Welcome Scott Eason and RTDPFD!

Scott Eason, inventor of Retractable Tether and Dye Personal Flotation Device (RTDPFD), is a client Rhodes Invention Design & Development, LLC. Eason, previously a Senior Medical Department Representative at the United States Navy, came up with the idea of RTDPFD after learning of a news report concerning a fateful trip of 4 boaters off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico in 2009. Of the 4 men on the boat, only 1 was recovered. 

Mae West style PFD and deck

 RTD is a personal flotation device designed to provide an ejected boater means to be rescued. Upon ejection from a vessel, the tether, connected to a dye deployment system, is broken. The dye is spilled into the water to provide a mark in the area of ejection to aid in recovery efforts. The dye, an international orange, is highly florescent and visible from an aircraft or surface vessel.


The Mae West style flotation device, with a raised collar, provides head lift while in the water and chest straps for added security. The retractable reel, located on the body of the vest, allows the boater to move about the vessel without mobile impairment while attached into the vessel's rail system. 


In addition to the full vest, Eason conceptualized a weight-lifting style belt equipped with a flotation method and RTD. Each device is equipped with embedded CO2 cartridges for inflation purposes.

Belt Style PFD and deck

 Rhodes Invention Design & Development, LLC will be performing further development of RTDPFD to manufacture and license the product. Market Research, performed by the market research team at RIDD, was completed to determine materials such as the potential consumers, target market, strengths and weaknesses of the product(s), interest levels of potential consumers, and previous sales of similar products. These results aid in obtaining licensing agreements for RTDPFD with the proper companies to provide the highest profit and return on investment possible. 


 RIDD is in discussion with the US Navy and Coastguard as well as companies such as Grady White and Sea Tow to obtain licensing agreements for RTDPFD. Be on the lookout for this product to reach the marketplace in early 2012!

For more information regarding this product, other products at RIDD, and services RIDD may provide you, contact Rhodes Invention Design & Development, LLC at info@rhodesdevelopment.co or (706) 850-8318!