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 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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