Lifebuoy

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Lifebuoy. Photo: Georges Jansoone

A lifebuoy or lifering is a life saving buoy designed to be thrown to a person in the water, to provide buoyancy, to prevent drowning. Marine lifebuoys are fitted with a sea-water-activated light, or lights, to aid rescue at night.

The lifebuoy usually is ring-shaped or horseshoe-shaped and has a connecting line allowing the casualty to be pulled to the rescuer. They are carried by ships and are also located beside bodies of water that have the depth or potential to drown someone.

Lifebuoy is also a brand of soap originally marketed by Lever Brothers in England beginning in 1895. Popular for over 100 years, it is still available in the United States, through specialty shops that import it through Jupiter Imports (UK) in England web site: http://www.lifebuoy.co.uk. Though Lifebuoy has gone out of production in the U.S. and the U.K., it is still being mass produced in India, as it is the leading value brand there as well as in some other South Asian and South East Asian countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Indonesia.http://www.unilever.com/ourbrands/personalcare/lifebuoy.asp - Unilever's Brand data on Lifebuoy

In WWII a type of British army flamethrower was nicknamed a lifebuoy because of its doughnut-shaped backpack fueltank.

See also

• Personal flotation device

References