Things that go "BANG" in the night

[rgreg]

I was woken in the early hours by a bang and a loud rumble somewhere inside or around the boat. An inspection of the inside revealed nothing so I suspected the river level had dropped and the ropes may be taut, grinding the boat against the quay. An inspection around with a torch again revealed nothing. Returning inside, I was concerned that I hadn't identified the noise and was sure I hadn't dreamt it. Then I heard a rumbling in a cupboard. Anxiously I opened the door to be confronted with a self-inflating life jacket which had.... self inflated! No dampness so I'm suspecting it was the heat or something moved and disturbed the emergency pull chord. Back to sleep, very relieved.

Edited June 29, 2018 by rgreg

[rusty69]

9 minutes ago, rgreg said:

Back to sleep, very relieved.

So, you pee'd on it!  or was it Barry Scott? 

Edited June 29, 2018 by rusty69

[MtB]

5 minutes ago, rgreg said:

I was woken in the early hours by a bang and a loud rumble somewhere inside or around the boat. An inspection of the inside revealed nothing so I suspected the river level had dropped and the ropes may be taught, grinding the boat against the quay. An inspection around with a torch again revealed nothing. Returning inside, I was concerned that I hadn't identified the noise and was sure I hadn't dreamt it. Then I heard a rumbling in a cupboard. Anxiously I opened the door to be confronted with a self-inflating life jacket which had.... self inflated! No dampness so I'm suspecting it was the heat or something moved and disturbed the emergency pull chord. Back to sleep, very relieved.

 

I find a bang or loud noise inside the boat that wakes me up is usually preceded by a long and complicated dream, culminating in something in the dream making the bang and waking me. At which instant I also know the bang was real.

 

This indicates to me my dreams happen in an instant, rather than spread out over the hour of so they seem to, from within the dream.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

There is a thing called exploding head syndrome. Load noises, or explosions heard as someone goes in or out of sleep, but not real. Nobody knows what causes it.

 

Jen

[rgreg]

6 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I find a bang or loud noise inside the boat that wakes me up is usually preceded by a long and complicated dream, culminating in something in the dream making the bang and waking me. At which instant I also know the bang was real.

 

This indicates to me my dreams happen in an instant, rather than spread out over the hour of so they seem to, from within the dream.

?

[Grebe]

We got to the boat to find a dinette cushion distubed and the locker lid slightly open, yes the life jacket had gone off.  On another occasion SWMBO was at home with a friend when there was a loud bang in the loft, yes a lifejacket again.  This one was in a plastic bag and had probably sweated.  So lessons are dry them out thoroughly and do not keep them in plastic bags.

 

I seem to recall a news stoy a few yers ago where a 'lumpy stuff' lifejacket had triggered and set off the attached EPIRB.  The maritme rescue centre had picked up the signal and location of the signal but were puzzled.  They sent someone to the location and discovered the lifejacket and EPIRB in a bag in a wardrobe at the sailors house.

[GUMPY]

that's why I usually remember to remove gas canister from jacket before storage!

[roland elsdon]

I was working in a secure psychiatric facility in 1992 housing some fairly dubious characters some of whom outsiders were out to get. 

In the middle of the night there was a gunshot sound. The staff ran around checking the patients whilst i did a perimeter check. Nothing.

As i walked back through the airlock i looked at my racing bike, i had done a race before the shift started , and was due another one on the sunday morning on the way home. The front tyre pumped to 150 psi had exploded . I had to tell myself off and then go and apologise to the staff who were busy changing their underwear, as well as call the police who had automaticaly been alerted by a staff member. 

[alan_fincher]

What causes self inflating life jackets to go off it a part made of a hard "salt" that dissolves on contact with water.

 

If you actually read up on them, they have a very short shelf life, and those of us who use jackets only rarely should be replacing them on a regular basis.

When were yours last done?  I suspect the "salt" may have degraded over time, even if you didn't think the environment it ultimately inflated in was damp.

[rgreg]

4 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

What causes self inflating life jackets to go off it a part made of a hard "salt" that dissolves on contact with water.

 

If you actually read up on them, they have a very short shelf life, and those of us who use jackets only rarely should be replacing them on a regular basis.

When were yours last done?  I suspect the "salt" may have degraded over time, even if you didn't think the environment it ultimately inflated in was damp.

Yes, they should be regularly serviced. Probably, like many others, I am guilty of not having this done frequently enough. They did get very wet on my recent Ribble crossing. 

[Sea Dog]

6 hours ago, rgreg said:

Anxiously I opened the door to be confronted with a self-inflating life jacket which had.... self inflated! No dampness so I'm suspecting it was the heat or something moved and disturbed the emergency pull chord. Back to sleep, very relieved.

Did you consider the possibility that it knew something you didn't?  An automatic lifejacket 's job is, after all, to inflate when you may be in a perilous situation and, generally, they're very good at it.  Perhaps you should have put it on just in case!

[Mac of Cygnet]

27 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

I was working in a secure psychiatric facility in 1992 housing some fairly dubious characters some of whom outsiders were out to get. 

In the middle of the night there was a gunshot sound. The staff ran around checking the patients whilst i did a perimeter check. Nothing.

As i walked back through the airlock i looked at my racing bike, i had done a race before the shift started , and was due another one on the sunday morning on the way home. The front tyre pumped to 150 psi had exploded . I had to tell myself off and then go and apologise to the staff who were busy changing their underwear, as well as call the police who had automaticaly been alerted by a staff member. 

 

Was this 'secure psychiatric facility' on a spaceship, then?

[WotEver]

1 minute ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

 

Was this 'secure psychiatric facility' on a spaceship, then?

Yeah, I was wondering about that too...

[rgreg]

16 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Did you consider the possibility that it knew something you didn't?  An automatic lifejacket 's job is, after all, to inflate when you may be in a perilous situation and, generally, they're very good at it.  Perhaps you should have put it on just in case!

When I heard it "go off" I certainly thought I was in a perilous situation! 

[blackrose]

9 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

What causes self inflating life jackets to go off it a part made of a hard "salt" that dissolves on contact with water.

 

If you actually read up on them, they have a very short shelf life, and those of us who use jackets only rarely should be replacing them on a regular basis.

When were yours last done?  

I bought a couple of lifejackets from uxbridge boat centre about 10 years ago, but when I asked a few years ago about where to get new gas canisters they knew nothing about it. I was a bit surprised. 

 

But I read some advice about how to check them on here and they were still fine. I suppose I better do it again.

[davem399]

17 hours ago, rgreg said:

I was woken in the early hours by a bang and a loud rumble somewhere inside or around the boat. An inspection of the inside revealed nothing so I suspected the river level had dropped and the ropes may be taut, grinding the boat against the quay. An inspection around with a torch again revealed nothing. Returning inside, I was concerned that I hadn't identified the noise and was sure I hadn't dreamt it. Then I heard a rumbling in a cupboard. Anxiously I opened the door to be confronted with a self-inflating life jacket which had.... self inflated! No dampness so I'm suspecting it was the heat or something moved and disturbed the emergency pull chord. Back to sleep, very relieved.

Are you sure it wasn't that self-inflating woman you bought from Del Boy???

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

I bought a couple of lifejackets from uxbridge boat centre about 10 years ago, but when I asked a few years ago about where to get new gas canisters they knew nothing about it. I was a bit surprised. 

 

But I read some advice about how to check them on here and they were still fine. I suppose I better do it again.

 

I think there are typically 2 parts that are "user serviceable", the actual gas cannister, and (assuming self inflating), the "disc" containing the soluble "salt".

 

Don't quote me on it, but although a service kit typically contains both, I would assume that provided your old gas cannister ways what it should, that it must still be viable, as it must still contain the  right volume of CO2.

 

However for the "disc" with the "salt" in, which is exposed permanently to the atmosphere wherever you store them, it would be a bit of an act of faith that they are going to inflate when they should, and not when they shouldn't.

 

Unless someone can come up with a good reason why not, I'd be happy to rely on a CO2 cylinder with a weight that matched what is stamped on it, but have qualms about relying on a heavily out of date "disc" for the auto inflate mechanism.

[rusty69]

Also worth inflating once a year (preferably with a pump). The first time I checked our self inflating jackets, they went down overnight. On further investigation, a recal notice had been issued on them!

[alan_fincher]

7 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Also worth inflating once a year (preferably with a pump). The first time I checked our self inflating jackets, they went down overnight. On further investigation, a recal notice had been issued on them!

I'm not sure this would be easily possible with any of ours without acutaly using up the gas cannister.

[nb Innisfree]

17 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I find a bang or loud noise inside the boat that wakes me up is usually preceded by a long and complicated dream, culminating in something in the dream making the bang and waking me. At which instant I also know the bang was real.

 

This indicates to me my dreams happen in an instant, rather than spread out over the hour of so they seem to, from within the dream.

I've always been intrigued by this phenomenon, real world sudden noises that have somehow been predicted in a dream. Yes it could be that dreams occur in an instant but observation of people dreaming indicates otherwise. Another possibility is that the brain has the ability to function independently from so called 'time'. 

[rusty69]

9 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

I'm not sure this would be easily possible with any of ours without acutaly using up the gas cannister.

Thats a shame.

 

I personally wouldn't buy a jacket that couldn't be manually inflated, as a backup.

 

When my lotto numbers come up I will invest in a Hammar lifejacket, no more silly salt pellets

Edited June 30, 2018 by rusty69

[roland elsdon]

Airlock is an airspace between two secure doors .. many times i wish we could have evacuated the air with people in it but didnt have a button. It simply creates 2 electronic barriers that have interlocks to prevent all doors being opened at same time.

given the location of the unit it was indeed surrounded by aliens . I left in 96 and have never been back. 

[rgreg]

27 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

I'm not sure this would be easily possible with any of ours without acutaly using up the gas cannister.

Are you sure they don't also have a tube for inflating by mouth? Mine have them but they are well concealed in the folded lifejacket. 

2 hours ago, blackrose said:

I bought a couple of lifejackets from uxbridge boat centre about 10 years ago, but when I asked a few years ago about where to get new gas canisters they knew nothing about it. I was a bit surprised. 

 

But I read some advice about how to check them on here and they were still fine. I suppose I better do it again.

I need one now so searched the internet and came up with this 33g replacement (other sizes available).

http://www.lifejackets.co.uk/mobile/products/10/lifejacket-co2-cylinder-33g

[ditchcrawler]

We had this problem with self inflation when I worked Offshore, Jackets would get damp while in use, not wet. Then when put back into storage, A large fibreglass box some would go off. In the end we removed the firing mechanism before storing. These were work jackets, not emergency use ones. We also fond some types more susceptible than others, some had a salt block and others a paper disk but I can't remember which were the best/worst.