What's in your ditch bag?

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Kita

While I tend to agree ,there is a very surprising thing that happened in Hudson close to tarpon springs FL on an eighty degree day a couple teens were playing with a jet ski & ran over a crab trap line & didn't have the right stuff to get the rope off, it was in the 70's that night & both were found the next day, died of hypothermia hard to believe but it happened a couple years back. I guess they didn't have the right equipment you could either to wear or to untangle the Rope. . Very hard to accept because it really wasn't that cold of a night... that was a very valuable lesson that I learned that will stay with me for a long time

Kita--The boys--as were the football players in the earlier incident--were in the water, not sitting in a life-raft with an inflatable floor isolating them from the sea and a canopy sheltering them from the wind. Never-the-less, there is merit to Ken's observations and as we have some light weight diving jackets, neoprene over the torso and nylon sleeves, I intend to add them to our bag while traveling. Can't hurt/might help eh?

[MC2019]

a. –dry bag from andy and bax; http://www.andyandbax.com/
b. -parachute cord (vacuum bagged)
c. -glow sticks (vacuum bagged)
d. -32 oz of water; https://www.amazon.com/Datrex-Emergency-Survival-Water-Pouch/dp/B00ANY4EXM/ref=sr_1_1/159-3091709-0671259?ie=UTF8&qid=1480298606&sr=8-1&keywords=water+emergency+pouches
e. -first aid kit (vacuum bagged)
f. -shammies (vacuum bagged)
g. -thermal blankets (vacuum bagged)
h. -CD in the first aid kit
i. -clothes clips in the shammie vaccum bag
j. -fishing gear (vacuum bagged)
k. -VHF with GPS; (I will buy a new radio); http://www.westmarine.com/buy/standard-horizon--hx870-floating-handheld-vhf-radio-with-gps--16263261
l. -binoculars
m. -my PLB fast find 220; EPIRB
Sat phone is optional, seeing as one is probably using on the vessel. Picture shows VHF and hand held GPS, which the HX870 replaces.

[buzzstar]

Depending upon the area and the distance from "home" some money can be handy if you survive. The paper variety is light weight, but some of the metal types have more value and require very little space. Even a credit card can be useful.

[fish53]

I have a SOLAS A raft, which despite popular myth is light years better than any dingy, you may be rolled in high wind but you won't be thrown from your raft. The raft has much of what I'd need but I have a second EPIRB and a SART with a few other essentials in my bag. There's nothing better for pinpoint location close to the scene than a SART especially at night in bad weather, and all rescue craft, commercial vessels and many yachts have radar.

[AiniA]

I think the choice of ditch bag supplies has to be made keeping in mind where you are sailing and how many people are onboard. The latter is not just for what supplies you might need but for how an emergency will be handled. A ditch bag needs to readily at hand and something that can be transferred to the raft quickly with the available crew. Some abandon ship emergencies happen very quickly - fire comes to mind, while in other cases you have some time to load things into the raft. Using this logic, the bag needs to contain the absolute minimum of stuff you need assuming you do not have time to load extra goodies. I agree very much with the point made about everyone onboard knowing their responsibilities in the event of an emergency.

[fish53]

One of the most important things that's not in the bag is training and drills, confusion is the enemy of time and in an emergency time is of the upmost importance. A bag, raft or survival suit is no good if it sinks or burns on the boat and the smaller the vessel the less time there is. On commercial vessels everyone practices donning a survival suit and abandoning ship and realistic drills are done at the very least weekly. Survival at sea isn't just stuff in a bag it's knowledge and forethought.