Inventor Creates Flotation Device Bazooka

Australian inventor Sam Adeloju has won the £20,000 ($32,000) James Dyson Award for inventing the coolest piece of life-saving equipment ever. The Longreach is a modified bazooka which can fire an expanding flotation device up to 150m to a person in distress. From the article: "Mr Adeloju told NEWS.com.au that the Longreach was inspired by a grenade-launch training session with the Army Reserves. Weighing just 3.5kg, it shoots the rescue device 150m in a manner similar to the way the army uses a grenade launcher to deliver flares and aerial observation devices. Hitting the water activates an expanding foam unit in the Longreach rescue unit, which also incorporates LED illumination and a vortex air whistle."

Re:Er..

[Faatal]

Probably takes some training to be good at shooting it accurately. For example I worked as a lifeguard for several summers when I was in high school. When we threw rescue tubes (those red foam things), we were taught to always overthrow the target and then pull the tube back toward the victim so they can latch on easily.

Re:Up to 150m you say?

[aquila.solo]

See, the problem with your invention is that it doesn't involve shooting a floaty-grenade launcher. Back to the drawing board with you!

;-)

Re:150m isn't that far

[Man Eating Duck]

Most ships wouldn't turn.

I was sonar operator on a frigate when in the navy. We sonar guys had a secondary role as crew of the dinghy. In a MOB situation we would get into survival suits and launch immediately, while the ship turned and cut engines after doing 180 degrees, ending up in roughly the same area as the man went overboard. Our target time was four minutes from MOB alarm until the man was safely aboard the dinghy. In realistic unannounced exercises we usually beat that time by a few seconds.

We didn't have a chopper, but we were told that most ships would follow this procedure anyway, simply because more eyeballs is better if the unlucky man isn't found immediately and a search is necessary. In addition the return is shorter for the dinghy, which is good when you have a freezing crew member on board.

On a side note a buddy of mine was stationed on a submarine. A popular prank whenever they got fresh crew on board was to sound a MOB alarm, then command one of the noobs to don a diving suit and exit via a torpedo tube to search for the victim. They got every reaction from "Stop shitting with me" to frantic fumbling with diving suits and tube doors :)