GRAB BAG. Biggest best watertight brand

[UNCIVILIZED]

You can take a portage pack, or roll top drybag, & add all of the features which you desire, & then some. Extra straps & handles, given appropriate reinforcing of the fabric, & sealed stitching. Including some dedicated tie down, & lanyard connection points. SOLAS reflective tape patches. Added floation & padding, by gluing closed cell foam to the bag's interior surface. Use something like camp mats. A drogue (sea anchor) so that it doesn't drift much, along with a manually activated light so that it's easy to spot when in the water.

You can also make pull out panels for key gear. Sew pockets to organize your vital bits onto a piece of fabric, like sunbrella or cordura, including velcro flaps on the pockets. And then attach these soft organizers to a sheet of Kydex, to give you a stiff, well organized panel. And don't forget to have tie down rings on it too, for keeping the key bits attached to it. Along with handles on the panel. And of course, having pockets on both sides of this is the way to go.
And you could even make it modular, via sewing on MOLLE/PALS webbing onto the panel, & then mounting your gear pockets to the webbing via the purpose made clips (MALICE) or lashings.

[SecondBase]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

The author has no rights to the details of his work.It is called the "fair use doctrine" and the copyright laws, under the Berne Convention, expressly allow for extensive quotation and reproduction without the authors' knowledge or permission, in order to provide examples of their work and further discussions of it. In other words, publicity and the exchange of ideas.



You can get a green card without knowing that, but the Copyright Police will deport you if you fail the Copyright Exam.

Ha! I'll bet you are right on the letter of the law. I try to (a) treat the authors the way I'd want to be treated along with (b) not denying you/other forum members the real benefit to sitting down and reading this book.

It is the right mindset. Some people have the means to exceed this a bit and nothing wrong with it but from a philosophical sense, in clarify of thought, this book stands up with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It will get a novice safely out and going in digestible steps.

Don't mind those onlookers in your favorite coffee shop wondering why you are belting out laughter at the occasional chapter. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

[Zofia]

Love the suggestions that 'Uncivilized' has made.
Not mentioned so far, other than pelican cases, are the hard ditch/grab bag variants - see Life Cell Marine Safety and Marine Safety Pod. Both are designed to be a float with hand holds and mounted externally on a bulkhead or a rail. If your cruising is not in areas/situations where a life raft is essential kit, one of these might be useful.

[toddster8]

I was impressed by the idea of these "Life Cell" units, at the boat show. Or at least the idea that in daily use, it's a cabinet that contains your safety gear, but in an emergency, it's a throwable flotation device. But it's expensive, and I see no easy way to integrate it on my little boat.

I thought I could build one that would fit in better - possibly replacing the companionway steps?. Or a cheap ice chest might work almost as well but not look as cool.

They come in many sizes, btw. I think the pic is the small one.

[hellosailor]

That life cell looks like a big rotomolded poly case. Unless it is 1/3 the price of a Pelican case...I'd buy a Pelican, add a couple of styrofoam filler panels to get the same bouyancy, and slap some strips of 2" industrial velcro on the back, to stick it to the wall. (Honest, that stuff rapidly reaches the point where you need a crowbar to separate it.)

I don't see the case for it, pun intended.

If you found a good locking cooler chest, maybe one of the fairly expensive ones, metal a metal-clad one...or if you really loved your boat, it should be a trivial (ha) glass project for a shop to cut out the companionway and turn it into a cockpit locker, or raft stowage.

Or even installing one of those too-pricey bulkhead doors they sell to retrofit on boats, say, a 10x18" door, with the bundle stowed past it.

Some things, like dust bins with grates at the foot of the companionway steps, or properly angled coaming sides, are just so hard to retrofit. And so simply elegant when you first meet them on a boat.

[toddster8]

The other issue with the Life Cell is that it seems to be designed to mount in the cockpit and float free of a sinking boat. But I would think that rough weather or a boarding wave might take it away. And... it doesn't look like a SOLAS parachute flare would fit inside there?

I do actually have a set of roto-molded equipment shipping cases of about the right size. Could paint one orange, I suppose. But they are cube-shaped. No good place to store them on board.