Abstract: An inflatable lifejacket for providing buoyancy in water to a wearer of the lifejacket includes an inflatable buoyancy envelope which is donned by a wearer who passes his head through a neck opening in the envelope to bring a main body portion of the envelope to overlie the chest with a neck portion of the envelope passing round the sides and back of the neck and resting on the shoulders. The neck portion of the envelope is formed by two inflatable neck sections extending upwardly from the main body portion at each side thereof and at their upper ends being connected together in the region of the back of the neck of the wearer by constraining straps which hold the upper ends together in a manner which permits spacing of them when the envelope is uninflated to provide a neck opening through which the wearer can pass his head but which so constrains the two ends when the envelope is inflated as to define a neck opening which obstructs passage of the wearer's head.

Abstract: An inflatable liferaft comprises an inflatable buoyancy tube side wall structure and a floor so secured at its periphery to the side wall structure that the inflated liferaft can be used when deployed on water either way up. An inflatable protective tube structure inflates with the side wall structure and takes up a protective location in which it extends round the outside of the side wall structure. The protective tube structure is, however, displaceable either way from its protective location to a canopy support location above the floor of the liferaft and a canopy assembly is so secured to the protective tube structure and to the side wall structure that when the protective tube structure moves to its canopy support location the canopy assembly deploys with the protective tube structure and is supported thereby.

Abstract: A releasable connector for connecting a shackle bolt on a liferaft to the depending end of a davit cable is set in a safe condition for boarding and lowering of the liferaft. In the safe condition, a hook member supports the shackle bolt and is itself locked in its supporting position by a latch member. A coupling spring connected between the hook member and the latch member operates to one side of its dead-center position to urge the latch member into the locking position. A first downward pull on a lanyard causes a pawl member to engage a tooth on the latch member to move the latch member from its locking position to a drive position in which the coupling spring operates to the other side of its dead-center position and urges the latch member into its drive position.