1) Every raft should have a PLB/Locator beacon. Two only is not acceptable because you have no way of determining which rafts will survive. A ship is more likely to be lost to the sea rather than enemy action. Therefor it follows that not equipping every raft with a PLB will have unacceptable political and public consequences.
It is not practical or correct to put a PLB in every raft, because too many signals in close proximity would mask each other. I've talked to the SARSAT folks already. The thought of 250+ PLBs going off at once if an aircraft carrier went down makes them shudder. Even a dozen or so in close proximity can be problematic. The probability that both PLB rafts on opposite sides of the ship from each other would be damaged before deployment is low. Plus there other military communication devices that would assist in alert and detection. There is a slight liability that an inadvertant activation of a PLB in a life raft could give away the ship's location to the world during a tactical situation. It would be vital that those PLB rafts could be quickly located, opened and deactivated. Too many rafts to choose from could complicate that process.
Politics don't enter the equipment selection, but I have to make rational, feasible choices based on critical test and evaluation, and product research. I have to be a good custodian of the tax payers' money too.
2) Use AMK heat sheets for the survival blankets.
I've recently received some samples and they are very nice and strong. Definitely worthy of consideration
3) The rafts should meet or exceed USCG/SOLAS regs irrespective of your Navy's exceptions.
Our life rafts exceed USCG and SOLAR rafts regs in almost every area. Considering we have over 9000 life rafts in service, the performance and reliability is probably unmatched by any other life raft in the world. Our major departure from USCG/SOLAS is that we have a five-year maintenance cycle versus annual inspection. We have more stringent test criteria for our life rafts than required by USCG/SOLAS. At servicing every life raft is test inflated with a pull-force gauge attached to the sea painter. Our current failure rate after a five-year maintenance cycle is 0.005%. The Coast Guard uses them on their ships.
4) All devices should run off AA lithium batteries. I would not personally be happy about having two types of batteries for survival and signaling equipment.
Ideally I'd want one battery type too. It would most likely be the CR123A rather than the AA lithium.
5) By standard military pocket knife do you mean the 1940's Calli mus designed so called U.S. Army or Marine knife? A one handed opening blunt nosed dingy knife might be a better choice.
Yes, it's the Camillus stainless steel knife, almost unchanged since WWII. I'm kind of nostalgic about that knife. I think its kind of cool we still use it. There is also a blunt/hooked knife used for cutting the sea painter. It's great for opening the plastic bags.
6) Chopping/cutting board?
Hmmm, they could use the bottom of the first aid box.
Thanks for your thoughts,
Tom
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