Survival suit test at Sequim Saturday
April 15th, 2005 - 5:26am
(Sequim) - A Sequim man will float in the chilly waters of Sequim Bay for 25 hours this weekend, testing the reliability of a breakthrough survival suit -- and attempt to set a world record.
Bob Duncan has invented a new marine survival suit which could be the difference between life and death by dramatically extending the amount of time an accident victim could survive in cold water.
The Breathe4Life suit is designeds to protect a person from hypothermia.
While other survival suits might protect a person for a few hours after their vessel sinks, Duncan's system could keep a person alive for days by "recycling" their own recycling breath to keep their temperatures at safe levels.
The suit, developed through the Sequim-based company, Jonah LLC, is in the final stages of testing in cooperation with White's Manufacturing Limited of Saanichton, BC under the "White's Survival Dry" brand.
To prove the effectiveness of the suit, Duncan take to the cold waters of Sequim Bay at John Wayne Marina beginning at noon tomorrow and won't come out of the bay until Sunday afternoon at 1.
To challenge the new Breathe4Life system, KING 5 TV Evening Magazine host John Curley will don a regular marine survival suit and enter the water at the same time Saturday.
When Duncan leaves the water Sunday afternoon, he will have set the world record for cold water survival, breaking through the 24-hour mark and topping the 18-hour record set in a previous test of the Breathe4Life suit.
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