Oh Oh, I was TAD on the Storis out of Kodiak, Did a southpat on a old wind class icebreaker and finished up on 36 and 44 MLBs. You know your getting old when everything you served on is on display or razor blades <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> What is currently stashed in the PFDs? I had the old 6 strap Kapoks and the first generation Mustang float coat. We had to provide our own knives. Myerchin wasn't around then. Unless your a bos'un and use a marlinespike their popularity is more for scrimshawing salty scenes on the white micarta. You might want to look at a Fallkniven F1 in the kydex sheath. I replaced my old german Kriegsmarine sailors knife with one when I am forced to go near the water today. We also carried the penflare unit,mirror and whistle. My firemaking kit was a Zippo with the Coast Guard emblem. Survival food was Hershey chocolate instead of the compressed cornflake packs and yellow,red,green and orange survival candy paks. This mormon kid ate about 9 of those things, drank from a survival water tin datestamped at least 5 years past expiration and sort of detonated in his seafarer bellbottoms. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />You might consider a thin set of longjohns under your uniform. I wore some long forgotten canadian brand of woolens. I was a rescue swimmer one day on a SAR that happened so fast I didn't have time to climb into my wet suit. Off the stern I went, grabbed a kid and got us to shore. Hes in my Mustang, some other survivors are collecting and that sexy zippo was DOA. I pulled my knife, shoelaces from deckshoes and found what had to be the only dry wood within a 100 mile radius of Tillamook Bay LBS. I actually bowdrilled a fire with a broken hand. Funny what you can do when motivated <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> To sum, A. stay warm as possible in the water B. SIGNALS,SIGNALS,SIGNALS- especially high visibility streamer tape. SEMPER PARATUS