The RFD/Revere Coastal Elite liferaft has my vote for the ideal coastal aviation life-raft. The Revere Coastal Elite has every bell and whistle possible and is the lightest weight life-raft in it's class.    

Features include: Large oversized 13" diameter tube,  Automatically inflated canopy, Infatable floor, Zippered windows, Spacious 4 square feet per person interior, Heavy duty boarding ladder, Stowage pockets, Flashing strobe, Extra large ballast pockets for stabilazation in rough seas, Extensive equipment pack including USCG/SOLAS pyrotechnics, Vacuum packed for protection against dirt and moisture, 12 year limited warranty.

Training DVD included 

View Revere Promotion: $100.00 Rebate

Know what you are buying

 I can help you make the right decisions when purchasing your liferaft.

For instance, good things to know are:

• The inflation lanyard on some liferafts is as long as 50 feet! In other words, you will have to pull about 49 feet of line out before the liferaft inflates. 
  
  
  
  
  
• If your (inflated) liferaft lanyard snags on a sinking vessel, the lanyard has a break-away of 500 lbs at the connection point on the liferaft and it will come back to the surface. Stay clear, but be ready to grab the liferaft when it surfaces because it will no longer have a tether line. (The inflation lanyard is also the tether line).
  
  
  
  
  
• If your liferaft floats free, it can travel away at about twice the speed that you can swim.
  
  
  
  
  
• Some liferafts do not come with survival equipment. Do you know what is carried in your liferaft?
  
  
  
  
  
• You can request personal items such as prescription medications, prescription glasses, watermakers, EPIRBs, and thermal protection be packed in your liferaft equipment container.
  
  
  
  
  
• You can survive aprox. two-three days in a liferaft without fresh drinking water. 
  
  
  
  
  
• A liferaft without an insulated floor will place you on a surface equal to the temperature of the water you are trying to survive in. Because the water is moving under the liferaft, it will conduct heat away from your body almost as fast as being in the water. It urks me to see liferaft companies selling Caribbean liferafts in the Great Lakes areas. I would advise anyone North of the Gulf of Mexico to have an an inflatable canopy and insulated floor in their liferaft.
  
  
  
  
  
• When inflating a liferaft from a vessel, make sure the liferaft is deployed on the down wind side of the vessel. Otherwise it will rub against the vessel and possibly become punctured.
  
  
  
  
  
• If you are rescued by a helicopter, you will have to enter the water to get into a rescue basket. The rotor wash from the helicopter will cause the liferaft to blow around wildly. If you are unable to enter the water, stay put until the rescue swimmer comes to get you. Unfortunately the helicopter will not be able to recover your liferaft.

Next thing you may consider is, who are you buying a liferaft from. As I look around the internet, I see a lot of companies who claim to be the survival experts. But the chances are, if you call them, you will be talking to someone who has never laid eyes on an inflated liferaft. You place the order, and they direct ship from the factory.

I have walked the walk and if you look at my "About Us"  and "Clients Comments " pages, you will see that I have had several years of experience both in survival knowledge and liferafts.

Liferafts are a costly investment, wouldn't you rather buy from someone who can guide you to the correct liferaft for your environmental area needs?