The name of the gentleman who originally formed the company was Reginald Foster Dagnall. However, RFD is colloquially referred to as Rescue From Disaster.

RFD is a subsidiary of Survitec Group Limited, sister Company to RFD (Australia) Pty Limited and RFD Beaufort Limited amongst others. The RFD group was initially formed in the 1920s to service the armed forces of the UK as a result of World War 1.

RFD is now recognised as a world leader for the supply of marine and aviation safety and survival equipment.

During the last five years, Eurovinil, ML Lifeguard, Elliot, Toyo, Beaufort and DSB have also joined the RFD network of companies.

With branches in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Nelson, RFD specialises in sales and servicing of liferafts, marine safety equipment, distress signals and have manufactured on-site, an extensive range of lifejackets since the early 1990s. Manufacturing of lifejackets and buoyancy aids has gone from small beginnings, to a huge part of RFD's business and we now have a substantial part of the New Zealand market in addition to exporting to Australia.

All RFD lifejackets and buoyancy aids display the "S" symbol indicating that they have been manufactured to New Zealand standards. This standard guarantees the purchaser that all components used in manufacture, meet minimum performance specifications as determined by NZ Standards/Bureau Veritas (NZ) Ltd.

RFD also sell and service SALCOM EPIRBs, ACR EPIRBs and associated survival electronics, inflatable lifejackets, immersion suits, Jon buoys and Dan buoys.

RFD has earned a huge market share in proven product acceptance and after-sales support. Simplicity, ease of use, reliability, attractive packaging and ground breaking marketing makes us the best choice for all your safety and survival requirements.