Radar Reflector for Christmas

Kev1n

Kev1n

Well-known member
The post about flares got me thinking about other safety gear for the boats. SOLAS regs say that you should fit a radar reflector “if practicable.”
Glass fibre is a stealth material for radar and the boat engines don’t always give a good reflection. Don’t waste your money on one of the useless tubular shaped reflectors however neat they look. For the price of some bait, you can get one of the octahedral passive reflectors that give you a much better chance of being spotted in mucky weather.

Give your boat a Christmas present and give yourself a chance.
 
tilly said:
does any of you chaps bother with epirbs or search and rescue transponders??
Click to expand...

I take a GPS Personal Location Beacon; once activted, it will broadcast a rescue signal and your position for the 48hr battery life. It's ideal for offshore as the signal is picked up by satellite so doesn’t rely on someone being around to spot it, like a flare does, and isn’t restricted in range like a VHF. You can get them for under a couple of hundred pounds now.
 
They are all worth having, i mean a normal day its 6-10 miles off but last year with the fishing being bad we did end up just shy of 26 miles from land fishing wrecks right in the middle of a trawler fleet 1 day, must of been 6 boats within 2 miles of us, with it being a clear day it was no problem but if the fog had come in we may of caused them a problem or caught the ropes.

Any safety gear must be good worth having as you cant just pull over and get out the car :)
 

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