Re: [Paddlewise] Bright orange banner in the water

At 11:50 PM -0700 7/31/02, Elias Ross wrote:
>I was looking for information on signal mirrors.
>
>I came across this interesting page that talks about the effectiveness of
>various signalling devices.  Much of it pertains more towards crashed
>aircraft than kayakers, but they have some interesting information:
>
>http://www.equipped.com/signal.htm
>
>The author suggests several methods, including banners and strobes.  I liked
>the idea of a bright orange banner that floats in the water -- has anyone
>considered such a thing?  Flares don't seem to come highly recommended.

A friend of mine who does a lot of search and rescue work is really 
hot on the new rescue flare laser from 
http://www.greatlandlaser.com/kayak/kayak.htm

He experimented with one during some SAR exercises and said he could 
get the attention of helicopters very easily as when they wear night 
vision equipment it lights up there world. He feels it is a really 
good attention getting device that is also useful for helping 
rescuers pinpoint your location.

Standard flares are pretty poor at getting attention and are only 
useful if the searcher is already looking your way. During the day 
smoke is quite good and dye is pretty good when you are in the water. 
I expect a floating banner would be similar to dye but would last 
longer if you can keep it floating in wide open manner.
-- 
Nick Schade
Guillemot Kayaks
824 Thompson St
Glastonbury, CT 06033
(860) 659-8847
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