Daft question but...

[chewy]

Waterproof floating VHF's are just about in the price range of every boat owner now, unless your really tight. Seems daft to buy anything else really.
If a hi-vis one cost a little more I'd be happy to pay the extra for it.

[m chappelow]

or that someone would make something like a repacement cover/shell like the mobile phone ones have in dayglo or the like ,,,could even even do white ones for the princess owners or paisley print effect to match their owners crevats and smoking jackets ,,or tangerene orange for that 70s retro look .

[Poly]

Originally Posted by chewy

unless your really tight.

that will be me then...
splash proof vhf ~ £45
waterproof sinking vhf ~ £80
floating vhf ~ £125

I could get a spare non waterproof one and have the back up for the cost of a fully floating one.

Many people buying H/Held VHFs do it as a nice to have spare or even a grudging "I suppose i'd better just in case". They need it to work, and they need it to be reasonably priced.

I accept that floating is useful for people who are leaning over the sides, supporting dinghy racing, rescue work etc. Or even Yachties getting in out the tender etc - But actually if you drop it in those circumstances it doesn't need to be yellow. I still can't see when you are going to drop your VHF in the briny and not be able to find it, unless its yellow. Finding it in a locker/cupboard is probably more useful... ...but I suspect most of the people asking for a yellow one will have it about their person tied to them.

Although a rescue orange/yellow one would look "cool" for the 'bowie knife in the teeth brigade'.

If there was really a market demand people would be repainting them (or adding reflective tape to them) which I've never seen from a leisure boater.

[Nasher]

Originally Posted by Polwart

That said it should be a trivial job for SH / Icom to have the casing moulded in a different colour, if there was enough demand - but I think you need more than the ribnet audience to make it attractive.

Agreed, having ordered many an injection molding in various quantities over the years I'd have said the volume/cost is less of an issue now than it was a few years ago, but it still needs more than we could offer, even once the tooling is paid for by the normal black production.
It's also more of a pain than many realise to create another line item and Bill Of Materials to a companies product range.

Originally Posted by Polwart

Otherwise SH would have introduced their chartplotter/VHF combo in europe!

That one is more about it not meeting current UK legislation, as the combined unit fails various RF leakage requirements betwen the systems I believe.

Nasher

[chewy]

Originally Posted by Polwart

that will be me then...
splash proof vhf ~ £45
waterproof sinking vhf ~ £80
floating vhf ~ £125

I could get a spare non waterproof one and have the back up for the cost of a fully floating one.

True, having taken my water resistant one for a swim I decided a waterproof floating one was best for me, its also the only VHF I have on board so it not sinking is quite a big bonus for me, although for owners of larger RIBs not such a great concern.

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by Polwart

if its dropped in the sea its lost. Those that do have floating handhelds are probably most likely to drop them in the water doing something innocuous and immediately be able to pick it up.

I was being very innocuous in Yarmouth harbour when I dropped my old one - picking it up in January in 4m of water is not that simple however ..........

I've got a floating one now ..............

[willk]

Not rated for 4m anyway, AFAIK.

Betcha would have found a floating black one!

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by willk

Betcha would have found a floating black one!

Been on the Guinness, willk?

[willk]

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Been on the Guinness, willk?

No.

I'll expand. I wasn't having a laugh at Blackroady. I'm just not convinced of the utility of a yellow VHF. If it sinks, doesn't matter what colour it is. If it sinks in over 3m, it doesn't matter how waterproof it is. If you drop a floating, yellow VHF and don't realise you've dropped it - well...
If it's black and you know you've dropped it - you'll find it. If this happens at night, a bit of SOLAS tape would be better than a yellow casing.

So, about ready for a Guinness now though.