AVON Valise 6 man life raft

[Lodbrog1]

Was offered a 22 year old Avon Valise 6 man raft that has never been deployed but needs repacking. Anyone have an idea of value for this item and repacking costs. Live in Mass. Thanks for you help

[Paul L]

To me its value is zero. Maybe good for a kid's toy.
The repack station may not do the repack because of degradation of the raft or the co2 parts.

[Island Time O25]

Call Avon, see what they say. If not repackable Id use it for MOB drill, etc. Assuming its free.

[roverhi]

Don't know if Avon used hypalon in their life rats. If they did it would be good for quite some time like decades if stored well. If left in the cockpit like we did with ours, it will be toast and worthless. Without a recertification, i wouldn't pay a nickel for it. At the least I'd inflate it and let set for 24 hours to see if it still holds air and remove the CO2 container and weigh it to be sure it's full or better yet have it refilled and repack it myself. Testing, repacking, and recertifyinbg by a professional will probably cost more than a 'boat unit' which makes buying a used raft a gamble with odds that would make a Las Vegas slot machine smile.

Avon was bought a decade or so ago by zodiac, brought down to zodiac's quality level, and eventually closed down. Doubt you'll have any luck finding anyone home at Avon. headquarters.

[toddster8]

Worth nothing. Cannot be repacked at any price because the factory parts needed for recertification are no longer made.
If free, it might make an interesting weekend project to open and attempt to self-repack. There are YouTube vids of people testing these old things and they appear to inflate properly...
I keep mine on board because it counter-balances the weight of the galley range. If I discard it, I'll have to come up with something of equal weight to maintain trim.

[toddster8]

Hmm... Wish I'd gotten interested in this a month ago - too many spring time projects open now.
I found this:
AVON COASTLINE LIFERAFTS - Avon Marine - PDF Catalogues | Documentation | Boating Brochures
and this:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ion-97719.html

Promo says the material is "Unique Avon butyl fabric"
Consumables pack seems quite ephemeral and obsolete. I never counted on anything useful being in there - emergency stuff is in the ditch bag.
I've peeked into mine without opening it and see no sign of the vacuum bag. Like the person in the thread linked above, I wonder if it was discarded during servicing and not replaced. What I can see looks like butyl.
Will have to open it up some rainy Sunday. I'd inflate it with dry nitrogen and deflate with vacuum pump. SailRite vacuum wrap left over from the cushion-making project would probably work for re-packing.

[Don Teagno]

I was about to list a 2006 zodiac/west Marine life raft in a cannister and Im in mass too. I agree itsnot worth anything unless its repackable. Maybe weshould talk?