The goldfish bowl was the English Channel. The Year 1941. Eddie Thorpe a young RAF lieutenant,

kept his date at the Red Lyon because of a remarkable new material developed in the early stages of WWII

by the Royal Air Force. 

That material made it possible for flyers to stay alive in the Channel for up to 10 hours, where

formerly their chance of surviving the dunking was only one hour.

Today, with the addition of modern pressure dying and other ingredients, that very life-saving

material has evolved into what is now called Survivalon®. The cloth itself is a fine weave 2 ply cotton

treated with silicone. It is water repellent and wind repellent .