I had a chance to tour the Winslow Life Raft facility in Lake Suzy, Florida on April 17, 2009.

We were greeted by Sam the manager who gave us an excellent tour. You can find the pictures and explanations below. Since I am using their four person, double tubed, inflated floor, covered raft, vacuum sealed, with canopy, water sack stabilizers, sea anchor and other goodies…I thought it was a good idea to see what I was literally getting into before I happened to launch it if necessary.

I was quite impressed with their manufacturing process and attention to detail. It is completely constructed by hand with the exception of their new precision laser cutter. The laser cuts the material into it’s various parts, from there it is hand assembled.

Here are the pictures:

Laser cutter for all the patterns…

The first stage of a raft construction…tube number 1.

The first stage of a raft construction...tube number 1.

Two tubes assembled with canopy strut assembled

Two tubes and the canopy overhead strut built

Raft bottom is facing up as they attach the water bags that act like stabilizers.

Winslow life raft under construction the bottom is facing up.

Life raft with canopy assembled:

Winslow raft with canopy fully deployed

Inside the raft showing the hand pump and webbing.

The last stage of the process vacuum sealing the life raft. This is good for three years.