Liferaft Question

[sck5]

In the Seven Seas Cruising Assoc. survey, out of 460 people who answered the question "Have you ever deployed your liferaft in a real situation?" a total of 4 (or 0.9%) answered Yes.

So, about 1 in a hundred. This is a survey of the membership of SSCA, many of whom actually live on their boats basically all the time.

[braidmike]

Thanks to all for the info. The US Coast Guard site was not too informative (although quite interesting). I'll research the others a little more thoroughly. It is easy to look at it like 50/50, I'll either need it or I won't, but my personal decision process doesn't work like that. Looking at the possible causes for life raft deployment, I agree weather is not the top of the list. In fact it is pretty low. Collision at sea with large mammals or stray shipping containers seems to be the most probable. Would $5k spent on emergency repair & dewatering be better spent than on a raft? Not expecting anyone to answer that for me, just trying to explain my thought process and gain a bit of understanding from other people's thoughts and experiences. I'm thinking fire is highly dependant on prior preparation and adherence to protocol. But, just like the weather, there are those 'black swan' incidents that will jump up regardless...
Having raised a family, I can certainly concur with anyone sailing with children taking more precautions than those of us past that age. I mean, I have netting on the lifelines just to protect my mutt!

[tthomson]

I believe that there is a Givens/NASA connection that accounts for this life rafts stability. In fact I just found this: Apollo-Era Life Rafts Save Hundreds of Sailors

[seafoam]

Has anyone repacked thier own liferaft? If so what are the problems encountered? And what to look for when inspecting the raft?