The Ballistic PDF

In the United States you can buy bulletproof vests online or via the internet, but they typically come in only two options; an uncomfortable and ungainly concealed vest that’s worn under your work clothes or a military style vest which makes you more like a para-military mercenary than a ships officer. But there is a third option…. a bulletproof lifevest!

Looking like an inflatable PFD on steroids the Mullion Ballistics Life Jacket is SOLAS approved and provides NIJ3A rated ballistic protection, the highest soft armour level for stopping flying bullets, knife stabs and even spike attacks.

Maritime Body Armor

A ballistic lifevest can save your life both in and out of the water but isn’t foolproof. It can’t stop close range rifle shots or fragmentation damage from an RPG. To take your protection to the next step try Pinnacle’s maritime body armour.

And if you want one that looks more like a traditional lifejacket then try the Northgear Ballistic Floatation Vest which comes complete with reflective tape and an international orange color scheme.

Kevlar Clipboard

While a bulletproof vest is nice to have it certainly isn’t discreet. One option is the Clint Eastwood method of hanging a steel plate from a string around your neck… but that would be awfully heavy.  A better option might be a kevlar clipboard. Weighing in at just under one pound, the Armor Dynamics Ballistic Clipboard is a lightweight, concealable armor panel that slides into a clipboard and is capable of stopping hand and shotgun shots for a fraction of the price of full body armor (one model sells for just $69).

While not a replacement for a ballistic vest this unit looks just like a clipboard and, while not recommended, could be stuffed under a traditional lifejacket.

High-Impact Sunglasses

To avoid pirates you first need to see them and, considering they attack mostly during the day, you need a pair of high quality sunglasses. But rather than spend $200 on our favorite pair of shades you can spend half that on a pair of ESS 5B’s which come complete with U.S. Military Spec MIL-PRF-31013 ballistic high-impact lenses. And while these glasses won’t stop a direct shot to your eye they will protect your vision from shrapnel and during the course of your normal work on deck.

Handheld Thermal Imaging Camera

While the pirates don’t typically attack ships at night, it’s best to keep your guard up and to see in the dark night vision googles are nice but a thermal imaging camera is best. We like the Flir First Mate because it’s lightwieght, portable and is designed for the marine environment. And if the pirates do invade your ship then don’t try to reinvent the wheel, rather take a page from Maersk Alabama Chief Engineer / certified badass Mike Perry… just turn off the lights and wait. For that tactic you don’t need thermal imaging but it would help you track those bad guys.

Voice Scrambler

For handheld VHF radios we like most of the Icom and StandardHorizon submersible models, but for dealing with pirates we’ll take the HX271S! Why? Because the pirates have access to the same VHF and UHF radios most ships use on a daily basis and can listen in on your conversations with ease. But to coordinate a proper defense against attack you need covert communications and the HX271S provides just that with an integrated Voice Scrambler that makes conversations between two (or more) HX271S’ crystal clear but gives eavesdroppers an ear full of ugly static noise. The HX271S has another nice feature, FRS which stands for Family Radio Service. These are those small radios that you see families carrying around themeparks and campgrounds. While not very secure the FRS system limits communications to just 500 milliwatts which contains the signal to less than a couple of miles. The FRS also uses designated UHF frequencies so you can’t listen in on the conversation using a traditional marine VHF regardless of your proximity or the size of your antenna. The HX271S is also rugged, small and waterproof making it an good companion during your nightly security rounds.

Halligan Tool

The Halligan Tool, which is the standard forceable entry tool used by most fire and police departments, is bar-none the most intimidating weapon you’ll ever see and it’s wholly effective for ripping down burning, battle-damaged walls, prying open locked doors, anchoring repelling line and hundreds of other heavy rescue tasks. Yes, the typical Somali Pirate armed with an an automatic rifle will just laugh at you and shoot if you try to use the Halligan against him but…. it is effective against lowly dock criminals, unarmed looters and other seedy characters that hang out near commercial ports.

Nearly 2 months ago a product arrived on gCaptain’s doorstep that brought a smile to our faces, Flir’s First Mate, Handheld Thermal Imaging, Camera. The unit itself is small, about the size of your average SART, and, at a street price of around $2500, relatively inexpensive but those attributes are only the beginning.

Our unit arrived packaged neatly in a Pelican Case and was ready to use without much configuration or reading of manuals. Like Apple fans say, “It just worked”.

And the results were impressive. Once powered on, the unit quickly showed an image of my surroundings which proved instantly valuable as I quickly found three air leaks in my house’s insulation and an overheating electrical powerstrip. Walking out my front door I spotted the neighborhood cat hiding in the bushes and could tell which cars on my block had been running in the last few hours.

But the real test came on the water. Arriving at my 40′ sailboat, we immediately began giving the product a workout starting with the vessel’s electrical cables. A recent audit of the boat told us the wire running to the boat’s anchor windlass was too small and might create enough heat to start a fire…. so we dropped the anchor, put a few reverse revs on the engine, and watched through the camera’s viewfinder as the windlass’ electrical cable heated-up. Fortunately, the wire itself never got too hot, but it’s connection to the boat’s battery terminals did.

With the terminals cleaned, and a potential fire avoided, we turned the unit onto the engine and shaft watching the heat signature for potential problems…. then we headed topside. On a moonless night in the quite harbor of Morro Bay, it was difficult to make out the surrounding boats and it was impossible to see anyone walking along the nearby shore.  But with the Flir unit in hand, the night sky was illuminated clear as day. The unit clearly works.

Thermal Imaging units have been around for a decade, many ships carry an expensive unit to assist during search and rescue operations during fires and many more cary inexpensive units, like Flir’s $1300 i3 Compact, in the engine room for maintenance tasks. Some even carry Flir’s top-of the line mast mounted units, like the M-Series, integrated into a vessel’s ECDIS system for SAR and navigation at night.  While thermal imaging cameras can be repurposed for use on the bridge, this comes against most expert’s advice… and for good reason.

The advantage of the Flir First Mate over fixed mount units like the Flir Voyager and those designated for other purposes, like the i3, is portability and ease of use.  Sure, the i3 is portable but it’s not designed for long-range use and more importantly, it’s not going to be available for immediate use if you have to call the Engine Room and ask for it to be sent up to the bridge.  The unit’s best use is for times when you need to know what’s happening around you NOW.  From security threats (like scanning the horizon or, if in port, terminal docks for security threats) to search and rescue, and avoiding fishing scows in crowded traffic lanes… you want a unit that’s immediately available and easy to use. You want a unit which you can hand off to your AB and, without much thought, let him or her effortlessly scan the horizon.

Sadly, most ships don’t have a FLIR First Mate or any thermal imaging unit on the bridge due to their inherent cost. To that I say, yes $2,500 is not cheap, but the price pales in comparison to a marine radar and is nearly as useful.  This should not be an excuse. The COLREGS clearly state that, “Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances…”  If you do not have a thermal imaging camera (or similar device) aboard your ship, is it possible you are in violation of this rule? Expect this question to be asked by marine investigators and insurance companies in the near future.

Other potential uses of this tool include assisting fire-teams in searching for victims in smoke – the First Mate is not a replacement for a dedicated Infrared Locator like Scott’s Eagle 320 - but it could be of use to secondary search team in marine firefighting ops.  Additionally, with a built-in memory chip, the unit can record pictures and videos with the press of a button, potentially very useful if your vessel finds itself in court after a collision.

With all the positive features of the FLIR we did run into a few problems. First the unit took about 90 seconds to boot-up making it useless in most maritime security settings where a pirate or NGO is quickly advancing on your ship. Second the battery system was less than ideal; the First Mate unit takes 4 AA rechargeable batteries that can only be replaced with the assistance of a small screwdriver… not something that’s easy to use in the dark or aboard a rolling ship. In FLIR’s defense, the batteries can be recharged without disassembling the unit, but the system relies on old NiCad technology that does not have the longevity or shelf life, of today’s modern Lithium Ion batteries.

Good news came shortly after the conclusion of our test with the introduction of a newer version of the unit…. The First Mate MS. While gCaptain did not have a chance to test the new MS version (seen in the picture above) we are told it contains the “same thermal imaging technology as FLIR’s best-in class” models and has a few other advantages over our older test unit, most notably; instant start-up (no boot-up required), a Lithium Ion battery and a suggested retail price of just $1,999.  Now we are talking.

Related Video

Click here to view the embedded video.

image provided courtesy of Cospas-Sarsat

Back on February 1^st 2009, though boat owners and ship riders didn’t hear it, there were celebrations all over the rescue world as the COSPAS-SARSAT system stopped processing and reporting 121.5 distress signals.  The hours of lost sleep spent chasing after ghost 121.5 EPIRB signals that were actually some other transmitter (like a radio tower or an ATM machine…seriously) is beyond measure. While I appreciated racking up flight hours on the government’s dime; the Coast Guard, along with SAR organizations the world over, have turned a lot of fuel into noise searching for….well…nothing.  Only one out of fifty 121.5 alerts have been genuine distress situations.  An end to all that warrants at least a little celebration.  But even as the date came and went and the chatter about the switch increased – the first problem with the 406 EPIRBs is already showing itself: news release after news release touts the 406 as the “digital” beacon; more powerful, no-waiting, and accurate to just a few yards.  The problem is that none of that is completely true – not mostly – and only sort-of.  And since recreational boaters and professional mariners are making purchasing decisions about the things, and they are lifesaving devices, I wanted to clear a few things up about the “able-to-leap-buildings-in-a-single bound” 406.

MISNOMER

Most Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons do not actually “Indicate” their “Position.”  Without an onboard GPS – your EPIRB, any EPIRB, simply transmits a signal that contains the exact same data regardless of where in the world you happen to be. While the position of a non-GPS enabled 406 is calculated with greater accuracy than the old 121.5 beacons – it is done in exactly the same way – by relaying the analog (that’s right – I said it) 406 signal back down to earth for calculation – just like the 121.5s did.

It’s About the Birds

To understand the real benefits of the 406, you really have to understand the satellites they talk to.  The COSPAS-SARSAT system is made up two very different types of spacecraft:  geosynchronous and low earth orbiting.  Geosynchronous (synched up with the geography below them) stay fixed above the equator at specific longitudes – looking straight down at the earth below them from around 22,000 miles high – giving them a very wide look at the earth.  Low earth orbiting satellites (LEOSAR) travel around the planet at different rates, and because they fly much lower than their geo-synched brothers (between 500 and 550 miles above the earth), they see a much smaller picture of the surface.  If all that seems like too much information – the important points are that one kind of satellite orbits the earth, and the other kind stays fixed in space above it.

One big advantage to the 406 is its ability – with its higher power – to reach out (22,000 miles into space) and be heard by the GEOSAR satellites.  You know, the ones way up there above the equator that don’t move and see HUGE pieces of the earth. Positioned around the globe so they can see everything between the 70^th parallels – these high fliers are the real engine to the 406 machine.  Just as soon as these guys hear that 406 MHz pulse (a half-second long every 50 seconds), encoded with that “digital” information, it immediately retransmits it back down to earth – including the beacon number and your exact latitude and longitude provided by the on-board GPS.  The signal also includes your course and speed giving rescuers very accurate – real-time data – to get straight to you.

Without an On-Board GPS – Everything Changes

Without GPS data in the pulse, the GEOSAR Satellites – and all that extra power spent sending them a signal – do nothing.  Though they hear the signal, you could be anywhere in their massive window on the world so they have no idea where the beacon is coming from.  Your super-digital, high-powered 406 just digressed and the LEOSAR’s do all the work.  The position of the beacon is determined by Doppler shift.  As the satellite passes over the beacon (and just as with 121.5s, you may have to wait for it) and hears the 406 MHz signal, it retransmits the signal back to earth to one of forty-five Local User Terminal (LUTs) around the earth.  Some very serious math is then applied to determine where exactly the beacon is (or was) as the satellite passed overhead.  Though much more accurate than the 121.5 signals, and immune to old LEOSAR blind spots, these positions can still be off by as much as 3 miles and may be up to 40 minutes old; older if the satellite picked up the 406 outside the view of a LUT (see map).  And while this is way better than the 121.5 accuracy (up to 12 miles off) and timeliness, you should consider the benefits of the on board GPS 406 over the other varieties before making a decision.

What 150 Bucks More Gets You:

I’m not talking about brands; I’m talking about types. So the price difference may be more or less.  But given that we are talking about an “emergency” beacon – usually used from the water (meaning your boat is gone) let’s just call the price difference “peanuts”: The difference between a 406 with an on board GPS and one without is best expressed this way. You can let the rescuers know where you are – accurate to within yards and including drift data – every 50 seconds; or you can let the rescuers know where you might have been – accurate to within a few miles – a while ago with a non-GPS 406.  Sure, you’ll meet the requirements with the less expensive model, but I promise you won’t miss the extra money sitting (hopefully) in your life raft.

Some readers will notice I haven’t even mentioned the third kind of 406 – the GPS-linked variety that uses data from your vessel’s on-board navigation device.  It’s a great idea so long as you’re staying with your vessel, and you’re under power, and the batteries last.  How likely is that in an emergency that requires an EPIRB?  If you have to abandon ship, or the ship abandons you, the on board navigation system isn’t coming with you….and neither is accurate GPS data.

Bottom Line:

The advantages of global coverage and registration data available with 406 EPIRBS are phenomenal– but consider the following when deciding which type of 406 to purchase:

• 406 EPRIBS are four times more accurate than the 121.5 EPIRBS were.
• 406 EPIRBS with on board GPS are two-hundred times more accurate.

So all 406’s are not created equal (not even close) – and if you want the fullest digital advantage available and really want to help rescue crews get more sleep, make sure yours has a GPS.

For more information on the COSPAS-SARSAT System, approved devices, proper beacon registration, and more information about digital and analog signal processing than any one person should know – visit www.cospas-sarsat.org

disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of the Department of Homeland Security or the U.S. Coast Guard.

Note: This article was first published in February of 2009

How quick could you remove this ring from the cradle? Have you tried?

Standing on the bridge wing of a container ship years ago, a captain was telling me all about the Williamson Turn and how effective it was at putting his massive ship on a line straight back from whence it came. He practices them at every man overboard (MOB) drill on his vessel (and logs the training, thank you) and seemed very pleased with himself and his crew’s ability to find find me should I fall overboard. Laying out the details of his MOB procedures, he got to the part where a mate would release the smoke float and life ring from the bridge wing.

“Let try it,” I said. Grabbing the ring to prevent it from falling , “Pull the pin.” I’d been looking at the release mechanism – a simple pin through the bulwark at the end of the bridge wing – and wondered how easily the ring would fall. With a confidence in his stride, the third mate walked past his skipper and grabbed hold of the red handle. “I’ve got the ring, don’t worry,” – then he gave it a twist and pull.

Nothing – nothing happened. The pin was stuck, enlarged by too many coats of paint and expanding corrosion. A full minute and thirty-eight seconds later, after desperate grunting and twisting, he got the pin out. The captain just looked at me and said, “You’re kidding me.” (though he used a different word than kidding – I was feeling his pain.)

“Now do we start that turn,” I asked?  Oddly, I was the only one smiling.

Right now, many of you are thinking “lack of maintenance,” but that wasn’t the problem. I believe it was cause by a lack of practice. Until I said “Let’s try it.” the idea of pulling that pin during every MOB had never occurred to them. It was always done as a simulation. The idea of the gravity-dropped life ring deployed by a simple pin pull is so simple, that nobody thinks to practice it. They hadn’t violated any rules or established maintenance practices. The ring was just replaced a few months prior. But how often do you pull that pin? Why would you?

Of all the tools that mariners use at sea, the things they may need the most are used the least. Survival gear and rescue equipment – basically everything in the LSA Code – is stuff you really need when you need it, but rarely get the chance to use. It doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. Lowering and running of the lifeboats happens enough I suppose, sure; but when was the last time all hands fired off a flare, lit off the EPIRB, or….deployed the smoke float and life ring from the bridge wing? They aren’t always things you can do all the way, but those first steps can usually be practiced at any time – scheduled or not – making everyone a little safer and more informed about their use.

How is the spring behind your EPIRB cradle? You can remove that thing and re-cradle it anytime you want. Why would you? So you can be really good at removing it for one, and also because you get to know how the spring behind the cradle looks. Don’t just walk by the pyro locker on the way back to the bridge: open it up. pull out a parachute flare – check out it’s condition – and read the instructions. Why? Well besides the obvious, you get to see that the instruction label is still even there and legible; an important feature of the device if you ask me. And don’t even pretend that all hands can use that line throwing device.

I believe two things about handling survival equipment during an emergency -

1. It is always tougher than it may seem; and

2. It is not something you want to do for the first time (or second or third) during an actual emergency.

You don’t always have to go all the way to full use of the gear to make things better. But why not do what you can when you can? The entire crew is wearing a Type I PFD during a drill, yes? Do they turn on the light? Will all the lights work?

There is only one way to find out, and it’s free. Lots of stuff on your boat is like that. So consider doing more than just walking by the emergency stuff. Do more than simulate when you can. Open the fire extinguisher box to see how easily or not it opens. Removed the cap on the tube containing the fire plan – that is the only way to make sure it’s in there. And, for the sake of anyone who might fall overboard, hold onto the ring and pull that pin.

What other things can be done without being completely done aboard your vessel? Because, going through some of the motions is better than going through none of them at all.

While even the most basic binocular upgrades which focus on image quality, like image stabilization and night-vision, have failed to make their way to the bridge of most ships, Sony has introduced a new technology which takes a different approach… digital video recording. While the cost may sound high, $1400 for the most basic model, each model includes SteadyShot, Sony’s name for image stabilization and 3D recording features. The binoculars can also take 7.1 megapixel still photos.

What could these glasses be used for? Well the Navy would certainly be interested in high definition photos of pirate vessels and incident investigators would love the additional information provided by these units.  Most likely though, they will be used for fun.

Related Video

Click here to view the embedded video.

For those unfamiliar with drillships, the new ones are built from super tanker hull designs with one noticeable change… they cut a large hole in the middle of the ship above which they erect a drilling derrick. This large hole is called a moonpool.

About 4 years ago I was working aboard a large exploratory drillship in the Gulf of Mexico and we ran into a problem; a hammerhead shark was found swimming around our moonpool and we had no way of getting it out alive.

We tried everything from slowly lowering bait, down in the hopes the shark would swim down and out of the moonpool, to gently prodding it that direction. Nothing worked. Then, after about a week of false hope, a new electronics technician arrived and suggested our problem was related to the ships magnetic degaussing system, a system which engulfs the ship in an electrical current to inhibit corrosion. He suggested the shark used electromagnetic signals to navigate and our system was confusing the predator. With nothing to lose we disabled the degaussing system and immediately the shark swam towards freedom.

One company, Oak Ridge Shark Lab of the Bahamas, has taken the theory of confusing sharks with the use of magnets to the next level with a new product from their subsidiary Ocean Magnetics. With the use of rare-earth materials such as neodymium and boron, and combined with iron, the company has developed a line of products from magnetic jewelry to magnetic fish hooks that repel most species of sharks.

For their work in 2007, the company was awarded the WWF’s SmartGear award, issued to product with the most potential for reducing fisherman’s bycatch of unwanted fish species.

But Ocean Magnetics didn’t stop there…

Instead they continued their research and successfully developed electrochemical shark repellents and later highly effective natural deterrents which appear to show a great deal of promise when applied to man overboard scenarios in shark infested waters.

Magnets are clearly effective at repelling sharks, however they are heavy, highly susceptible to corrosion, work at limited range, and thus impractical for use in a MOB scenario.  Oak Ridge Shark Lab’s natural deterrent – a concentrated liquid sold under the name SharkDefense – is lightweight, heavily concentrated, and deployable by a wide range of methods from toy water guns to pneumatic air grenades and hydrostaticly deployed cylinders.

In developing SharkDefense the scientists first got the idea by talking to fishermen and discovered that some would tie dead shark carcases to the back of their boats to deter sharks. Using this idea the scientists distilled a concentrated perfume from rotting shark remains – creating a odiferous substance which sharks hate.

And it works! In tests, deployment of just a few ounces of the substance made all sharks in the area immediately disappear. Don’t’ believe us? Well take a look at this video produced by Mike Rowe of the Discovery Channel show Dirty Jobs:

Impressive, eh?

The only question left for mariners is when will this substance be standard equipment in all lifeboats and abandon ship ditch bags.

I used to be a pretty die hard fan of Maui Jims, in fact I bought my first of 3 pairs at LL Bean in the early 90s.  Since 2005 however, I’ve been wearing the Kaenon Rhino, which is likely the finest pair of ocean-going sunglasses you’ll find on the market today.

Besides the fact they look cool, these lenses are AMAZING.  Their proprietary technology provides an extraordinarily sharp and polarized lens but without the added weight found in a glass lens or the distortion typically found in a polycarbonate lens.  They are also perfectly tinted to deal with that wicked late afternoon sunlight reflecting off the ocean.

Are you an outdoor athlete?

If so, you’re certainly not wearing sunglasses with glass lenses as they’ll be bouncing all over your nose as you run.  Or slipping down your nose as you sweat.  The Kaenon Kore provides perfect coverage, ultra light weight, and sharpness while staying on your face no matter how fast you move.  These sunglasses sit a bit farther away from your eyes than the Rhino’s, which provides better breathability, and also helps keep the lenses clean as you run.

The price tag is a bit steep, somewhere around $200, but I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Ranging in price from one to several hundred dollars for a quality unit, these guns do one simple job, and they do it effectively… they tell the temperature of objects from a distance. The best ones come not only with a heat detector, but also with a laser mount which makes aiming the unit simple and effective.

This is perfect for use in boundary cooling operations aboard ship.

Just think, what are your biggest enemies during marine firefighting operations… smoke, heat and water.  Too much heat and the fire will spread but put too much water on surrounding bulkheads and you run into stability problems.

This is why a temperature gun should be in your emergency gear kit and handed out to each boundary cooling team with directions to only cool the bulkheads surrounding the fire in short bursts and only when they have heated up beyond normal levels.

The temperature gun has other uses too. Entry teams no longer have to feel each door risking burns on the back of their hands and ventilation ducts can be shot with the laser to check for the movement of smoke and heat through the HVAC system.

The greatest feature of Temperature Laser Guns is their price.  For less than a $1000 you can buy multiple units ready to hand out to first responders.  The best units, like the Fluke-68IS, are more expensive but the price translates to key features including intrinsically safe, water resistant housings, more rugged design, and temperature sensors ranging from -40 °F to 1400 °F.  In contrast, Amazon sells a no brand model for $20 which is great for using around the house (I own one myself!), but it’s max temperature range of 750 °F and shoddy construction would make it useless aboard ship… well, at least useless beyond making sure the old man’s coffee pot is still hot;)

gCaptain recently ran a series of posts looking at a wide array of options for connecting to the internet at sea. Part 2 of the series looked at wireless internet (wifi) options and concluded that, despite difficulties setting up the device, the best and easiest option was connecting via a Ubiquity Bullet router. But the said difficulties in configuring the device likely caused many to avoid this option.

Today we have a solution… WaveWiFi Rogue. This unit contains the exact same hardware as the our favorite unit, the Ubiquity Bullet, sharing both it’s long range wireless capabilities and a plethora of antenna options but the software is completely different (thank god!). While our last test unit have a number of configuration screens and options, the Rogue Wifi unit came with just one, all important, screen (shown above) making connecting to open wifi signals nearly effortless.

The package, provided to us by Randy at LandAndSea WiFi, arrived with a good quality marine antenna, rail and fixed mounts, ethernet cables – all the gear needed to get you up-and-running fast. Running the cables and installing the unit proved relatively easy but the beauty was in the software configuration… I simply plugged in the ethernet cord and entered the company website in my browser… and was presented with a list of available connections which I could sort by signal strength, encryption and type.

One click later and I was online!

For those on coastal runs or ships that visit ports frequently I highly suggest the WaveWiFi Rogue, available to ship around the world via Land And Sea WiFi. Click HERE for more details on this easy to use product.

But for those watch standers that have trouble getting up at mignight we have a solution for you… Tocky The Runaway Alarm Clock
! The idea is simple – big, smooth and welcoming – our the enemy is the snooze button, an enemy that needs to be hunted and destroyed. Tocky is an alarm clock disguised as a ball that by hurdles itself off the shelve and rolls around the room, making you get out of bed to find it.

Here’s the video which explains more:

If you are interested in how the idea for Tocky was developed Click HERE to watch founder Gauri Nanda’s interview at Mixergy.