Please criticise my life raft logic

[Twister_Ken]

The time has come to replace Indigo's liferaft.

For approx £600 I could get a 'cheap' liferaft (Plastimo).

For double that I could get an expensive one (Avon).

My inclination is to get the expensive one, because, if I ever find myself in my own liferaft, I wouldn't like to be thinking "I wish I'd spent the extra, and got the best."

In reality, though, is there a quantifiable difference between 'cheap' and 'expensive', except in the pricelist?

Another thought. Assuming it remains unused, the lifespan of a serviced raft is approx 15 years. In terms of capital expenditure, that's less than £100 pa, even for Avon. I suspect the service cost doesn't vary much between manufacturers, so it's an extra £50 pa to have the Avon.

Is that a no-brainer, or have I overlooked something?

 

[PilotWolf]

Consider renting one? Can't give you any figures but if it includes the servicing then might be cheaper over the long term.

W.

 

[roger]

Liferafts in simple terms used to have two markets, one for those who went racing and had to have one but didnt expect to use it - and those did reckon that it might save their lives.
The first market was the cheap and nasty one. the second the pricey one.
Thats not so true today as the Yacht racing folk have steadily upped the spec..
Its worth looking very carefully at the specs :-
some rafts dont have lights inside or outside
some dont have reflective tape
some have an inflatable floor
some have boarding pillows to help you to get in
some have very flimsy stabilizing pockets
Some will even turn up the right way after being inverted - thats a real life saver.
Do take a careful look at what you will be getting.

 

[graham]

Do you have a GPS epirb? With the 1200 budget you could purchase the cheaper raft and epirb and not have to spend so long in the raft should disaster ever strike.

 

[tcm]

I wish i\'d spent the extra

hm, i am not sure there'll be much thinkingof that will there? How about "I wish i'd spent the extra and bought a massive Oyster 62 instead of that sunken ole twister?" or perhaps you have awful nightmares of the likes of me or others sitting in the liferaft saying oh flippinek there's only one stingy bit of chocolate here i wish you'd spent the extra instead of this poxy thing.

You could keep the old one praps, and anyone who complains gets chuckd into that? oh ok, getthe expensive one and stil keep the old one forthe miserable types.

Seriously, i've got two cos then if neither of them work well then it's officially not gonna be my fault even on the tv news and there wd be an inqust into shoddy liferafts - whereas with just the one well, tsk it only had to be checked every 3 years can you believe it tsk, hence new legislation and all your fault.

Be honest though, regardles of how muchyou spend not many people are gonna sit in your liferaft and say ooh gosh ken this is really lovely in here with nice everything and ooh look extra fishing lines and ooh chocolate as well we should have got in here much earlier I almost feel a bit awkward not to have brought a bottle of nice wine along. Or will they?

 

[machurley22]

Re: I wish i\'d spent the extra

Some good points there but I really think the nice bottle of wine would be a bit of a social gaffe. Surely you should take spirits (preferably overproof rum or cask-strength malt) to a liferaft do?

 

[tcm]

Re: I wish i\'d spent the extra

right ok, thanks for pointing that out. Also on a practical point there wouldn't be a corkscrew unless it was an incredibly well appointed liferaft he is thinking of getting, which it may not be, not sure.
Or how about we *save* the nice bottle of wine for rescue team who are bound to be along soonish? Othrwise we will have to give them the malt, see?

 

[machurley22]

Re: I wish i\'d spent the extra

Sound thinking. We wouldn't want to run the risk of our rescuers becoming inebriated until after they returned our sorry arses to terra firma.

Apologies for the intemperate language I seem to be drinking on an empty stomach this evening.

 

[bedouin]

I don't see the benefit of the more expensive liferaft - maybe if you were intending to spend 119 days in it you should go for it but for coastal work provided you've got an EPIRB you're likely to be rescued within a few hours so the greater durability of the Avon is hardly an issue

 

[npf1]

Re: I wish i\'d spent the extra

Can I suggest you google for the pdf of the Coroners Report from the 1998 Sydney Hobart and have a read? It's quite an eye opener IMHO.

It's seem to me that most of the expensive l/raft manufactuers are just 'cash cowing' their products and can't be arsed to updated them in light of the recommendations in that report. As far as I am aware, only one or two manufacturers have been bothered to introduce rafts that are a) self righting, b) allow one to breath when the raft is upside down and c) and easy to climb into.

I could not see any benefits of the Avon over the ones at half their price and eventually plumped for a self righting Viking, which cost and same as an Avon. I guess part of your decision should be based on how far offshore you are going and if you'll have a chance to avoid nasty weather. If you reckon you should be able to avoid it, then the cheaper raft could suffice.

I'll now sit back and wait for the Avon defenders ....

 

[Sans Bateau]

Speak to someone like Ocean Safety, I'd stay clear of cheap.

 

[sarabande]

I don't think that logic has much to do with it, to be honest. It's more about assessment of where you are likely to be sailing (warm or cold), how far off land, and how many crew.

Different life rafts have different specs (double floor, and so on)

There's sense in the posting about having 2 of them. We can take twelve people out for a day's sailing, but it would not be sensible to have a 12 person raft, as most of the time we are about 4 or so. So we have 2 6person ones; one a plastimo ocean +, and the other an Arimar SolasB. Different animals for different conditions, locations, tyes of emergency.

Both of them bought 2nd hand for less than £400 each, and both 2 yrs old. They check out and service OK.

I'd have no compunction about buying used, as you can assess the conditions of storage from the owner. You DO have to wait and wait until the right one comes along, though.

Extra kit (corkscrew included ?) goes into a Peli case which acts as a grab bag. You can choose what you want to go in, and check the contents (or drink them!) whenever you feel like it.

 

[thailand69]

web page

US$1600 seems a bit much........no mention of any wine /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[tome]

Insulated floor makes a huge difference

Wouldn't rely on EPIRB alone to save me. After all, it's a bit of electronics even if Bill Gates has nothing to do with it

And personally I'd go for 2 bottles of malt and extra chocs in case the rescue drags on a bit

 

[thailand69]

And an internet connection to here would be useful /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[sarabande]

oh yes, another point.

Given what the wily orientals are doing to the world and our economy, I'd look for a Uk built one if I wanted to buy new.

 

[Oliveoyl]

Re: I wish i\'d spent the extra

But you must surely have both wine and corkscrew (or leatherman / swiss army knife) in grab bag. Otherwise bottle of bubbly, easy to open, then u don't give a sod if rescued or not

 

[tome]

[ QUOTE ]
And an internet connection to here would be useful

[/ QUOTE ]

You have to be joking. These things always happen in the early hours when only SoosyBoosy and T25 are online

Be like Hancocks half hour meets Forest Gump. Fat chance of a rescue - they're up to their meniscus in doggy talk

 

[Oliveoyl]

But at least you'd die laughing! Hancock's last half hour?

 

[sarabande]

You could take a laptop, video, and a satellite connection, and show us live pictures of the Sea King taxi service; though judging from Lakey's webcam experience only a few select people would manage to log on and see you.

Wave at the camera, dearie !