The recent advertising campaign '£5 buys him a pair of boots' has highlighted the costs of kitting out a lifeboatman.

The protective clothing, boots, bump cap, lifejacket and lifeline cost £167. It's small price to pay to keep our crews as warm, dry—and safe—as possible.

But the lifeboatman's gear is only a small part of the equipment needed in the lifeboat service. Radios, radars, anchors, stretchers, boathooks, fenders, flares . . . there are over 13,000 different items in the RNLI stores. They are needed to keep the fleet of 350 lifeboats in top condition, and in a state of permanent readiness. Every piece of equipment is specially selected for its quality and reliability. It is necessarily an expensive business, as the high standards of our crews must be matched in the boats and gear they use. It helps to explain why the net cost of the lifeboat service this year will be over £20 million, 76 per cent of which will go directly on building and maintaining the lifeboat fleet..