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Coast Guard Alaska Season 2: Switlik Employees bursting with pride as their hard work gets national attention

by on 27. Apr, 2012 in Aviation

With a successful season one of Coast Guard Alaska, the Weather Channel is at it again showing grueling action packed rescue missions of the USCG rescue team Kodiak, AK for a second season.  Coast Guard Alaska, which follows a team of Coast Guard swimmers and rescue pilots stationed in Kodiak, AK, as they train and implement strategies to save lives while battling harsh, icy weather conditions.  The show has hit home with all employees at Switlik as they see their hard work put to use with a screen full of  bright orange Anti Exposure Dry Suits worn by the pilots and crew members.  The Switlik U-ZIP-IT Dry Suit has been the suit of choice by the USCG for over seven years and due to its bright color is seen by every employee at the Trenton, NJ factory as it travels through the production line.  Filmed over the brutal winter months of Alaska, the new season is packed full of footage of the Dry Suits.  As a product manufacturer its invaluable to get an hour a week of product demonstrations and candid live feedback as the suits go through a vigorous range of activities.

When designing the suits we understood that the teams would be wearing them for extended periods of time which led to our core focus in making the dry suits incredibly comfortable to wear.  After watching season one and the start to season two of Coast Guard Alaska we are very confident that the design philosophy  and how we intended our suits to be worn is precisely how the experts at the USCG station Kodiak Alaska use them.

Join the Switlik team in showing their support to the brave members of the Coast Guard by tuning in to the weather channel on Wednesday nights at 9pm.

For more information about the Anti Exposure Dry suits worn on the show visit http://switlik.com/aviation/uzipit and for details on the next show, visit www.weather.com/coastguardalaska

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Switlik Life Rafts used in the 2012 US Sailing Safety at Sea Seminar at U.S. Naval Academy

by on 12. Apr, 2012 in Marine

Over the course of this past weekend, two Swilik Offshore Life Rafts were deployed, allowing over 100 participants the opportunity to experience firsthand how to deploy, board and utilize all the safety equipment supplied in a offshore life raft.  The first training session took place on the severn river and was a live deployment off one of the Naval Academy’s sloops.  The raft used in this session was the Switlik SAR-6 Offshore Life Raft, which is the most advanced life raft available on the market.  The key features of this raft is the convertible canopy which allows for simple boarding as victims can jump directly into the raft, limiting their time the water.  The canopy design allows for endless configurations for shelter ensuring proper ventilation in addition to providing easy extraction when rescue teams are on scene.  The second feature which was highlighted in the Safety at Sea Seminar is the large ballast system.  The entire bottom of the raft features one large ballast bag that allows a large amount of water to enter and circulate in an oval fashion, ensuring the raft will be stable while riding waves and can withstand the downdraft of a rescue helicopter when extracting victims. 

The second session was located at the Naval Academy pool and the Switlik MD-3 ISAF/ISO approved life raft was used for a range of training drills.  This raft was chosen for this session of the Safety at Sea Seminar as it is a widely used raft in the upcoming 2012 Newport to Bermuda Race as it meets the life raft safety requirements as listed in the Notice of Race.  As shown in the pictures from the pool session, you will see the Switlik MD-3 has a full auto erecting canopy as required by the ISO-9650-1 and Category 1 & 2 racing requirements which is followed by the 2012 Newport to Bermuda Race. The pool session included, both boarding direct to the raft and from in the water.  During the in-water boarding drill the ability to board from two sides, with the help of the rigid boarding ramp provide made for simple entry allowing all victims to get out of the water quickly.

Other items on display at the event were a line of man overboard equipment that are widely used in offshore racing, which include the popular Switlik MOM 8 and MOM 600.  The MOM 8 is continually touted by safety experts for its quick deployment and quality of safety contents provided to a victim in water.  The MOM 600 is a new item to the safety market that is proving to be an excellent aid in getting victims our of the water quickly and on a stable, visible platform.  The rigidity of the MOM 600 platform allows for multiple victims to knell or stand aiding in their ability to simply climb back on board a high freeboard boat.  With a full range of demos completed, in addition to excellent lectures from industry professionals, the 2012 US Naval Academy Safety At Sea Seminar was a wide success for all participants and we hope this will contribute to a safe and fun 2012 sailing season.

Photos courtesy: Mary Cox

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Switlik announces sales department personnel changes

by on 31. Jan, 2012 in Press Releases

January 31, 2012 (Trenton, NJ) Switlik Parachute Company is pleased to welcome Mr. Anthony Florio as the newest member of its Sales Department, effective January 30, 2012. Mr. Florio brings 13 years of experience in selling lifesaving equipment components in all the same markets that Switlik currently serves (Military, Aviation and Marine). Switlik also announces the retirement of long time Aviation Sales Manager, Ms. Kathleen Kalinowski, after 28 years of distinguished service to the company. Ms. Kalinowski helped transform Switlik from largely a military products manufacturer to a diversified worldwide competitor in the aviation, marine and military markets.

Ed Vienckowski, VP of Sales and Marketing for Switlik, had this to say upon making the announcement: “We are thrilled to add someone the caliber of Anthony Florio to our Sales team. Anthony brings a wealth of experience in all our current markets, and is well familiar with our customer base, having served many of these same customers throughout his career. At the same time, the departure of Kathleen Kalinowski is bittersweet. We certainly wish Kathleen all the best in her new pursuits, and thank her for all her contributions to Switlik’s past success. Kathleen will be sorely missed, but rest assured our Sales team of Andrew Goetting, Marie Gowen and Anthony Florio, along Michael Dilts and myself will ensure the same level of customer service that all have come to expect from Switlik.”

Please use the following as your initial points of contact for Sales Inquiries:
Military/Government Sales: Michael Dilts, mdilts@switlik.com
Commercial Aviation Sales: Marie Gowen, mgowen@switlik.com
Helicopter Products and General Aviation Sales: Andrew Goetting, agoetting@switlik.com
Marine Products Sales: Andrew Goetting, agoetting@switlik.com

General Inquiries: info@switlik.com
Purchase Order Submittals: sales@switlik.com
VP Sales and Marketing: Ed Vienckowski, evienckowski@switlik.com 

View Press Release as a PDF

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The Weather Channel’s: Coast Guard Alaska gives the Switlik U-ZIP-IT a starring role

by on 25. Jan, 2012 in Aviation

The Weather Channel has been running a series that features the Coast Guard Air Station located on Kodiak Island, Alaska.  It highlights an elite team that risks their lives in search and rescue missions in the treacherous waters off Alaska.  The seven part series, Coast Guard Alaska, takes you into the family lives and onboard the missions of the heroes of the United States Coast Guard.  This show is of keen interest to the Switlik Survival Products team from Trenton, NJ, makers of the orange anti-exposure “dry” suits that help protect the USCG flight crews that wear them on every mission aloft.
Switlik has been a leading manufacturer of anti-exposure suits for the military and aviation sectors since 1984. The Switlik designed U-Zip-It™ Aircrew Anti Exposure Garment (AEG) was chosen by the United States Coast Guard for their flight and tactical personnel as their exclusive use, cold water immersion, aircrew flight suit.

To get a glimpse of the Weather Channel’s Coast Guard Alaska series: http://www.weather.com/tv/tvshows/coast-guard-alaska.

To learn more about the U-ZIP-IT Anti Exposure Dry Suit worn by the rescue team visit:
http://switlik.com/aviation/uzipit.

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A Mariner’s Most Dreaded Phrase, “Man Overboard”: Marine Safety training from the experts

by on 10. Jan, 2012 in Marine

By: Teresa O’Connor, Life Raft Survival Equipment, Inc.   teresa@LRSE.com

The new Switlik MOM 600 is ideal for quick man overboard rescue.

All possible efforts and actions should constantly be made to ensure that this nightmare never occurs. Unfortunately Man overboard situations happen every year with devastating results. As the crew overboard, your primary concern is to stay alive long enough for the vessel to return to your position to make a successful recovery.

Should you ever find yourself in the water from a man overboard situation, your largest concerns are to stay afloat, stay warm, stay calm, stay still and stay together – the ‘Stay Rules’.  If you don’t have a lifejacket on, then you have a challenge of staying afloat. If you don’t have on the proper clothing and you stay in the water, hypothermia is a threat. If you don’t have a raft then staying together is a problem. If you panic you’re bound to move around and release body heat from your high heat areas not to mention all the other acts that will hurt your rescue.

Dan from LRSE trains crews for safety and man overboard situations on boats like the RAMBLER 100, and the Gunboat Phaedo for transatlantic sailing races.

Unfortunately not too many mariners have had the opportunity to practice man overboard drills like cold water survival, the ‘Stay Rules’, and boarding life rafts from the water which is why we began hands on training classes 6 years ago. One section of our training takes place in a heated indoor pool with clear calm water. Yet the crippling effect of mild hypothermia, despite layered clothing and lifejackets, surprises all our participants. They find their movements slowed, their breath change and everything seems difficult. We have to pull participants out of the water at the end of the class.  They feel the effects of what we teach them, conduction in water is 25% greater than in the air. Once our participants are warmed up and recovered, they all want to know how to improve their own crew overboard gear now that they have the training.

Equipment for crew overboard or loss of vessel in coastal water must be pragmatic. It must be lightweight and small, it must be intuitive to use, it must be easily accessible, it must have some type of signaling device, and every crewmember onboard must understand its application and why it is used. A small inflatable platform like Switlik’s new MOM 600 or the rail mounted, quick deployed MOM 8 fits this criteria quite well and gives the victim the ability to climb back onboard or utilize the lifting straps should crew need to be pulled out of the water. Having the right tools will get crew to stay afloat, stay warm, stay still and stay together, now it’s just up to a vessel owner to have the training to keep the crew calm.

For information on LRSE crew training or any of the Switlik Man Overboard Modules visit:  LRSE.com or Switlik.com/marine/manoverboard

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