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> Some also wear automatically inflated life jackets but as a kayaker I don’t trust them. Do you trust them as an adult? Or in some other context? What abou

> Some also wear automatically inflated life jackets but as a kayaker I don’t trust them. Do you trust them as an adult? Or in some other context? What about kayaking makes you distrust them? Should I, a non-kayaker, trust them?

wlll 4y ago
I'm a sailor (yachts, not dinghys), not a kayaker. > Do you trust them as an adult? Yes. The alternative (ignoring the solid foam type of life jacket that you see kids wear) is a manually inflating one. They use the same CO2 cylinder with a bladder, but you have to pull a cord to inflate them. You can buy the exact same model of life jacket as auto or manual inflating. The auto inflating ones also have a cord you can pull if you need to. There is some debate in the sailing community as to whether the auto or manual jackets are a better idea but most people go auto-inflating. With the manual ones you can manoeuvre better in the water if you don't inflate the jacket so you have a chance to swim to safety, perhaps climbing back on your boat, but if you get knocked unconscious or you're in shock (or the boats still sailing) then that's going to be harder/impossible to do. Personally me and my immediate family have auto inflating ones, this model specifically: https://crewsaver.com/uk/products/16708/ErgoFit190N https://crewsaver.com/uk/products/16708/ErgoFit190N. We have some more basic models for guests. I figure I'm unlikely to be sailing single handed and the best chance of survival offshore is getting picked up by the crew of the boat you were just in. Plus, I'm in NW UK, cold water shock is a real thing. Staying afloat in the middle of the sea is going to be the main thing you're going to want to be concentrating on. > Or in some other context? What about kayaking makes you distrust them? I wouldn't wear an auto-inflating jacket anywhere that I'm likely to get dunked in the water as a matter of course. You'll just inflate the jacket when you don't want to, it will be completely in the way and you will have to deflate it and it's then mostly useless until it's repacked with a new gas cylinder. Plus, you're unlikely to be in the big seas that would make an auto-inflater safer. That said, it can get wet enough on a sailing yacht that jackets can get wet enough to be inflated, but that's very uncommon. Pretty funny though :) > Should I, a non-kayaker, trust them? It depends what you're doing. Sailing, going out on a pleasure boat, day trips, weeks at sea, then sure. Stick one on each of your family and guests, show them the pull cord and tell them not to pull it unless they need to, and you can pretty much rest assured that if they fall in they're going to float until you can get to them. You can also get beacons you can add to them, I've added them to mine. *edit* Here's someone testing the lifejacket I have https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09y_AM36v0M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09y_AM36v0M
msrenee 4y ago
I did approximately no research on them when I was buying a life jacket recently. My thinking is that you're probably only going to need it to work once and at that point, you really, REALLY, need it to work. If they deploy with no issues 999 times out of a thousand, I don't want to play the odds of the one time being the aforementioned 1 time out of a thousand it doesn't deploy. On the other hand, a conventional life jacket floats on a count of the way it floats. There's plenty of comfortable conventional life jackets out there and they're much cheaper than the less-bulky ones that deploy in the water.
- wlll 4y ago
  What you're likely talking about I (and everyone I know in the sailing community) would call a buoyancy aid not a life jacket. They'll help you stay afloat but you'll have to put effort in. Not something you can do for hours, or if you're unconscious or in cold water shock. In the sailing community a life jacket would tend to be either a much bulkier statically buoyant thing (picture the large orange things kids wear on sailing holidays or boat rides) or more commonly an inflating one. Of that last category auto-inflating is more popular. Remember, auto-inflating life jackets also have a pull cord that you can use if the auto inflation mechanism doesn't trigger. If you were sailing on my boat there is no way you'd get away with wearing a buoyancy aid. I don't know what the failure rate of auto (or manual) inflating life jackets is (I bet it's less than 1 in 1000), but a buoyancy aid will not provide enough buoyancy 100% of the time in the sea. Don't get me wrong, I will wear a buoyancy aid, but I wouldn't class it as a life jacket, and it would be in certain situations like kayaking or paddle boarding perhaps.
  - msrenee 4y ago
    I can't remember what class the one I've got is. PFD is the term. It's been a while since I've spent any kind of time on the water. It is intended to roll you onto your back and for situations where you're not going to be far from rescue. It's is definitely not intended for the ocean though. Wouldn't do the great lakes in it unless I was staying close to shore. Or any of the big ones up north honestly. The context here was kayaking. In that very unlikely scenario that your auto-inflating life jacket doesn't deploy, there is a very likely scenario that you're disoriented or unconscious. That's a big risk in any scenario where you need a PFD and the reason I'd rather go with an always-deployed one appropriate for conditions than hope I have my head on straight if I get dumped overboard and things get worse from there.
withinboredom 4y ago
As a kayaker, it is possible to capsize. You should know how to flip yourself back over. If your life vest inflates while you are capsized, you are dead or going to have a very bad day stuck sideways while your craft fills with water. Once it fills, it will sink. If you don’t get out before that happens, your life vest won’t save you. Basically, as a kayaker, you only want a life vest once you are out of the boat and you can’t get back to your boat or to the shore.

wlll 4y ago

I'm a sailor (yachts, not dinghys), not a kayaker. > Do you trust them as an adult? Yes. The alternative (ignoring the solid foam type of life jacket that you see kids wear) is a manually inflating one. They use the same CO2 cylinder with a bladder, but you have to pull a cord to inflate them. You can buy the exact same model of life jacket as auto or manual inflating. The auto inflating ones also have a cord you can pull if you need to. There is some debate in the sailing community as to whether the auto or manual jackets are a better idea but most people go auto-inflating. With the manual ones you can manoeuvre better in the water if you don't inflate the jacket so you have a chance to swim to safety, perhaps climbing back on your boat, but if you get knocked unconscious or you're in shock (or the boats still sailing) then that's going to be harder/impossible to do. Personally me and my immediate family have auto inflating ones, this model specifically: https://crewsaver.com/uk/products/16708/ErgoFit190N https://crewsaver.com/uk/products/16708/ErgoFit190N. We have some more basic models for guests. I figure I'm unlikely to be sailing single handed and the best chance of survival offshore is getting picked up by the crew of the boat you were just in. Plus, I'm in NW UK, cold water shock is a real thing. Staying afloat in the middle of the sea is going to be the main thing you're going to want to be concentrating on. > Or in some other context? What about kayaking makes you distrust them? I wouldn't wear an auto-inflating jacket anywhere that I'm likely to get dunked in the water as a matter of course. You'll just inflate the jacket when you don't want to, it will be completely in the way and you will have to deflate it and it's then mostly useless until it's repacked with a new gas cylinder. Plus, you're unlikely to be in the big seas that would make an auto-inflater safer. That said, it can get wet enough on a sailing yacht that jackets can get wet enough to be inflated, but that's very uncommon. Pretty funny though :) > Should I, a non-kayaker, trust them? It depends what you're doing. Sailing, going out on a pleasure boat, day trips, weeks at sea, then sure. Stick one on each of your family and guests, show them the pull cord and tell them not to pull it unless they need to, and you can pretty much rest assured that if they fall in they're going to float until you can get to them. You can also get beacons you can add to them, I've added them to mine. *edit* Here's someone testing the lifejacket I have https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09y_AM36v0M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09y_AM36v0M

msrenee 4y ago

I did approximately no research on them when I was buying a life jacket recently. My thinking is that you're probably only going to need it to work once and at that point, you really, REALLY, need it to work. If they deploy with no issues 999 times out of a thousand, I don't want to play the odds of the one time being the aforementioned 1 time out of a thousand it doesn't deploy. On the other hand, a conventional life jacket floats on a count of the way it floats. There's plenty of comfortable conventional life jackets out there and they're much cheaper than the less-bulky ones that deploy in the water.

wlll 4y ago
What you're likely talking about I (and everyone I know in the sailing community) would call a buoyancy aid not a life jacket. They'll help you stay afloat but you'll have to put effort in. Not something you can do for hours, or if you're unconscious or in cold water shock. In the sailing community a life jacket would tend to be either a much bulkier statically buoyant thing (picture the large orange things kids wear on sailing holidays or boat rides) or more commonly an inflating one. Of that last category auto-inflating is more popular. Remember, auto-inflating life jackets also have a pull cord that you can use if the auto inflation mechanism doesn't trigger. If you were sailing on my boat there is no way you'd get away with wearing a buoyancy aid. I don't know what the failure rate of auto (or manual) inflating life jackets is (I bet it's less than 1 in 1000), but a buoyancy aid will not provide enough buoyancy 100% of the time in the sea. Don't get me wrong, I will wear a buoyancy aid, but I wouldn't class it as a life jacket, and it would be in certain situations like kayaking or paddle boarding perhaps.
- msrenee 4y ago
  I can't remember what class the one I've got is. PFD is the term. It's been a while since I've spent any kind of time on the water. It is intended to roll you onto your back and for situations where you're not going to be far from rescue. It's is definitely not intended for the ocean though. Wouldn't do the great lakes in it unless I was staying close to shore. Or any of the big ones up north honestly. The context here was kayaking. In that very unlikely scenario that your auto-inflating life jacket doesn't deploy, there is a very likely scenario that you're disoriented or unconscious. That's a big risk in any scenario where you need a PFD and the reason I'd rather go with an always-deployed one appropriate for conditions than hope I have my head on straight if I get dumped overboard and things get worse from there.

withinboredom 4y ago

As a kayaker, it is possible to capsize. You should know how to flip yourself back over. If your life vest inflates while you are capsized, you are dead or going to have a very bad day stuck sideways while your craft fills with water. Once it fills, it will sink. If you don’t get out before that happens, your life vest won’t save you. Basically, as a kayaker, you only want a life vest once you are out of the boat and you can’t get back to your boat or to the shore.