, hence it might be worth getting a new one.

If it is a Seago liferaft inside, their supposed service lifetime is up at 12 years anyway, so it is probably better to consider a new one.

It seems newer Seago rafts at least now carry some helpful info:



I've never had a cannister raft and tbh wouldn't have known not to lift one by the straps either, at least without a warning on the shell.

 

[Topcat47]

Or rather more importantly, to check your webbing jackstays.

+1! but then I check my webbing jackstays every year when I remove and wash the salt out of them. I've only had then 4 years now but so far no sign of the threads giving and the webbing itself is strong. I used webbing to replace the tail on my backstay and that's holding up well too.

 

[KellysEye]

If you ever make anything yourself, Jane did all our canvas work, use Dabond UV resistent thread it lasts longer, it was used on our jackstays too.