Practical Boat Owner - January 2016

How lifejackets are made and tested

The cutting machine computercutter’ EldridgeKen ‘the^

The £80,000 cutting machine has ‘saved Ken the cutter’s back’

Rod Young has worked for the company for 22-and-a-half years, ‘and I was old when I got here’. Now 75, he is the oldest member of staff. His original job was sealing the seams: he gradually learnt about

Machinist Chris Russell at work machining, and went on from there

Italian flag, and this lifejacket design was displayed at the Southampton Boat Show. We’re currently playing around with a
really amazing tweed with gold embroidery, and also tartan. We need less than a metre of material for each lifejacket cover.’
included lifejackets for a Status Quo concert at Cowes when the band wore leather and black SeaSafe’s ‘celebrity stuff’ has
suede lifejackets – one with a skull and crossbones. Jane McDonald fromleopard-print lifejacket for the Loose Women wore a
Queen’s Jubilee Pageant and, at ABP Barrow, Matt Baker from Countryfilefluorescent orange lifejacket, was filmed wearing a
embroidered with Number 1.comfort has improved with soft foam and quilting around Over the years, lifejacket
the back of the neck, plus accessories such as lights and personal locator beacons (PLBs). More colours have
been brought in, and the quality control has risen from British to European standards.

How lifejackets are madeManaging director Jeremy Dale said: ‘We first produce the rear

section of the lifejacket: all of the webbing is sewn in the approved position. Next we fit the lifejacket lung: this is sewn onto the

attachment points fitted in place on the inside of the rear section. which could have a multitude of ‘We then produce the front panel,

different colours and embroidery upon it. We fit the zips, then we are ready to install the firing head, CObottle and any optional extras that 2

the customer may have ordered, then the front panel is zipped onto the rear panel. ‘Finally we fold and pack the

lifejacket correctly and then it is ready to be sent to the customer. Everything goes through various inspections until a final inspection

prior to packing and dispatch.’degree, all the material is cut by hand. Until 18 months ago, Traditionally, and today to a great

lifejacket lungs at SeaSafe were also cut by hand, a physical job that involved bashing holes into the material using a metal cutting

tube and hammer. An £80,000 cutting machine has now ‘saved Ken the cutter’s back’, and although it’s not quite as fast as his

experienced by-hand cutting, it’s much easier – and the holes are ‘100 per cent neater’.Ken Eldridge, from Ventnor, said:

‘Time is of the essence: everything has to be cut before it can go to the machinists or the welding room. If I’m off for a fortnight everything

grinds to a halt. It’s all about the cutting, really.’ three-step process: Material is The cutting machine has a

placed under a camera and photographed, and this information is sent to a computer which then operates the cutting machine. A

blade, rather than a laser, cuts the holes in the lifejacket lungs.will go on the computer, but as Wendy said: ‘All the coat patterns

we’re a bespoke manufacturer that’s where it works against us: if a customer wants shorter sleeves and it has to be cut down from a

pre-cut design, that creates waste. It’s not an easy solution.’machine was a serious investment She continued: ‘The cutting

for us. At the moment it does all the lifejacket lungs and contract work, which is our bread and butter.’Managing director Jeremy Dale

said: ‘We make 35,000 to 40,000 lungs a year. We’ve got the capacity to do over 1,000 a week. We sell 2,000 to 3,000 a year of ➜