Survival suit

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A survival suit, more accurately and currently referred to as an immersion suit, is a type of waterproof dry suit intended to protect the wearer from hypothermia if immersed in cold water or otherwise exposed after abandoning a vessel, especially in the open ocean. Immersion suits usually have integral footwear, and a hood, and either built-in gloves or watertight wrist seals. Suits manufactured by several manufacturers also include an inflatable pillow which is permanently attached high on the back, or an inflatable tube that is attached with zippers at two points on the chest, each side of the main zipper, and circles the back. When inflated, both of these devices provide enhanced stability to the wearer, which, if conscious, allows them to keep the head above water, and to keep wind and seas from striking the face. The inflation tube is routed from the inflatable pillow over the left shoulder of the user, and secured in a loop on the chest.

Immersion suits with buoyancy aids are provided with buddy lines to allow multiple survivors to connect to one another in the water, to keep survivors together.

Some suits are manufactured with built-in hoisting lanyards, to allow easier retrieval from vessels with a higher freeboard that have hoisting capabilities.

The first record of a "survival suit" was in 1930 when a New York firm, American Life Suit Corporation, offered merchant and fishing firms what it called a safety suit for crews of ocean vessels. The suit came packed in a small box and was put on like a boilersuit.^[1]

The precursor of these suits was invented in 1872 by Clark S Merriman to rescue steamship passengers. It was made from rubber sheeting and became famous by the swim records of Paul Boyton. It was essentially a pair of rubber pants and shirt cinched tight at the waist with a steel band and strap. Within the suit were five air pockets the wearer could inflate by mouth through hoses. Similar to modern-day dry suits, the suit also kept its wearer dry. This essentially allowed wearers to float on their backs, using a double-sided paddle to propel themselves, feet-forward. Additionally, they could attach a small sail to save energy while slowly drifting to shore (because neither emergency radio transmitters nor rescue helicopters had been invented yet).^[2][3]

The first immersion suit to gain USCG approval was invented by Gunnar Guddal. Eventually the suit became accepted as essential safety gear.^[4][5]