NavList:

Frank:

As someone who does quality assurance, I took Hanno very seriously, The level of quality normally expected of safety and emergency equipement is significantly higher than normal equipment.  I could go on for hours about the requirements I encounter.

While a bare sextant would not be able to take that kind of abuse he described one in a box should be able to, if not the box should be upgraded, a Pelican case would be the obvious choice to me.  Even a bare G-Shock should be able to take that abuse.

Also, ust because there millions of Casios in class rooms, doesn't mean that they are safe if broke open, or even in normal use.  Just look at the number of toys in the last decade recalled because of lead paint used on children's toys. I am not saying Casios have problems, I'm just not sanguine about their inherent safety based on where they are currently being used and I don't know.

Finally, there are plenty of folks going offshore that just trust emergency equipment, and that would include NavList members.  The particular example I am thinking of is the EPIRB.  While there is a monthly maintenance and testing procedure for EPIRBs, the self-test function is an internal check with no outside confirmation that the EPIRB is transmitting as sufficient power for useful info to be received by the satellites.  I haven't been able to find a regular EPIRB that uses outside verifiecation of transmission.

Bob II