food for life raft

[Brazil]

In my bag I have a big can of cotsco jellybeans. Cheap and tasty.

[Brazil]

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

For water jugs, if it's a big jerry jug, it might be worth adding a bit of extra floatation to it in order to make it easier to spot. As such jugs ride pretty low in the water when at all full.

Fresh water is denser than salt, so a completely full jerry can should sink.

But it might be easier to just not fill them all the way. The difference in density is only about 5%. A 10% airspace should provide a reasonable buoyancy cushion.

[anacapaisland42]

I spend long hours in an open boat doing water sampling ..absolute musts are sun screen, sun glasses, sun shade, anti-burn stuff
Bill

Originally Posted by anacapaisland42

WATER, then more water, then more water. You can last a long time without food but water..........
Bill

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Jdege

Fresh water is denser than salt, so a completely full jerry can should sink.

But it might be easier to just not fill them all the way. The difference in density is only about 5%. A 10% airspace should provide a reasonable buoyancy cushion.

Sorry,,but that's not correct.

Fresh water has a density of 1 Kg/l. Average surface seawater is 1.025 Kg/l
i.e seawater is about 2.5% heavier than fresh.

A light weight plastic container full of fresh water will should float.

Edit: PET has a density of 1.38Kg/l, so while a thin walled recyclable water bottle will probably float, a heavy, thick walled container like a plastic jerry can may well sink. (A plastic 20l jerrycan generally weighs around 1.5Kg)

Edit 2: Just checked and plastic jerrycans are generally made from HDPE which has a density of 0.93 - 0.97 Kg/l - so a plastic jerry can will definitely float (even if filled with seawater)

[SecondBase]

Originally Posted by anacapaisland42

I spend long hours in an open boat doing water sampling ..absolute musts are sun screen, sun glasses, sun shade, anti-burn stuff
Bill

+1 Ana and in addition to all the above...

I would get a 6 x 6 foot piece of orange sunbrella, seam the edges, grommets and medium cord. Would use it for many things during "trip" including sun protection.

With an MRE cardboard, cord and duct tape you can also make slit sunglasses if needed.

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by StuM

Sorry,,but that's not correct.

Fresh water has a density of 1 Kg/l. Average surface seawater is 1.025 Kg/l
i.e seawater is about 2.5% heavier than fresh.

A light weight plastic container full of fresh water will should float.

Edit: PET has a density of 1.38Kg/l, so while a thin walled recyclable water bottle will probably float, a heavy, thick walled container like a plastic jerry can may well sink. (A plastic 20l jerrycan generally weighs around 1.5Kg)

Edit 2: Just checked and plastic jerrycans are generally made from HDPE which has a density of 0.93 - 0.97 Kg/l - so a plastic jerry can will definitely float (even if filled with seawater)

Right.

I had it backwards.

[RodtheRebel]

Originally Posted by Jdege

Standard lifeboat rations have some advantages:

• They have a very long shelf life
• They're compact
• They taste lousy, so you'll have little problem maintaining calorie discipline.

Yes, these will keep you alive but taste horrible. They will plug you up too. The idea is to cause your body to use less water digesting which helps prevent dehydration. Another reason is there are no bathrooms on a life raft either...you have to go overboard to feed the fish. As others have said, water is more important. Bring extra with you if you can. I recommend buying or making a solar still too. They work pretty good. For a bug out bag, I would look into getting some MRE's. I've eaten plenty of MRE's in Iraq and some of them are pretty good.

[RodtheRebel]

Originally Posted by livbysea

Thanks. Any thought on amount/ person and numbers of days for a crossing from Virginia to BVI?

One quart per person, per day. Typically, you want about three days worth. You shouldn't drink anything the first day in the raft (you should already be hydrated), so you have four days worth.

If you carry an EPIRB, or something similar, you shouldn't be stranded more than a few hours in the Caribbean.

[RodtheRebel]

Originally Posted by puffcard

Sushi.

Don't forget about the fish eyes. Those are 95% water and will keep you alive in desperate situations. There's a story about a guy that survived several weeks in a raft by eating fish eyes.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Brazil

In my bag I have a big can of cotsco jellybeans. Cheap and tasty.

How much sugar is in that thing? and will that make you thirsty?

Someone suggested a sleeping bag, what is the purpose of a sleeping bag in a liferaft?

Plastic jerry cans will float, providing you leave an air gap at the top when filling them up.

Pete

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Plastic jerry cans will float, providing you leave an air gap at the top when filling them up.



Pete

As opposed to leaving an air pocket at the bottom? Sorry couldn't resist, I've just come from the joke thread.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

As opposed to leaving an air pocket at the bottom? Sorry couldn't resist, I've just come from the joke thread.

Actually I recon a plastic jerry can will float upside down due to the extra weight of the cap and handle so you could be right.

Pete