Life Rafts
Planning a trip to the Bahamas or the Caribbeans? Need a life raft but think you’re only going once or twice. AviationSurvival.com now offers life rafts to aviators and mariners wanting to rent top of the line. In addition we also rent life jackets, personal locator beacons and ELT’s. New rafts are made to order due to the shelf life so please contact us regarding lead-time. Daily, weekly and monthly Life Raft rentals program. Aviation Rafts, Marine Rafts and Marine Equipment for Survival. Get FREE Shipping in the USA
Life rafts are built for a brief amount of time after the vessel becomes uninhabitable due to fire or sinking, to hold the crew of a vessel alive. They have a small amount of accommodation, services, protection against hypothermia and a greater target for rescuers. In almost any case, a floating boat is a safer alternative than a life raft, but having considered the choices, the decision to leave the boat must be taken with great caution.
Types of Life Rafts
There are two types that life rafts are classified: descriptive types and international criteria. The descriptive categories are strongly defined: a raft in a lower category with some features from a higher position may be sold by one vendor. Regularly the divisions are defined as the following.
Rescue platforms are flat discs designed to keep people out of the water for brief periods of time and, by minimizing hypothermia, increase their survival time. They have basically no gear, and might have little hydraulic system, if any. In particular, throughout aircraft or commercial systems, emergency platforms are more than likely to be identified.
In general, maritime or near shore rafts have a single buoyancy channel, a manual or self-erecting canopy, moderate ballast structures, sometimes using "Icelandic" ballast bags, and equipment kit raft necessities. Quite compact life rafts designed for small offshore fishing vessels have been built in recent years. These can be very small when in their shells, but when inflated, they provide security for two to six individuals.
Another alternative is a canister which comes in a two-piece shell made of plastic or fiberglass. Between the halves, the canisters can be locked, or may have a type of lid that sheds water. The canisters, though, are not perfectly waterproof and would possibly have a drainage system with holes to allow evaporation as well as other water to flee.
Emergency Packs for Life Raft
Life rafts provide a modest amount of gear relative to what would have liked many raft survivors. This seems to be one of the major disconnects, and with good cause, in perceptions vs. reality. Most aspects in life are evident and apparent: if possible, you will see and touch them and add them. If you pack for a trip, you know just what you're bringing. Life raft emergency packs may allow you to add products depending on the particular form of raft and case. For protection the usually supplied products are common items that include patch kits, epirbs, strobe lights, sea dye marker, rescue streamers, signal mirrors, cylume lights, binoculars, first aid kits, water, flares, radios, gloves and life vests.