Subject: Rescue Me Distress balloon for safety

Subject: Rescue Me Distress balloon for safety

I just ran across something others might find interesting. That is a safety / distress balloon for cruisers. This it a helium balloon that comes with a 150 foot tether on which there is an LED distress becon that will flash for up to a week.

Interesting idea and peice of safety gear that could be useful:

http://gearjunkie.com/rescue-me-balloon-distress-signal

https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/p ... 4_high.mp4

very cool idea! Would really help a surface to surface search - say if a sailor got separated from a boat in any significant sea state. Your video link doesn't work, though.

looks like the funding fell through for it.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/651668573/rescue-me-balloon

how would it work when it's blowing hurricane/gale force? Would you then be dragged like bait across the ocean?

It would certainly have to be released prior to the rescue helicopter approach, but by then you're located anyway...

With EPIRBs and PLDs being somewhat affordable these days, perhaps this explains the lack of funding for this idea?