Spring Safety Checklist- Life Rafts

Starting the safety check list on life rafts ..Do you have a life raft? If not you should consider it a purchase for your Spring Boating needs. You can expect to pay between $1200.00 for a very simple single tubed life raft and up to $6000.00 or more for a top of the line offshore life raft.  Always access your boating needs and trips to determine which new life raft will best suit them. Different life raft manufactures require different servicing intervals on each life raft so that may be a consideration during purchasing as well.
 When purchasing a new life raft remember to consider the number of persons on your boat most of the time and try to match that number to the person capacity of the life raft.
Purchasing a life raft can be a tough decision so let someone help you.


Servicing a life raft is super important to the life of the life raft as well as the functionality. I have written other posts on servicing a life raft such as this one and this one and the point is always the same ...If you do not service the life raft you are taking a big risk that the life raft will not function properly. In one of the posts I highlighted the importance of servicing because the batteries in the flash light became corroded and battery acid leaked out all over the rest of the equipment. The raft had not been serviced one time in it's 10 year life... That particular raft should have been serviced 3 times. 

I don't know about you but I would hate to be the first one in that life raft after struggling in a desperate situation just to find out I had no flash light, no first aid kit, and no flares thanks to leaky batteries.... Can servicing always guarantee a working raft so every one is spared from the worst, no but it can up the odds a lot. Remember being safe on the water involves a lot of factors and having the best equipment and knowledge are your best defense against a bad situation.

Here is a good quality Made in the USA Life Raft
The Switlik MD-3
Offshore Life Raft
ISO-9650-1 approved
6 Person capacity
$5190.00 in a soft valise
$5255.00 in a hard fiberglass container

The Tale of Two Life Rafts

The tale of two rafts
Once upon a time in a factory far far away two life rafts were packed …twins in fact. Packed with care and shipped out to their new owners. One lucky raft got an owner who cared for him and serviced him according to the manufactures book. The other poor raft was tossed on the boat in a storage locker and never serviced. Twenty years and many safe trips later the good owner took his faithful well cared for raft to be serviced and as thing turned out a life raft ages when you inflate it with the CO2 gas. This would be his fourth time to get gas inflation, and as it turns out life raft years are not people years they are more like dog years. The poor life raft could not pass his inspection and so the good owner let him go and ordered a new one. The twin raft lived a much different life and had never been serviced. His owner took him off of the boat wiped off the years of dirt and grime and snapped a great picture. He then placed the picture on the internet with a for sale sign. Some poor shopper thought it was a great deal to pick up this fine piece of life saving equipment for only one fourth the costs of a new one. So after completing the sale the new owner noticed the inspection on the raft was not current and diligently to it to be serviced. After 20 long years of hanging out in the sun, rain, cold and wet the poor old raft was in terrible shape and was ashamed to even be opened in front of anyone for he knew he could save the life of no one. His valves did not work, his CO2 bottle only two thirds full his seems dried and aged. He knew he could not hold the air or even survive the CO2 inflation for this is hard on an old life raft. As the service tech fired the bottle and the raft inflated only half way and the seems were barely holding. All his equipment was old and unable to be used as it had been wet for many years causing it to mold and mildew. The smell oh he knew he would smell awful and was glad he could not cry tears for he would have many. Packed all those years ago with such love and care given a job like no other; possibly saving someone’s life oh how great he was. But the years of neglect were showing now and the new owner was in disbelief, how someone could sell him something so bad. As the new owner sign the condemnation he thought for a moment and though he was out some money at least he and his family would not be in the ocean when they discovered the poor old life raft was past his prime and unable to do the job of saving them.
THE END