life raft.

[Sonar]

Do the forum members think a life raft is required on a rib??

The reason I have asked is all the other boats I have owned were hard boats.
and I saved the raft when sold and used it on each boat I had.

But when I got the rib I sold it on.
I was thinking was this a mistake.

[C2 RIBS]

We have to carry liferafts to comply with coding regulations, but if this requirement was not in place I would not carry a liferaft on a RIB. If we take it one step further all rescue crews tend to have RIBs with a few exceptions and these are not carrying liferafts as a norm. All RIBS should float if tubes are deflated and all have seperate chambers so all tubes should not deflate in event of incident, Hulls are extremely bouyant. Larger craft quite often have RIBs as their rescue recovery craft

If I was doing regular channel hops and offshore then I would carry one but not in the area of coastal cruising- Personal view and as said we have to carry so I do and at times it is a nightmare getting the balance and fitting right for liferafts

[Razorbill RIBs]

Originally Posted by C2 RIBS

We have to carry liferafts to comply with coding regulations, but if this requirement was not in place I would not carry a liferaft on a RIB.

Ditto

[alystra]

I don't carry a liferaft either, but I sometimes wonder. Scenarios where one would be useful/lifesaving would be; boat on fire, or capsized in wild and exposed places where rescue could take several hours and exposure could be a problem.

Fire bothers me, but how many instances have there been of outboard powered RIBs bursting into flames while under way? Most of my time aboard is spent at anchor and I have a small (6ft) tender deployed to get ashore should I set the RIB alight (I have a camping stove aboard).

While fairly isolated I'm rarely, if ever, far offshore and lifeboats can get to me in around an hour should I capsize.

Oh! I use a medium sized fender as a seat in the tender, so if the dinghy bursts, I can hang onto that. Now... if I tie one of those cork key fobs onto the fender, I'll still be safe if the fender sinks.

[Channel Ribs]

We do not carry one but as above would need to if we got the boat coded, but it would only be for the coding.

The theory being that you should only ever step up into a liferaft then the chances of a RIB sinking enough to make a liferaft look attractive are less than slim.

Probably a bit different for a big cabin RIB with twin inboards - then I imagine there is a chance that partial tube buoyancy would not keep it afloat.

[willk]

I'd think a lively engine/fuel fire would add a certain appeal to the auld liferaft

Otherwise, I'm with the No s