Improved MOB retrieval for lifejackets
A young man came up to me at the Southampton boat show and asked me if I had invented the MOB Lifesaver? “Well, yes”, I replied.
‘Well you saved my life’, he said.
“Really?”
‘I was racing on a boat when I was hit on the back of the head by the boom and thrown, unconscious into the water.’
“Ah.”
‘I was wearing a manual lifejacket and had bought an MOB Lifesaver, which I had attached inside the jacket. I poked the triangle in the end out of the lifejacket through the yellow Zip Burst.’
“I see.”
‘I was face down in the water. They got the boat back to me and boat-hooked the Lifesaver. They took this over the boom and hauled on it and brought me up the side and onto the deck. I woke up on deck.’
With a MOB Lifesaver the man overboard has his means
of retrieval back on board stowed within his lifejacket
You are in great company.
All these esteemed organisations, charities and individuals use MOB Lifesavers
In Rachael Sprot’s Yachting Monthly article on ‘Man overboard retrieval for couples’ – March 2022 – Rachael wrote;
“Once you have the Lifesaver you drop it over a cleat or strongpoint, freeing you up to prepare for the lift. We found that this was the only way we could reliably control casualty alongside and the only way we could get hold of an unconscious casualty. The line is strong enough that you can lift the casualty by clipping the halyard to it.”
“I particularly liked the Lifesaver because it allowed the casualty to be secured temporarily, freeing me up to sort out the lifting gear, Ultimately it is not how you get them on board that matters but that you get them on board. Anything too complicated will be a distraction. At the end of the day the technique that stood out as the most reliable for both conscious and unconscious casualties was the simplest one; you just need a boathook, a Lifesaver and a halyard, and the weighted leg loop by the same company looks like it could help with a simple solution for a horizontal lift.”
“Get them secured to a strong point as soon as possible. The Lifesaver was the easiest and almost only way to do this – it was impossible to reach or hook the lifejacket lifting strop from on deck.”
In summary under ‘What we learned during this test’, Rachael wrote;
“Fit Lifesavers to your lifejackets. They aren’t complicated if you wanted to make your own but for a pretty cheap price having one that definitely works is worth the money.”
The one thing that concerns sailors is how to get a man in the water back on board if he can’t help himself.
Attaching him to the boat while we set up a retrieval rig is key. But on yachts we can’t reach down to get a line onto him and even on motorboats with bathing platforms it is very difficult to grab and keep hold of the casualty.
The answer? MOB Lifesavers. We don’t go down to the man overboard, he comes up to us.
A Lifesaver is hand-made from ultra High weight Molecular PolyEthylene, also known as HMPE (the same material from which Dyneema® is made.) The Lifesaver is spliced into a loop and a triangle is formed in one end. It is incredibly strong. It will lift over 2 tons!
READY
When the lifejacket inflates the Lifesaver is there on top of the bladder ready to be grabbed by the rescuer.
SIMPLE
Grab the Lifesaver by hand or with the boathook and attach the man to the boat.
STRONG
Set up your preferred retrieval rig and winch the man back on board.
The simple answer to MOB retrieval
In our video above, we take you through MOB Lifesavers, show you how to fit them to your lifejacket and demonstrate MOB retrieval short-handed aboard a 35′ boat, with our 6 part ratcheted block Harken tackle and a rescue sling.
Plus we show how they make sense when getting a man back onboard a fully crewed ocean- going racer.
And for motor-boaters there is a link to a video which will demonstrate techniques for getting a man back on board when there are no obvious lifting means or apparent height from which to sling a retrieval rig.
MOB Lifesavers are type approved…
…for Spinlock, SeaSafe, Baltic, Crewsaver, Mustang Atlas lifejackets.
Of course you can add what you like to your own lifejacket and jackets that are older than a couple of years may not be covered by any manufacturer’s warranty. But to sell a new life jacket and to provide a warranty the lifejacket needs to be tested for conformity with the inclusion of the new product. And so these brands have been conformity tested to ISO12402 with Lifesavers included.
Lifesaver makes rescue easier!
One of our customers informed us that a member of crew
slipped on a pontoon walkway and fell into the water. His
lifejacket inflated and out came the Lifesaver that had been
fitted. One of the rescuers was able to grab the Lifesaver and
hold the man against the strong current running through the
marina, while the others hauled him under his shoulders and
by the harness of his lifejacket back onto the dock.
Let us know if you have had similar experiences.
Soft Shackle
We offer a Soft Shackle for those who would like to be able to detach their Lifesaver from their lifejacket, easily and quickly. Soft Shackles are £9.95 each including post & packing to the UK. If you want your Soft Shackles delivered to an address outside the UK, please contact us before ordering to get a complete price inc p&p to your country.
6 Part Harken Ratcheted Block Tackle
Man Overboard Retrieval – Properly Rated. Properly Designed.
Our exclusive Harken MOB Retrieval Kit is purpose-built for single-handed recovery and fully rated for lifting people — not adapted from standard deck gear. With a 170kg Safe Working Load (tested to 1,700kg break load), locking Kong Tango carabiners, and a deployment system designed for fast, one-handed use, this is equipment you can trust when it matters most.
Unlike generic tackle systems, every component has been selected and tested specifically for man overboard recovery. And as such it needs to be kept for man overboard retrieval and not be used for general lifting about the boat. It also needs to be stowed correctly. That is down below in a cabin, not in a damp cockpit locker or set up permanently on a mast or back rail. Why? Because u/v rays from the sun will cause photodegradation where the ultra violet breaks down the molecular structure of the rope.
The Harken 6 part ratcheted block tackle (4 metre drop) with Kong Tango locking gate carabiners at £595 plus £12.50 delivery to the UK is only available from us.
For International deliveries – which include deliveries to Northern Ireland – please contact us.
The Harken 6 part ratcheted block is suitable for both sailing boats and motorboats.
MOB Lifesavers are endorsed by Hamble Lifeboat
A contribution from every MOB Lifesaver pack sold goes to Hamble Lifeboat to thank them for their help & support.
Get In Touch
More Info
If you’d like more information regarding our products please feel free to get in touch with the contact form provided, or alternatively with the phone number and email address below.
Phone: 07831 300 370
Email: sales@moblifesavers.com