Personal Safety Gear!

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TheBoatman

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I was just reading a post by Ian Grant which set me thinking that most yotties seem to place a lot of store in their life jackets but very little in the own clothing. As many of you know I come from a fishing background where we extensively use 1 piece survival suits along with L/jackets. I know that modern ollies give good termal protection values but no where near the same as survival suits.
So the question is "why don't we all put these suits on the boat and use them when we think it prudent".
I always wear mine if I'm on watch at night, I find them warmer and more reassuring than the standard ollies, plus if I go over the side (god forbid)it acts as a floatation suit as well. From memory, in 8 degs water temp I'll have approx 90 mins before it's good by Boatman time, hopefully enough time for the RNLI to find me and rescue me?
PS. at night I always wear a PLB as well. So picture this, Boaty in 1 piece survival suit, auto 150 L/jacket and PLB hanging around my neck, I figure that if I go over the side and the local L/boat can't find me in 90 mins then I'm gonna blame them for my death /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
You can see from some of my posts in past, that in rough weather I wear a breathable drysuit and lifejacket, with an excellent handheld VHF with speaker/mike clipped to life jacket near head, and small miniflare kit inside life jacket. If I go overboard (I cruise at 30+ knts, so a collison with semi submerged object, or sudden steep wave is far more likely to cause this than in a raggie boat), I would like people to know about it, and last long enough for them to get there.

Before people start thinking this is not roughty roughty enough, I should also point out I regularly go out in conditions in which most powerboats are heading for home.
 
A L/boat coxon once told to me that if a boat hit a sumerged object that put a hole in the boat about the size of your fist, the water ingress would be 1 ton / min and that would mean that your average yot had less than 3 mins to give a mayday call, organise the crew, don L/jackets, grab the "grab bag" before they were swamped and sunk, it kinda brings it home how quickly things can go pear shaped!
 
at 30 knts, I reckon on seconds, hence the gear.

I don't wear it in the Solent unless conditions are particularly bad, but I can tell you on one occasion, I walked into a club meet that had left the water in Hamble/Southampton Water as conditions too bad. I turned up having come all the way down Solent from Lymington, and stood there dripping on the carpet, having just moored the boat in a near hurricane in horizontal rain, still wearing dry suit/life jacket/speaker mike.

People don't thing the Solent can blow up, but that was worse than cross channel or mid Lyme Bay
 
'People don't thing the Solent can blow up, but that was worse than cross channel or mid Lyme Bay'

The Sunday after the 2004 ROI was forecast at 3/4 SW; it was nearer 6/7 SW.

The Solent was empty.
 
My 50 year old knowledge of survival suits was of having to wear a nappy underneath. I carry my 20 year old dinghy dry suit on board but with advancing years the requirement for frequent urination makes it impracticable for every day cruising use. Are present day survival suits breathable and do they facilitate bodily functions?
As an aside, your comment about dripping on a club carpet reminds me of an occasion years ago when a friend and I commissioned our new club rescue boat in a Force 10. Yes, it was truly Force 10 as 2 cruisers chocked up ashore blew over and we had difficulty launching even in the lee of Calshot Spit. The trials were a success and we went up Ashlett Creek to celebrate at The Jolly Sailor. The landlord civilly asked us to remove our wet things and looked bemused at our hilarity as we departed - we of course wore nothing under our wet suits.
 
What I have is one of these, from Ravenspring, with the optional flyzip

rapide1_thumb.jpg


Totally breathable, very comfortable, and the optional flyzip is a great addition!
 
If I were staying in these northern latitudes, especially sailing in winter, I'd look seriously at buying a survival suit.

The oilies are no protection from cold water once you are in the sea.

Ian
 
Rob
I haven't purchased one for several years now but I guess that you're talking £100-150 and get them from any good angling shop which by my reckoning is about half what you would pay for a good "offshore" jacket. I would add that I do use both a floatation suit and ollies dependant on what I'm doing. It would be near impossible to use a floatation suit during the day in summer, you would just boil up even in rain, but come sunset it's a different story. The only real problem with them is that they are not as easy to move about in as ollies, if your going to be up on deck all night changing sails then you would find them a bit restrictive and you would get over heated.

Peter.
 
and I\'d come back to haunt them

Perhaps a 250N jacket might be a good idea with the Hammar auto-inflate properly modified (I prefer the manual one for that reason).

I'd also add a personal 406 EPIRB to your list, rather than the locator beacon.

But then I sail 1-handed.

Trouble with survival suits is that after a bout of exertion you're as wet inside as you'd be after falling overboard.

Personally I prefer to ensure I never leave the boat
 
I've got one (Helly Hansen) but it's far too cumbersome for everyday use. It's a thick dry suit with quilted lining and integral hood and wellies. Checked it out in Bressay Sound for over an hour in mid January and was fine, but finding space on the boat for one each would be a problem and you'd have to seriously plan ahead for toilet breaks.

Mine lives in the attic ready for instant deployment!
 
That's why I went for Ravenspring. For a start they are cut quite well, and have elasticated waist band, so you look vaguely human shaped, and don't hamper movement any more than oilies. They are not quilted, so you can wear them in summer no problems, then add wicking thermals, and thick woolly bear fleeces as conditions warrant.
 
Sounds like a much better solution, I think the Musto dry suit looks good also. I have a Typhoon breathable dry suit which is good also - diagonal front zip means you can take a pee without too much pre-meditation. Not at all warm though, unless you have plenty of layers below.
 
Re: and I\'d come back to haunt them

250N jackets are a must with dry suits or survival suits, or you'll easily drown with your feet in the air.
 
Re: and I\'d come back to haunt them

Only if you break wind

You should crouch down to expel air from a dry suit by placing a couple of fingers under the neck seal. Once the air is expelled, the suit should cling to you when you stand up. The procedure can be repeated in the water. A dry suit full of air is dangerous, with any size life jacket.
 
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