After walking around boat shows, and researching on the Internet, we finally chose a Winslow liferaft.
We came to our decision after imagining what it would be like to actually spend days, weeks or months in each of the raft types. For some reason, the Winslow just seemed to be less of a grim prospect, and based on other favorable reports, we decided that was the one for us.
The Winslow comes in a valise, which can be packed in different shapes to suit your needs. One option comes with the valise packed into a white Pelican case. We liked this idea, but did not like the price of the special, custom, white case. We purchased the same size, standard pelican case (only available in black) at less than half the price, from the distributor GMPCS in Fort Lauderdale. Our intention was to make a white canvas cover to reflect the sunlight, but I must confess, 4 years later the raft still sits in it's black case on the deck.
We paid an extra $265 to have the liferaft vacuum packed within the valise. The vacuum pack extends the service period to 3 years.
Howard [ Just Imagine ] 10-Oct-2008