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Procrastination Bit me

Push&Pull

Push&Pull

Recognized Leader Triumph 210 / 215 Forum
City
Florida City
State
Florida
Wow, this entire weekend is supposed to be gorgeous and I'm stuck waiting on safety materials I ordered to replace damaged and expired items in my ditch bag and PFDs. That's what I get for ignoring routine inspections of all my gear during lax times.

So, do I go anyway or wait till my gear is complete....... I know, I know what are the chances of any real emergency just this one time?.... With my luck....too high to risk it. And there is that Murphy's law thing too. Not to mention the whole Memorial Day mad rush of lunatics on the water.

So, lesson learned. Always check your gear thoroughly constantly. I went thru my ditch bag and found that even in a SEALED waterproof bag, much of my gear became mildewed and or destroyed from corrosion. Five ACR Strobes had the batteries swell and ruin the strobes. I have now sealed everything in "Foodsaver" vaccum sealed bags or small pelican boxes and then into the Watershed sealed ditch bag. This time i included moisture paks and will bring the bag in the house AC after every trip and open it to check it and air out. I have also attached a ditty bag to each PFD with various safety items. ie: knife, cylume sticks, whistle, skyrocket flares, and strobes. I have vaccum sealed the strobes with the batteries separate. Then I put the entire PFD in a large vaccum bag to protect it from exposure.

I also added an Oxygen kit and a AED to my emergency supplies. 30+ miles offshore is just too far to wait for help.
 
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Checking expiration dates on flares and such is easy to overlook. I did that this week and realized mine were expired as well. I like your idea about bringing the bag into the AC. I've kept mine in the garage up to now, but no more. Hope you're able to enjoy the weekend whether on water or on land.
 
Well, after much adding and re-adjusting I finally got my Ditch Bag sorted out and all the gear waterproofed. I think my aging boat and my aging bod are making me more nervous of emergencies. I added enough safety and survival gear to give Bear Gryllis a run for his money on Discovery Channel. But then I could hardly lift it. So reluctantly, I trimmed it down to what I considered necessities if I was stranded on the Boat only and not a remote island like Tom Hanks. (And hopefully with rescue in hours rather than days or more.) 24' of vessel can only carry so much and my dinky 130hp struggles already.

And for those times when I fish alone, I broke down and decided to wear a Mustang 3183 Auto-inflatable vest. That combined with a ACR PLB, a auto-tether, a knife, mirror, flashlight and who knows what else I'll end up adding to this belt........I now look like a navy seal heading out on a covert mission. I'm not even sure if I can still fight a fish wearing all this get-up. But I'm safe. :rolleyes:

I have added a "DAN oxygen rescue pak and a ZOLL AED Plus (defibrillator) and doubled the first aid kit, for those potential more serious emergencies. I am presently enrolled in a certification class for both. Changed all the portable electronics batteries to Lithium long life, and vacuum sealed most of the batteries separate from the device. (prevent bursting)
I had the EPIRBs re-certified and batteries replaced. I updated all online registries and created reminders on my PC and cellphone to keep the NOAA data current online. I even put reminders for my boat's batteries, registration, fishing licenses, etc etc. Now hopefully with all my additional efforts at waterproofing, I can keep mother nature's wrath at bay for awhile longer. She is an unforgiving mistress.

It's not enough to just buy this gear and then forget it. You must follow-up and maintain it or Murphy will bite you in the ***.
So, on that note, safe boating everyone. :cool: I'll take some pics and attach them.
 
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Got a question, Bill.....in your opinion, when our Mustang HIT self-inflating vests say to "replace if indicator changes from green to red prior to 21 Jan 2017," does that mean to replace on 21 Jan 2017 regardless of color? Or is it like a fire extinguisher that is okay as long as it's "in the green"? I've been meaning to write and ask Mustang that question, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
 
Harper said:
Got a question, Bill.....in your opinion, when our Mustang HIT self-inflating vests say to "replace if indicator changes from green to red prior to 21 Jan 2017," does that mean to replace on 21 Jan 2017 regardless of color? Or is it like a fire extinguisher that is okay as long as it's "in the green"? I've been meaning to write and ask Mustang that question, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
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I'm new to the whole auto-inflating thing so I'd just be guessing about the reasoning. I think they put a 5 year expiration on the Hit system just to cover liability. It's not like there is a battery to go dead or some type of required USCG certification. My own opinion is, if it still is in the green and looks serviceable, I would expect it to function properly. And even if it doesn't......you can always just manually blow it up. If they lowered the price of a replacement HIT.....then maybe.....;)

Added note: I questioned you a while back about the pocket on the 3183 and you were right. It's too small to fit a PLB. And anything bulky on the front would cause undue interference anyway. I actually don't use it for anything yet.
 
Right about the pocket on the 3183. I've since bought a 3183 and the pocket is too small for much of anything.
 
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mr300s said:
Good job might be time for a bigger boat LOL
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Don't I wish........sadly my dinky wallet is worse off than my 130 motor. :( Besides, the ole girl's been good to me.
 
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