Just looked at the suits on the website some of those helicopter suits look awesome. A couple hundred seems pretty reasonable for that functionality. Did you have to buy your own for work? I could see the advantages of having your own, I would not want to use someone else’s lol.
I think all you’d need to do to convince yourself on this point would be to go outside at say 0F wearing chopper’s mitts (leather mitten shell with wool mitten inside) and then after half an hour change to gloves.
Surface area:volume is king when it comes to heat transfer, and long skinny thing like fingers and skyscrapers have lots of surface area compared to their volume.
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The shape with the least surface for a given volume is a sphere.
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Good call. The one time I did keep my Gumby suit within arm’s reach in dire circumstances was on a Canadian fishing boat. This is the closest representation I was able to Google. The one I had on that boat had the mittens.
Having spent the early years of my life in the great white north, I would agree.
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The same justification for huddling with other bodies to reduce exposure area and ward off hypothermia in survival situations.
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Thank the Marine Electric disaster for the requirement of the suits. Glad the option was there. It isn’t easy to deploy for some even during a Safety drill , let alone an emergency in rough weather. I tried not to take the risks to put my crew in the situation that they would need them. Pick up harnesses is a good idea
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So sad for these fisherman.
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The Mustang Survival Ocean Commander OC8000 HR is USCG approved and comes with a built-in safety harness.
https://mustangsurvival.com/collections/immersion-dry-suits/products/ocean-commander-immersion-suit-with-harness-oc8000-hr
As does this more conventional model:
https://mustangsurvival.com/collections/immersion-dry-suits/products/neoprene-cold-water-immersion-suit-with-harness-adult-universal-mis230-hr
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What he said.
https://www.whiteglacier.com/
Harness and more insulation.
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Curious about the suit with the harness , how often does the harness need to be tested under a load? Every time the suits come up for inspections ?
I was self employed at the time.
When working on thin ice, or operating a skiff in freezing spray conditions, your ideas about appropriate attire tend to change.
</OT>
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Do you know what a gumby suit is? It’s a suit designed for survival when abandoning ship, essentially a bag shaped with arms and legs. Only a halfwit would wear one to perform work when there are anti-exposure floatation suits specifically designed for that purpose.
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I bought my own survival suit 35 years ago and carried With me on airplanes to boats. With high baggage charges now, there is only so much stuff you can carry.
Unless it’s a harbor boat that you drive your car to, the boat ought to provide the best available PPE including survival suits, and insulated flotation work suits.
Owners are only interested in cheap safety, like hard hats, paperwork and $300 survival suits. As soon as it starts to cost modest money they lose interest in safety.
There is a strong culture of minimum regulatory compliance.
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I’m unfamiliar with this gumby of which you speak, but I take it we’re talking about immersion suits for abandoning ship. The one I’m referring to is designed specifically for high risk transit, and as such is of sturdier construction and offers a bit more freedom of movement.
People used to look at me funny for bringing my own, but for something so important I don’t want to trust something made by the lowest bidder and stowed away unloved for a decade.
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Yes, the gumby suit is intended for use when abandoning ship. I posted a photo of one earlier in this thread. The suit is named after this cartoon character for obvious reasons.
My friend who survived this sinking said he handled out all the survival suits and helped with the may day
He also said him and the other survivor we’re in the water for 20 minutes before they were able to get into the raft
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Here’s a link to the latest Seattle Time story on the sinking:
No word yet as to why the boat sank. As to the story, you can quibble over details only a maritime professional would know (i.e. survival suit sizing), but overall it’s a good example of the excellent coverage the Seattle Times does on maritime incidents.
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He knew from training that he typically took a medium. He grabbed a bigger size, green in color, to make sure he could put it on quickly.
Okey, how many survival suits do they have onboard? And do they not train before the start of every trip?
Unless you include WSF collisions.
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