MIKE_MCKIE
New member
I use an Avon Redstart as a tender & it is great. Mine is at least 20 years old, has had a hard life & still works fine. They are built like the proverbial & no mistake. HOWEVER, they go downwind like smoke, in any appreciable breeze they will easily flip over, and they have no protection from the elements. Even with a TPS, compressed air cylinder et al, I would never even consider using it as a liferaft on an ocean passage, except as absolute last resort (see below).
One other point of course is that most of them are grey-ish & so almost invisible in any seaway. Location by Rescue forces would be a major problem.
Of course in an emergency you use whatever is to hand, a a small carley float held my Dad & several of his mates up for days when he was torpedoed during WWII, but in a (relatively) sane world, go for a liferaft, no matter how small. At least it is designed & built for the job, & is presumably there to do what it says on the tin, ie SAVE YOUR LIFE.
Cheers
Mike
One other point of course is that most of them are grey-ish & so almost invisible in any seaway. Location by Rescue forces would be a major problem.
Of course in an emergency you use whatever is to hand, a a small carley float held my Dad & several of his mates up for days when he was torpedoed during WWII, but in a (relatively) sane world, go for a liferaft, no matter how small. At least it is designed & built for the job, & is presumably there to do what it says on the tin, ie SAVE YOUR LIFE.
Cheers
Mike