In a message dated 98-07-07 01:53:30 EDT, rcline_at_onramp.net writes: << The Icom M3A is advertised to be: "Water-resistant construction: Built tough to withstand the punishing marine environment, the IC-M3A meets JIS water-resistant specification grade 4. The amount of exposure to saltwater was really minimal. The battery compartment has virtually NO waterproofing. There is no rubber O-ring to seal off batteries. There was also moisture on the inside of the glass. Somehow it had gotten into the radio case itself. >> Must be the difference between JIS-4 and JIS-7 --- and some clever weasel- wording on "water-resistant", whatever that means. Guess it supports my contention that most <dry> bags aren't --- dry, that is. Also supports the idea of staying with CFR-76 or, better, JIS-7 specs. All this is of little help to you now, Robert, but anybody looking at VHF handhelds should consider not the words --- "water-resistant", etc. --- but the spec to which the radio is designed. ICOM should be accessible through your retailer, if not directly --- send them copies of all this e-mail if they balk at making good on the deal, and tell them how many people read this list! Another thought, which was expressed earlier --- having the radio in a deck bag is convenient, but, depending on how the bag is packed, it could rattle around and take some hits (remember my pier incident?), but, more importantly, the radio is not with you if you have to bail out quickly. A good concept to work with is that if it's not on your person, you don't own it in a survival situation. Bottom line --- to have something that'll <work> in our in-water sea kayaking environment --- as opposed to taking a little salt spray at the pulpit of a Boston Whaler --- you probably need to invest the extra 50% or so in a truly <waterproof> radio, and, with several manufacturers building to the JIS-7 standard of <submersible>, it's really the best way to go. Good luck with ICOM, Robert --- and keep us posted on how they handle this, please. Jack Martin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Jul 07 1998 - 02:55:41 PDT
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