Seago life jacket rearming kits

[Gin]

What does the panel think and is there a better solution ?

We have a Disabled Sailing Day at our club next month and I wish to be sure that all my auto, harness, life jackets stay inflated and that their trigger mechanisms are in date for those who I take out.

If the two jackets I've already checked are typical then although the gas bottles are in pristine condition visually and they weigh exactly as they should, the trigger capsules are out of date by some months.

Therefore I must replace those capsules, but I am obliged to buy a kit which includes the gas bottle too. This is unnecessarily wasteful so the first question is.

1. Do other manufacturers operate the same practice?

Secondly, a retailer was prepared to sell me a kit with a capsule expiry date of 11/08 i.e. 6 months 'shelf life' left. I only found this out by asking for the expiry date.

Having spoken to Seago I am told that fresh stocks should have a life of between 3 and 4 years- in other words brand new kits would be valid for 4 years, and somewhat less on chandlers shelves.

The retailer has now confirmed that when they are restocked by the manufacturer, the expiry date will be the end of 2010 i.e. 2.5 years of 'shelf life' left. So the conclusion must be that Seago are offloading stock which has been around for 18 months.

This seems to me to be poor practice and I think one should expect manufacturer's stock to be bang up to date- is that unreasonable?

I am wondering, and here is the second question

2. Should I switch to another manufacturer and if so what recommendations, bearing in mind I would then need 6 jackets all harness equipped, with crutch straps, and auto also, so target price would have to be no more than £60 each

 

[Sans Bateau]

The Ocean Safety Commodore lifejackets are the same as our spare ones. We have had them years. They were inflated last week for the anual check and stayed inflated for 48hrs, only being deflated for repacking.

I think you will find many marina staff and harbourmasters wearing them so I bealieve them to be top quality. As they are an Ocean Safety products, spares should be no problem, but call them and ask:

Clicky

...and they are within your budget.

 

[Gin]

Thank you, I'm having a discussion with my above mentioned retailer so we shall see what transpires- if anything.

I've no argument over the quality of the jackets just the marketing practices for the rearm kits- it could be cheaper in the long run to buy a more expensive jacket

I have e-mailed Ocean Safety to ask their view on the questions I've put on here.

Thanks for the suggestion

 

[misterg]

Somebody posted a link to a site where you could buy just the capsules, and I book-marked it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

United Moulders bobbin and clip - minimum 2 years service life £6.99 at the bottom of this page

Must buy some myself... /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Edit - this is the correct part for me, but I'm not saying it's the right one for SEAGO - there are other makes on the site.

Andy

 

[Gin]

That looks the like the very thing- I've e-mailed them

Interesting isn't it?.

Minimum life 2 years, so it looks like common practice that these things sit on shelves for possibly up to 2 years, i.e. half their useful life- shouldn't we be getting up to 50% discount?

 

[Gin]

Well, that's more like it- your link has turned up trumps.

Very friendly and helpful people- quick e-mail reply to confirm that the bobbin will fit my Seago's and also my two XM Junior Quickfits(the latter I shall sell when updated- see" For Sale ", below).

Better still expiry is March 2011- virtually three years, which is acceptable.

I shall need probably 7 devices, at a total cost of £49, instead of about £92-£112, depending where one buys the full rearming kit. A very good saving

Thanks very much

 

[Gin]

A final note out of fairness to Seago and other life jacket manufacturers.

I have just spoken to Seago and they tell me that it is industry recommendation that lifejackets be serviced annually- few do though it seems- so a shortish expiry date is not really an issue in such cases.

They will do a service for about £8 plus postage which is much less than the retail cost of a full rearming kit and only slightly more than the retail cost of the firing mechanism. This mechanism is routinely replaced at service but the gas bottle is only replaced if it is damaged or under weight.

Thus a professional service, ignoring the postage costs there and back, is at a fair price and avoids the accumulation of surplus gas cartridges and unnecessary expenditure, by the owner .

I, however, remain happy to inspect and inflate my own jackets and I would rather update the mechanisms myself, so being directed to a source of capsules as above is still the way for me

 

[misterg]

[ QUOTE ]
...They will do a service for about £8 plus postage which is much less than the retail cost of a full rearming kit and only slightly more than the retail cost of the firing mechanism. This mechanism is routinely replaced at service but the gas bottle is only replaced if it is damaged or under weight...

[/ QUOTE ]

I've done ours myself (and am happy to do so), but that sounds like a very fair price. Glad to hear it all worked out, as I *do* need to buy about 6 to replace those on some LJs, and those in the re-arming kits that we bought at the same time.

I'm not sure who originally posted the link, but I thought it useful at the time. Who ever it was: "Thank you!"

Andy