[quote=mattson]My electronics on board are pretty much all safety related.
- A waterproof (IPX7 or IPX8) handheld VHF radio. The modern handheld radios carried by West Marine are actually waterproof. It's a long story, but years ago I was frustrated with them NOT being waterproof as advertised, and took it to the executive level of the company who had manufacturers redesign their radios. You don't need the bag with the newer radios. I've been using Icoms and Standard Horizon radios over the past 8 years or so fully exposed with no issues. Latest is an Icom IC-M73.
- A Handheld GPS. Mine is a GPSmap 76Cx. It is advertised as waterproof but is not. The battery compartment took on water but I was able to dry out and save the device. I'm too old and don't have the time and patience to fight this stuff anymore, so I asked a salesman at West Marine if they had a drybag that would fit it. He said he had the perfect one, and pointed out that the box had a picture with the exact same unit in the bag. I didn't even have the inclination to point out the irony of that, and bought the bag,
- An older model ACR Rescue-Fix personal Epirb. The newer ones are about half the size and a third of the price of this one. I've had the battery serviced once, and can get that done once more, right before the device turns 12 years old at which point the service centers can't touch them.
- A Spot personal locator beacon. This is carried primary on my long channel crossings, just to let loved ones know I am OK. My primary emergency device is the Epirb. This is a secondary back up.
- A Kyocera Duraforce cell phone. Waterproof and shockproof. Carried in the chest pocket of my drysuit.
- A Casio ProTrek PRW2500-1. This watch has a nice tide table display I can use for timing beach landings at the islands, and a good count down timer for race starts.
The Epirb and Spot were purchased primarily for channel crossings to the Channel Islands. But I still carry them on day sails. Once you have this stuff, it just doesn't seem prudent to leave them behind.
The Speedpuck looks very interesting. It would be a "nice to have", but I've spent so much money already on the stuff above, I have to draw the line somewhere. I don't see the bang for the buck on this one.<!-- editby --><em>Edited by mattson on Jan 28, 2018 - 01:19 PM.</em><!-- end editby --> [/quote]
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