Hi all, Sorry for cross-mailing :-(! This is no fun news, but for once Swedish Radio har made a shocking discovery: Almost all life buoys sink! To begin with one make (Greek) was tested and theirs sank (the life buoy absorbs water and being fairly rustic, sinks, if having been exposed to rain recently, or when immersed in water). So there is a design flaw, somehow. Don't know the details, yet, sorry! Today life buoys of eight makes have proved to sink, representing (almost) all makers world wide! Don't know how fast they sink, but most probable is that the life buoys you see on the ferries where you live are a bad joke! Most life buoys on Scandinavian ferries have been replaced, with others, but the question is, are any any good?! That they have a stamp, that they have been approved by the authority that approves such things have proved just a sticker, an approved one sinks just as well as an unapproved! *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 2:55 PM, <tord_at_mindless.com> wrote: > > This is no fun news, but for once Swedish Radio > har made a shocking discovery: > > Almost all life buoys sink! > Kapok. I think I've posted about kapok-filled PFDs here before. Virtually all PFDs on ships and ferries are designs from the 1950s and filled with kapok. Kapok is buoyant until it gets waterlogged; then it sinks. Annual inspections are supposed to detect PFDs which are defective but I'm not sure how well that's done. This is why I had my own Mustang survival coat. Which was not USCG certified in the 1970s but it worked! Moral: if you go on a cruise or a ferry take your own PFD. That should give the passengers a nice feeling. Not as bad as boarding a 747 with your own parachute but almost. :P Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Travelling around eastern Canada I always find the life jacket bins on ferries and check them out. :-) All but about one of those I can remember recently have been foam (i.e. square block) type with I think one with Kapok --which I regarded as a curiosity. GaryJ Craig Jungers wrote: > On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 2:55 PM, <tord_at_mindless.com> wrote: > >> This is no fun news, but for once Swedish Radio >> har made a shocking discovery: >> >> Almost all life buoys sink! >> > > Kapok. I think I've posted about kapok-filled PFDs here before. Virtually > all PFDs on ships and ferries are designs from the 1950s and filled with > kapok. Kapok is buoyant until it gets waterlogged; then it sinks. Annual > inspections are supposed to detect PFDs which are defective but I'm not sure > how well that's done. This is why I had my own Mustang survival coat. Which > was not USCG certified in the 1970s but it worked! > > Moral: if you go on a cruise or a ferry take your own PFD. That should give > the passengers a nice feeling. Not as bad as boarding a 747 with your own > parachute but almost. :P > > Craig Jungers > Moses Lake, WA > www.nwkayaking.net *************************************************************************** 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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