Larry W4CSC wrote:
Stephen Trapani wrote in
:
Well, we're talking about defended infants, defended by good parents
doing their job as best they can. No one was asking for help with
unattended infants.
Defended? Strapped in a carrier, strapped to the boat? "Go down with the
ship" is it? Someone bragged about this in this thread.
Barring very bad luck those infants can be defended, or rescued, like
one referred to in this thread was.
You really think the percentage of infants killed per activity is more
on boats than in cars? I'm guessing cars are *way* more dangerous, eg,
result in way more serious injuries and deaths per amount of
participants.
Hmm....millions of infants ride in cars/trucks/SUVs every day. How many
ride in boats....tops....100?
By now you've seen the URLs and stats. The percentage of infants killed
on the road is higher, so, still more dangerous for any one infant on
the road.
Another problem someone mentioned was the PFD problem. Our law says:
"All boats must have at least one Type I, II, III or V
personal flotation device that is U.S. Coast Guard–
approved, wearable and of the proper size for each
person onboard. Sizing for PFDs is based on body
weight and chest size.
. South Carolina law requires all children under 12 years of
age to wear a U.S. Coast Guard–approved Type I, II, III or
V PFD while on board a Class A (less than 16 ft. long)
boat or PWC. The PFD must be fastened and of the
proper size for the child."
Moot point...no baby PFD, no baby on a boat. The smallest CG-approved PFD
I've seen from Wally World or Waste Marine looks to be made for a kid of 3-
5?
If you're trying to say that rescuing an infant with or without a
flotation device is more difficult than rescuing any other person who
can't swimm, then I'm not sure I agree. My father in law told me about
his fear of the water coming from once when he was drowning and he
almosts drowned one guy trying to rescue him. An infant would be way
easier than that!
[...]
They'd be covered if they had a baby PFD stowed away in a plastic bag in
the quarter berth.
http://www.stearnsinc.com/NC_Product...tegoryID=45350
18
Cheap Stearns vest for small child...I doubt the straps will keep a BABY in
it.
http://www.mustangsurvival.com/produ...uct.php?id=397
This one from Mustang Survival fits chests 18 to 20". How big around are
little babies 5 days old? They don't look that big when they pop out of
Mom.
If you're trying to say that PFDs for infants are harder to find than
for anyone else, well, it seems you may be right. Sounds like they need
some kind of special rig. HEY SOMEONE INVENT SOMETHING! ;-)
Here's an INFLATABLE!
http://www.storesonline.com/site/405...uct/999-773260
Comes in a convenient airline seat storage pouch for the quarter berth.
"Under 35 pounds". Does that mean 14 lbs 9 oz? That's "Under 35 pounds",
isn't it? Will the baby be able to pull the ripcord? It gets dumber and
dumber. The FAA did some good. I suspect the reason for this being on the
market is the TSO forced airlines to change to new, improved child vests so
they dumped this on the market to unload them.
equipped.com has an interesting website that resulted in testing with
infants to see what worked or not:
http://www.equipped.com/avvests.htm#kidvest
I like the idea of the Hoover FV-2000 ($185-225) which is a CAPSULE that
not only protect the infant from breathing in water but isolates him from
the hypothermia that's killing Mom and Dad in their life jackets. They
mention some shortfalls but it's a great idea. The airlines are much more
afraid of the babys' lawyers than daddy is on his boat.
Hm, sounds like a good idea!
Let's send the CG inspectors around to all the posters with babies aboard
to see if they actually DO have a baby PFD I had a hard time finding on the
net, putting it on the baby to see how it fits and what his/her survival
chances are and write their sorry asses up when they produce the 7-year-
old's cutesy life vest with the Mickey Mouse and CG labels that have no
chance of saving the poor baby.....whos head slips easily through the big
hole.
Probably another good idea.
What's on YOUR boat, eh?
Just those for the four of us with a few cheap extras. So, okay, no
infants on board unless they have the right PFD! As it is now, anyone
anywhere near being able to fall in the water wears a PFD, including me.
Oh yeah, and anyone who's had more than two drinks who is anywhere near
able to fall in the water also wears a line! ;-)
Stephen