The Complete Overboard Bag - Rate It

[LauderBoy]

Am I the only one that thinks having to wait 2-3 days before getting rescued from the middle of an ocean is actually pretty damn good?

You don't really need a whole lot to survive that. Just some water, sunscreen, bit of food to keep energy levels up so you're not dead weight during the rescue, repair kit for the raft.

Do you really need a book or radio to keep from getting bored? And snacks to keep morale up... for the 3 whole days it takes to get rescued??? I mean, if you're going to give up all hope and drown yourself the 2nd day out I don't know if not having a snickers bar or last month's issue of Glamour is really your core problem.

I'd toss out 80% of what's in his kit, shave off about 40lbs from it in the process and fit in a couple more PLB/ELB, then spend the extra budget on a good quality life raft and making sure it's in solid shape every year.

[wolfenzee]

OOPS batteries in the GPS and EPIRB are bad, no one knows where I am and I don't know where I am....unless of course I also include a sextant....just a basic plastic one (actually called a "life boat sextant", will be accurate enough. Hand held VHF?....vhf is basically line of sight.....how about a handheld SSB. Another thing would be a solar battery charger. A life raft is pretty close to the water how about a parabolic kite w/ flags.

[Omatako]

I'm pretty much with Lauderboy on this but heavily dependant on where you're sailing.

In the Indian Ocean you're surrounded by a lot of countries have have no semblance of SAR, don't answer radio calls, don't speak your language if they do, have now way of getting to you and more importantly don't give a toss whether you live or die.

But in most other locations rescue happens pretty quickly (48 hours is not life threatening). And if the equipment that you do keep in your bag to communicate (handheld GPS and VHF, satphone) had decent batteries and the odd spare when the voyage started, they'll almost certainly still be good when the voyage is over. Ensuring that is really not hard. And if you do get one dodgy battery, a) a spare will fix that and b) it will only take down one form of communication. Believing that two bits of kit will simultaneously go down is bordering on serious paranoia.

After comms, the most important thing to me is water and I'll sacrifice most other heavy kit to carry a few litres of extra water. Then it's paperwork (passports, ships registration) and cash.

All other stuff is location dependant - don't weigh your ditch bag down with a survival suit when you're sailing from Bora Bora to Samoa. So my ditch bag gets assembled using specific voyage logic at the start of each voyage

[MarkofSeaLife]

Originally Posted by LauderBoy

I'd toss out 80% of what's in his kit, shave off about 40lbs from it in the process and fit in a couple more PLB/ELB, then spend the extra budget on a good quality life raft and making sure it's in solid shape every year.

I agree with you.

The 80% you'd toss out is worth a lot of money too and that money may be better spent on something that stops the boat sinking in the first place... Like better weather services for offshore passages etc.

How many times have you been told: "you can't afford not to have this! Your life may depend on it"?
I get told that all the damn time by everyone for everything, even the doctor the other day wanted to book me up for a lot of tests that do nothing, show nothing but are EXPENSIVE. And look askance at you when you tell them to shove it!

If I bought everything people tell em is a "Must Have Your Life Depends on it" I would never have been able to afford to start cruising! I would still be at home! Dying an early death of boredom.

Yes, it would be nice to have pillows and a magazine rack in the life raft but if it stops you leaving in the first place?

Mark. Beware those that tell you what you MUST have.

[MarkofSeaLife]

What's better, a life raft or the dinghy with the 10 or 15 hp engine on it?


My dink is strapped to the foredeck when I'm doing a crossing, but sure as chips I would have it in the water with the outboard on it, tethered to the life raft.

A dinghy with a good outboard can get you to passing ships, islands, out of currents or into currents. Most importantly if a rescue plane does drop a pizza you can get to it.

[MedSailor]

Originally Posted by MarkofSeaLife

I agree with you.

The 80% you'd toss out is worth a lot of money too and that money may be better spent on something that stops the boat sinking in the first place... Like better weather services for offshore passages etc.

How many times have you been told: "you can't afford not to have this! Your life may depend on it"?
I get told that all the damn time by everyone for everything, even the doctor the other day wanted to book me up for a lot of tests that do nothing, show nothing but are EXPENSIVE. And look askance at you when you tell them to shove it!

Seems like you are saying here that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. I would agree with that. And yet you're applying the philosophy to catastrophe on your boat but not for preventing catastrophe in your body???

Originally Posted by MarkofSeaLife

Beware those that tell you what you MUST have.

Yes, you should be ware of those that tell you you must have something IF they are a salesman. Your doctor is uniquely positioned to be impartial as your advocate. Second opinions are often a good idea for peace of mind but I'd advise you to trust your doctor a little more.


How is this related to the thread you may ask? Well the most often glossed-over part of the ditch bag is the medical part even though a high percentage of life raft occupants are injured. I think it's just too intimidating for most people.

Using Mark's philosophy on prevention (which I AGREE with), all the (expensive) kit in the world may not be as good as being healthy to begin with. To that end, I'd say that if you enter the raft and have a heart attack from the cold water shock you may wish you'd had those tests your doctor wanted for you. If you die of kidney failure while trying to ration your water, you might wish you'd had those tests as well....

Preventive maintenance for boats, and preventive medicine for people. Both are critical for this type of survival.

MedSailor