Emergency survival in high latitudes - addendum
Sorry! I forgot to include this link. I thought everyone would have heard
about this unfortunate event.
John
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/14/content_11008998.htm
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/14/content_11008998.htm)
Pretty scary stuff: a mid-morning distress call from 35 miles away and
rescuers "could not pick up signals from any of the survivors beacons."
Weather was said to be "mild" but with strong winds and high waves.
"Survival suits would have enabled those aboard to survive 24 hours at
most."
<snip>
"...two empty life rafts were found."
What plans are being made by those who will soon venture into high latitudes
to increase their chances of rescue in the event of need?
Regards,
John
"Seahorse"
A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1220439616x1201372437/aol?redir=http://www
.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=62&bcd=febemailfooterNO
62)
**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy
steps!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1220439616x1201372437/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID
%3D62%26bcd%3DfebemailfooterNO62)
John, I had read and saw news reports but thanks for the Chinese news link!
On the issue of survival suits - As you know we carried them for years on
the 10 & 2 and still do. However having them aboard is not enough. I would
gamble that on most boats the suits have never left the bag they are stored
in. How many have tried to put them on for practice on a dock or quiet
anchorage? Further how many have tried to get into one in a rough sea or
rapidly descending copter? I had donned an old "Gumby" suit in the 70's
while stranded for a short while in AK and huffing and puffing finally
zipped up the suit and jumped in to go ashore for drinking water. Two years
ago I tried to get into Mustangs latest survival suit which is supposed to
fit up to 6'4" and 330 lbs if I remember the label right. Well at 5'10" and
280 lbs there was no way the Zipper would close - not even close. so it will
have to be a custom made one for me. Moral of the story - (Besides loosing
weight) practice and make sure they really do fit you because waiting until
you are sinking in AK waters with 10' seas is a bit late. God Bless - Ross
10&2
On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 9:05 PM, Truelove39@aol.com wrote:
Sorry! I forgot to include this link. I thought everyone would have heard
about this unfortunate event.
John
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/14/content_11008998.htm
(http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/14/content_11008998.htm)
Pretty scary stuff: a mid-morning distress call from 35 miles away and
rescuers "could not pick up signals from any of the survivors beacons."
Weather was said to be "mild" but with strong winds and high waves.
"Survival suits would have enabled those aboard to survive 24 hours at
most."
<snip>
"...two empty life rafts were found."
What plans are being made by those who will soon venture into high
latitudes
to increase their chances of rescue in the event of need?
Regards,
John
"Seahorse"
A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps!
(
http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1220439616x1201372437/aol?redir=http://www
.
freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=62&bcd=febemailfooterNO
62)
**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy
steps!
(
http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1220439616x1201372437/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID
%3D62%26bcd%3DfebemailfooterNO62)
http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/passagemaking-under-power
To unsubscribe send email to
passagemaking-under-power-request@lists.samurai.com with the word
UNSUBSCRIBE and nothing else in the subject or body of the message.
Passagemaking Under Power and PUP are trademarks of Water World
Productions, formerly known as Trawler World Productions.
North Sea standard practice Offshore is you wear your helicopter survival
suit destination to destination and I wouldn't expect that to change in
Canada. You simply don't have time to don a suit when a chopper is going
down. Last time I wore one you had a choice of about eight different sizes.
Haven't used an Atlantic Canada standard suit, but one of the issues in the
North Sea has always been getting the right balance between adequate levels
of insulation while still being able to evacuate an inverted helicopter.
Helicopters almost always roll inverted in a rough sea because most of the
weight (engines, transmissions, rotors are high up on the hull.
The better the insulation (Norwegian standard fully insulated suit), the
more flotation you have and the harder it is to exit a window when upside
down as the suit is too buoyant.
The lower the insulation (UK standard shell suit) the easier it is to get
out a window.
It appears the Canadian suits are insulated, so are likely to be more
buoyant.
I've trained wearing both types in the environmental wave tank helicopter
escape trainer. I will take the lesser insulation every time, because if you
can't get out it doesn't matter how long you could survive otherwise.
We do know this helicopter rolled then sank, and it looks possible that 16
people didn't manage to get out.
A little more info from http://www.hibernia.ca/html/she/safety.html :
Immersion Suits
Also known as "survival suits", immersion suits are probably the single most
important piece of safety equipment for people working offshore. Hibernia
contracted Mustang Survival of British Columbia to custom-design two types
of safety immersion suits to meet the rigorous requirements of the east
coast offshore oil industry.
.. Helicopter Passenger Immersion Suits, which are worn by all individuals
flying to and from the platform. ...
The immersion suits are without parallel in their thermal protection,
flotation and comfort. In fact, they exceed Canadian standards for thermal
protection. The suits also feature a "ratchet neck-seal" that effectively,
quickly and easily seals shut in an emergency. Suits must fit properly to
allow for freedom of movement. For this reason, Hibernia's helicopter
immersion suits are available in 16 different sizes (compared to six to
eight sizes typically available elsewhere) to better ensure a custom,
comfortable fit. Suits are equipped with a whistle and high-intensity light
to attract attention.
Lifejackets are standard equipment with both types of survival suits. The
marine abandonment lifejackets inflate automatically when saturated with
water, while the helicopter lifejackets inflate when the ripcord is pulled.
George
-----Original Message-----
From: passagemaking-under-power-bounces@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:passagemaking-under-power-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of
Ross Anderson
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 7:40 AM
To: Truelove39@aol.com
Cc: passagemaking-under-power@lists.samurai.com
Subject: Re: [PUP] Emergency survival in high latitudes - addendum
John, I had read and saw news reports but thanks for the Chinese news link!
On the issue of survival suits - As you know we carried them for years on
the 10 & 2 and still do. However having them aboard is not enough. I would
gamble that on most boats the suits have never left the bag they are stored
in. How many have tried to put them on for practice on a dock or quiet
anchorage? Further how many have tried to get into one in a rough sea or
rapidly descending copter? I had donned an old "Gumby" suit in the 70's
while stranded for a short while in AK and huffing and puffing finally
zipped up the suit and jumped in to go ashore for drinking water. Two years
ago I tried to get into Mustangs latest survival suit which is supposed to
fit up to 6'4" and 330 lbs if I remember the label right. Well at 5'10" and
280 lbs there was no way the Zipper would close - not even close. so it will
have to be a custom made one for me. Moral of the story - (Besides loosing
weight) practice and make sure they really do fit you because waiting until
you are sinking in AK waters with 10' seas is a bit late. God Bless - Ross
10&2
Good information, thanks and God Bless - Ross 10&2
On Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 9:33 AM, George Morris ghmorris@candlelight.cawrote:
North Sea standard practice Offshore is you wear your helicopter survival
suit destination to destination and I wouldn't expect that to change in
Canada. You simply don't have time to don a suit when a chopper is going
down. Last time I wore one you had a choice of about eight different sizes.
Haven't used an Atlantic Canada standard suit, but one of the issues in the
North Sea has always been getting the right balance between adequate levels
of insulation while still being able to evacuate an inverted helicopter.
Helicopters almost always roll inverted in a rough sea because most of the
weight (engines, transmissions, rotors are high up on the hull.
The better the insulation (Norwegian standard fully insulated suit), the
more flotation you have and the harder it is to exit a window when upside
down as the suit is too buoyant.
The lower the insulation (UK standard shell suit) the easier it is to get
out a window.
It appears the Canadian suits are insulated, so are likely to be more
buoyant.
I've trained wearing both types in the environmental wave tank helicopter
escape trainer. I will take the lesser insulation every time, because if
you
can't get out it doesn't matter how long you could survive otherwise.
We do know this helicopter rolled then sank, and it looks possible that 16
people didn't manage to get out.
A little more info from http://www.hibernia.ca/html/she/safety.html :
Immersion Suits
Also known as "survival suits", immersion suits are probably the single
most
important piece of safety equipment for people working offshore. Hibernia
contracted Mustang Survival of British Columbia to custom-design two types
of safety immersion suits to meet the rigorous requirements of the east
coast offshore oil industry.
.. Helicopter Passenger Immersion Suits, which are worn by all individuals
flying to and from the platform. ...
The immersion suits are without parallel in their thermal protection,
flotation and comfort. In fact, they exceed Canadian standards for thermal
protection. The suits also feature a "ratchet neck-seal" that effectively,
quickly and easily seals shut in an emergency. Suits must fit properly to
allow for freedom of movement. For this reason, Hibernia's helicopter
immersion suits are available in 16 different sizes (compared to six to
eight sizes typically available elsewhere) to better ensure a custom,
comfortable fit. Suits are equipped with a whistle and high-intensity light
to attract attention.
Lifejackets are standard equipment with both types of survival suits. The
marine abandonment lifejackets inflate automatically when saturated with
water, while the helicopter lifejackets inflate when the ripcord is pulled.
George
-----Original Message-----
From: passagemaking-under-power-bounces@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:passagemaking-under-power-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of
Ross Anderson
Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 7:40 AM
To: Truelove39@aol.com
Cc: passagemaking-under-power@lists.samurai.com
Subject: Re: [PUP] Emergency survival in high latitudes - addendum
John, I had read and saw news reports but thanks for the Chinese news link!
On the issue of survival suits - As you know we carried them for years on
the 10 & 2 and still do. However having them aboard is not enough. I would
gamble that on most boats the suits have never left the bag they are stored
in. How many have tried to put them on for practice on a dock or quiet
anchorage? Further how many have tried to get into one in a rough sea or
rapidly descending copter? I had donned an old "Gumby" suit in the 70's
while stranded for a short while in AK and huffing and puffing finally
zipped up the suit and jumped in to go ashore for drinking water. Two years
ago I tried to get into Mustangs latest survival suit which is supposed to
fit up to 6'4" and 330 lbs if I remember the label right. Well at 5'10" and
280 lbs there was no way the Zipper would close - not even close. so it
will
have to be a custom made one for me. Moral of the story - (Besides loosing
weight) practice and make sure they really do fit you because waiting until
you are sinking in AK waters with 10' seas is a bit late. God Bless - Ross
10&2
Survival suits are required on Canadian flights of this nature as well. I
trained in Mustang suits and found them to be very easy to move in
and they advertized a 24 hr survival time in 1C water. As George said, they
are also bouyant. This was back in '86, so who knows what advances
they have made in them since.
My brother lives on an island and relies on snow machines in the winter to
get on and off it. (no road access) He wears a Mustang Survival suit
under his snow machine gear because it is a given that he will be going
thru the ice at least once each winter. He has not had a problem getting
himself back onto the ice despite the bulk of the suit and his snow gear.
Rob