Clockwise from top left: West Marine's full- ûfeature bag, Landfall Navigation's waterproof ûAbandon Ship Dri Bag, Survival Technologies' ûbag and ACR's RapidDitch.

A safety-conscious owner of a 57' trawler once showed us where all his critical safety gear could be found. We were going on a cruise, so he wanted us to be prepared for anything. Trouble was he had the stuff spread out all over the boat. The life jackets were stowed in one locker forward, the life raft on the foredeck, the EPIRB in another locker and flares in yet another. How would we remember?

Frantically hunting for safety gear could waste precious time in an emergency. That’s why you should store the equipment in one easily accessible place. The Abandon Ship Bag helps get that job done. It also is…