Unusual safety equipment

[capn_billl]

Other than the usual Anchor, Epirb, drogue, life jackets, etc...

What are some tools you keep aboard for safety that are often overlooked.

One piece of safety equipment I recently used turned out to be indispensable, and now I wonder what else I should bring along.

The tools I've used in urgent situations include,

large pipe wrench (used to repair, (patch) broke rudder tube),

a ratcheting cargo strap, (used to fix a hatch, realign helm hardtop, and looks extremely useful if I ever have a major rigging issue).

Bolt cutters, see above.

Sharp hatchet.

Large knife (Hatchetti).

Needle & waxed thread, (used for impromptu surgery after a filet knife accident. and sail, cushion, rope repair.

Duct tape, (see above).

a large sheet of rolled up vinyl, and a bucket of resin for shipping container accidents. And some scrap cardboard, and plywood under a cabin mattress.

a roll of leftover shrink wrap from the cushions. (used to wrap caught fish, repair minor leaks, etc...)

a spare bilge pump with a coil of tubing, and long leads with battery clamps.

anything I missed?

what are your go to tools for unusual events?

[skipperpete]

Emergency tiller, Ferroprè underwater epoxy. Perhaps learn to tie a “constrictor knot”, very handy in place of a broken hose clip.

[capn_billl]

Oh yes, my bucket O hose clamps. several of Every size from 1/4" to 12"

I don't leave the slip without it. But while losing a hose clamp is an emergency, I consider them more spares.

[barnakiel]

A handheld VHF with AIS built in.


An InReach comm unit.


An extra fire extinguisher - oversize.


b.

[hpeer]

Re: fire extinguisher

I keep one in a deck accessible location, so I can grab it outside.

[dfelsent]

Not all tools are physical.

A check list (well several) for various situations. And routine maintenance and checks daily.
And when either of us goes off watch even for a few minutes a clear exchange of responsibility.
We have all the usual plus more safety gear. And my wife has significant fire training. And we both have safety at sea training. And have held commercial licences.
But routine checks so often keep emergency situations from arising in the first place that I consider them essential.
Btw, I am really not a fan of rigid routines. I really like to wing it. But oh routines have their place.

[psk125]

Getting a MOB victim back aboard is not easy. People can slip out of Lifeslings, and transom swim ladders are great for bashing people and breaking bones if they slide off or lose their grip in a seaway. Unconscious people are even harder to deal with. Because of this We have a MOB retrieval tarp that I had a sailmaker (Gambell & Hunter, Camden ME) sew up for us. It is a triangular piece of hemmed sailcloth, six feet on one side and ten feet on the other two. Webbing at the corners enables us to attach the short side between two stanchions by the cockpit. A line tied to the third corner gets passed outboard of the victim once he or she is alongside. The line is then led to a winch on the opposite side of the cockpit. The tarp wraps around the victim as the line is winched, in a parbuckle, and brings them up to deck level quickly and securely. There they can be brought aboard and taken care of. It is simple and quick to deploy port or starboard and does not depend on the victim being in a harness, finding a spare halyard, or having three college football players handy to lift someone in. One size does not fit all. The one we had on our J/36 was too short for the increased freeboard we have on our Sabre, so we had a longer one made. As a bonus, the tarp can also serve as a crash mat, something others have suggested could be useful.

[wholybee]

It is going to vary depending on the type of cruising you do, how accessible parts and tools will be where you are going, and the condition of the boat.

My philosophy is less is more. Don't carry tools or parts that are easy to get where you will be going. Only carry what is necessary to get you to your next port. That which you do carry, carry items that can be used for multiple things. Avoid buying lots of stuff that only serves one purpose for an unlikely event.

An adequate first aid kit should have supplies for a suture. Using an all purpose needle and thread makes me cringe. I have never needed it, but have those supplies in my first aid kit. I carry a sewing awl and use it all the time, everything from repairing sails and canvas to clothing.

Another item, dyneema rope, some splicing fids, and some levers to make a Spanish windlass. Learn how to splice dyneema, make some endless loops and soft shackles, and how to use a spanish windlass, and it is better then duct tape. You can fix nearly anything.

[clippercol]

I was going to say sutures too. Amazon sells a kit, sterile suture, sterile blades, hemostat (for veterinary purposes is how they skirt the legality). So I’m basically a doctor now, so I got that going for me. Which is nice.

[jmh2002]

This might not be the type of safety equipment that you meant, but as just mentioned in another thread - a lift bag (at least for remote long distance cruising).

If you have the knowledge and skills to use it of course.

Although it may be that you can find a diver, but they don't have a lift bag because they normally don't do that type of work, so you can provide the equipment and they can provide the labour

[s/v Jedi]

There are medical life saving supplies that will decide on life or death when needed, like clotting agents, chest seals, breathing tubes etc. These are easy to source in med kits. Instead of sutures, get pressure bandages like battle dressings, wound closure kits and superglue.

For tools, battery operated angle grinder, reciprocating saw and multitool. Think of events where the mast comes down or fiberglass/metal needs to be cut.

[Sailor279]

Something to cut your shrouds/backstay/forestay were you to be dismasted and the rig needed to be cut away. When going offshore, we typically carry a battery powered (and charged + addtl batteries) grinder w/ cutoff wheel. Will make quick work of Nitronic Rod, if needed.

[Enfant Du Vent]

In keeping with dfelsent's theme I would consider the following as "safety equipment".
For years I kept a 3 x 5 file card taped over the chard table:
"A man who is not afraid of the sea will soon be drowned" said the old fisherman
from the Blaskett Islands, "but we do be afraid of the sea and we do only be
drowned now and again". J.M.Synge

[Franziska]

https://www.stryker.com/us/en/orthop...n-closure.html

[betsyamanda]

Very useful information to read and share. Thanks - https://www.worldwideshippingcenter....nd-importance/