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Survival suit


An immersion suit, or survival suit (or more specifically an immersion survival suit) is a special type of waterproof dry suit that protects the wearer from hypothermia from immersion in cold water, after abandoning a sinking or capsized vessel, especially in the open ocean. They usually have built-on feet (boots), and a hood, and either built-on gloves or watertight wrist seals.

The first record of a survival suit was in 1930 when a New York firm American Life Suit Corporation offered merchant and fishing firms what it called a safety suit for crews of ocean vessels. The suit came packed in a small box and was put on like a boilersuit.

The ancestor of these suits was already invented in 1872 by Clark S Merriman to rescue steamship passengers. It was made from rubber sheeting and became famous by the swim records of Paul Boyton. It was essentially a pair of rubber pants and shirt cinched tight at the waist with a steel band and strap. Within the suit were five air pockets the wearer could inflate by mouth through hoses. Similar to modern-day drysuits, the suit also kept its wearer dry. This essentially allowed him to float on his back, using a double-sided paddle to propel himself, feet-forward. Additionally he could attach a small sail to save stamina while slowly drifting to shore (because neither emergency radio transmitters nor rescue helicopters were invented yet).

The first immersion suit to gain USCG approval was invented by Gunnar Guddal. Eventually the suit became accepted as essential safety gear.

These suits are in two types:

This type is chosen to fit each wearer. They are often worn by deep-sea fishermen who work in cold water fishing grounds.

Some of these garments overlap into scubadiver-type drysuits. Others may have many of the features of a survival suit.

Since humans are warm blooded and sweat to cool themselves, suits that are worn all the time usually have some method for sweat to evaporate and the wearer to remain dry while working.

The first survival suits in Europe were invented by Daniel Rigolet, captain of a French oil tanker. Others had experimented on similar suits abroad.

Unlike work suits, "quick don" survival suits are not normally worn, but are stowed in an accessible location on board the craft. The operator may be required to have one survival suit of the appropriate size on board for each crew member, and other passengers. If a survival suit is not accessible both from a crew member's work station and berth, then two accessible suits must be provided.


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