White is Bad !

Seajet

Seajet

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Thinking about responding to a thread here...

I - and many others - once responded to a call from the Coastguard that a woman had been knocked over the side by the boom; she was wearing trendy white waterproofs and the 20 or so yachts responding couldn't find her among the wavecrests; she drowned.

There's a boat in my club which has white horseshoe liferings just to match the colour scheme - how stupid can people be, don't they read anything ?!

Am I being over safety conscious, and white waterproofs - at the shoulders which is all that will show when swimming - and white horseshoes are a great idea ?

I suppose there is the Darwin argument but it would be nice to educate novices that white is not a bright idea ?!
 
I agree with you.

When I sailed I had bright orange wet gear, looked like a bin man but many then were wearing the latest colours of grey and green. I always asked them what colour the sea was where they sailed. At least I would be easy to sea..... Especially on land. :o

I think one of the best alterations wet gear manufacturers have made in the past few years is to make the hoods luminescent green, pink ect.

Tom.
 
Sailing on the lake we get quite a few serious swimmers sharing the space. Those with black or white swimming caps are nearly impossible to see. Dayglo orange or pink would be good.
 
I could put up with white waterproofs being extinct, largely a 1980's fad BUT I see some current kit has white shoulders, exactly where one doesn't need it if trying to be rescued.

As for white horseshoe liferings I don't remember visiting any perverted red light light sort of place which sold them but apparently they are or were available to match white hulls, rescuing people in the water not a part of the eqaution...:rolleyes:
 
I sailed with one shipping company that swapped all the green/yellow hi-viz stuff (standard on UK roads) for Orange or Red as there was concerns that the standard green/yellow stuff could be lost in the bio-luminescence that was common in our area of operations at night.
 
Seajet said:
Thinking about responding to a thread here...

I - and many others - once responded to a call from the Coastguard that a woman had been knocked over the side by the boom; she was wearing trendy white waterproofs and the 20 or so yachts responding couldn't find her among the wavecrests; she drowned.

There's a boat in my club which has white horseshoe liferings just to match the colour scheme - how stupid can people be, don't they read anything ?!

Am I being over safety conscious, and white waterproofs - at the shoulders which is all that will show when swimming - and white horseshoes are a great idea ?

I suppose there is the Darwin argument but it would be nice to educate novices that white is not a bright idea ?!
Click to expand...

Funnily enough I have just replaced my two white and yellow life rings with SOLAS orange ones, for the reasons mentioned.
 
Seajet said:
Thinking about responding to a thread here...

I - and many others - once responded to a call from the Coastguard that a woman had been knocked over the side by the boom; she was wearing trendy white waterproofs and the 20 or so yachts responding couldn't find her among the wavecrests; she drowned.

There's a boat in my club which has white horseshoe liferings just to match the colour scheme - how stupid can people be, don't they read anything ?!

Am I being over safety conscious, and white waterproofs - at the shoulders which is all that will show when swimming - and white horseshoes are a great idea ?

I suppose there is the Darwin argument but it would be nice to educate novices that white is not a bright idea ?!
Click to expand...

Its a pity all those macho lycra black clad clad cyclists (even the women) didn't have that same consideration.
Even in daylight, difficult to see, particularly when in the shade.
 
Seajet said:
Thinking about responding to a thread here...

I - and many others - once responded to a call from the Coastguard that a woman had been knocked over the side by the boom; she was wearing trendy white waterproofs and the 20 or so yachts responding couldn't find her among the wavecrests; she drowned.

There's a boat in my club which has white horseshoe liferings just to match the colour scheme - how stupid can people be, don't they read anything ?!

Am I being over safety conscious, and white waterproofs - at the shoulders which is all that will show when swimming - and white horseshoes are a great idea ?

I suppose there is the Darwin argument but it would be nice to educate novices that white is not a bright idea ?!
Click to expand...

I concur; even orange isn't that visible beyond 200yds, especially if it's a bit grubby and not brand new. We conduct exercises weekly with dummies and if there's any swell running the casualty is becoming invisible from 50yds upwards, if you can bear to have a dan buoy as well as the horseshoe its extra height will dramatically improve the range at which the casualty can be seen from.
 
alant said:
Its a pity all those macho lycra black clad clad cyclists (even the women) didn't have that same consideration.
Even in daylight, difficult to see, particularly when in the shade.
Click to expand...
Perhaps they are not expecting to fall into the sea?
 
My advice when talking over MOB with my crew...if you fall in, pull your hood up. Dayglo yellow on most foulies these days...
 
alant said:
Its a pity all those macho lycra black clad clad cyclists (even the women) didn't have that same consideration.
Even in daylight, difficult to see, particularly when in the shade.
Click to expand...

What .. like those macho black lycra clad America's Cup crews??? :D

PS. As a cyclist I couldn't agree more... and at this time of the year where the evenings are drawing in, even more so...
 
Studies carried out by the USA Navy found that fluorescent pink was the most visible colour. The studies were carried out for locating downed airmen at sea and I came across it in one of the editions of "Safety and Survival at Sea".
 
alant said:
Its a pity all those macho lycra black clad clad cyclists (even the women) didn't have that same consideration.
Even in daylight, difficult to see, particularly when in the shade.
Click to expand...

HiAndDri said:
Always expect the unexpected! And wearing black, too. Tsk tsk. Nice to be thought of as macho, though.

View attachment 35445
Click to expand...

Fantasie 19 said:
What .. like those macho black lycra clad America's Cup crews??? :D

PS. As a cyclist I couldn't agree more... and at this time of the year where the evenings are drawing in, even more so...
Click to expand...

Even in bright summer sun when cyclists go into the shade of trees they become very difficult to see.
Motorcyclists have to wear crash helmets for their own safety, why shouldn't pedal cyclists have to have a minimum area of reflective material, for their own safety, and those flashing rear lights would help in awkward lighting as well.
It's all very well claiming it's the motorist that is at fault for not seeing them, but that is not the point.

What was that campaign?

See and Be Seen
 
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