I know about this option but I’ll return via Bergen/Norway.
You can send it back by mail from anywhere. I have done two Atlantic crossings and always rented the survival equipment. That stuff has a typical expiring date of 10 years (less for things with a battery inside like PLBs) and you really have to use it a lot to make buying worthwile. Our company had to throw out an unused (and unflown!) life raft last year because it had expired. We used it for survival training in the swimming pool, but we could have just burnt the money.
Great, thanks what next (funny nick, btw). The only concern I have is about the quality of the raft. I’ll call Andrew on Montag.
Friebe in Mannheim also rent rafts. No idea about the quality of their products but might be worth a call.
Can someone please explain the difference between “ballast” and a “sea anchor,” and how each of them work?
The one I used while flying the North Atlantic route is a Beaufort made in the 80’s originally for the military. It has a 2-man overload capacity, but I wouldn’t like to try that for real.
Because of its age it has an over-pressure test when it’s serviced, which it always passes with no problem.
There was a Beaufort rep present at its last service who said he’d be very happy to buy it from me as he was looking for a similar one to take sailing.
Weighs 4.8kg and is sufficiently compact to tuck beside my seat..
It’s the one shown on this page : http://www.ses-safety.com/Liferafts-Lifejackets.html
For renting, I’d second recommendations for SEMS in Basildon or Far North at Wick
sea anchor
ballast
Both provide stability to a boat or in this case a raft to prevent it from overturning or being blown away by the wind.
The sea anchor is attached to the boat by a long line and is usually a large piece of cloth which unfolds in the water and thus provides drag (not unsimilar to a parachute) to reduce movement of the boat by the wind.
Ballast is additional weight in the boat below the water line to adjust the center of gravity and to counteract the effects above the waterline, e.g. the wind getting underneath the raft and trying to blow it over.
The Winslow raft has both a sea anchor as well as ballast chambers which can be seen in the picture earlier in the thread. These are the bags underneath the raft with the round holes in them. The bags will fill with sea water once the raft is deployed thus adding weight to the raft.
Additional info here
Thanks RXH 
One thing I would add is that when on occasions I rented a raft (because mine was away for an overhaul) I found the “nice” ones so heavy that I doubted I would be able to get them out of the back seat to the front if flying alone.
I use the Survival Products £1000 one which is about 10kg and that’s OK. It saved the life of another TB20 pilot a year or two ago and clearly works. The ones which get the good reviews tend to be 20kg or even 30-40kg and only a gorilla would be able to deploy some of the latter in a hurry.
I think Peter makes a very valid observation that is often overlooked. I bought my 20 kg raft 7 years ago and rather than doing the next service on it, I’d probably toss it and go for a 10kg one, less voluminous too.. Could be carried up front, even with two sitting there.
I did a evacuation course a few years ago. Very enlightening.. Of course it is all no big deal if you land on calm waters, don’t flip over, and can sit on the wing (low wing airplane) for a while, pondering quietly what your next plane is going to be and then casually take out the raft from the back, put it on the wing, go sit in it and let the plane sink away. Probably not even wet feet..
The interesting part of the course was of course flipping over, hanging there in a rapidly filling cabin, quite disoriented. I needed all my brain cells to learn to execute the right steps in the right order. I would have struggled to add ‘reach to the rear seats and try to get the raft on your lap and cling to it while exiting’.
No such things as a ‘best choice’. I suppose many factor play a role. Single or twin engine, climate, alone or with people etc etc.
Muelli, Friends of mine will fly west to east in June in the 182, and are planning to rent a raft. Their destination is Bergen, Norway. Perhaps there is a way that both of you can collaborate, and a rental raft can go round trip. I can put you in touch with them. I was tasked with arranging the raft rental for them, but returning it will be a fuss, anything to reduce fuss….
