Inflatable Life Jackets

[porkpie]

I have a manual inflate I wear for fishing.  Check your cylinder when you take it out of the package.  I wore mine for a year before I discovered that some dummy at Canadian tire had obviously inflated it for kicks, then stuck it back in the package.  It wouldn't of done me much good.  I also inflate mine manually once every six months and hang it in the garage overnight to see if it still holds air.  In my boat I carry real life jackets in adult size with huge collars like a kids life jacket.  Canadian tire was selling them a few years ago, they don't seem to have em anymore.  Anyway, I wear the inflateable because it's better than nothing, it's comfortable to wear and at least I'll have something if I fall out.  Really easy to manually inflate with the air tube also.  That wouldn't help you with an accident at speed though.   If I was really concerned I'd maybe wear a kayak vest as they are comfortable and have real flotation.  Won't help you at all if your unconscious though.

[Lape0019]

If you are travelling at any rate of speed of say over 30mph and absolutely had to have an auto inflate PFD, I would do like APLUMMA and run both. Have the foam one for running and the auto inflate for fishing.

Keep in mind that if you are no wearing an auto inflate, it does not count towards the life jacket you have on board.

 

[Raycaster]

Just a heads up as I found my Onyx A/M-24 inflated in the garage during the spring and needed a re-arming kit.

Lots online but searching locally only came up with CrappyTire in Brantford.

Bought it and while installing noticed the bobbin dated almost 3 years!

Probably still fine but I think the docs say replace after 4-5 yrs.

 

 

[OhioFisherman]

Just something to look at, my boat had pedestal seats, on mine where the seat met the post the connection was plastic. I was fishing with a friend one day, made a cast and sat back down for the retrieve, I got a hit and set the hook and the seat base broke off the bottom of the seat and sent me spilling onto the floor of the boat. I just missed hitting my head on the gunnel going down.

Now my boat was 10 - 15 years old at the time, but I never thought of checking the seat bases for cracks or flaws, I replaced mine with metal bases, not sure it would have made a difference if there was  damage to them, but again it didn't occur to me to check mine.

[chris.brock]

I was trolling in a small Jon boat when my seat broke. I fell in backwards over the transom right beside the spinning prop, lol. I managed to hold onto the boat and kill the motor without getting hit by the prop.

So yes, checking the condition of boat seats is a good idea.

[Rattletrap2]

On 9/13/2018 at 7:17 PM, cisco said:

I recall reading about them at the bass pro website and declined purchasing once I read some don't work under a certain temperature. That was a few years ago but IMHO read the limitations of it before you buy one. I like late fall trips so the temp thing was a real deal breaker. 

Interesting point about the temperature limitations. I wonder how low the temp has to be before the CO2 would not have enough pressure to fully inflate?

As far as them triggering in a rain, it is highly unlikely. They have a Bobbin device that when saturated, dissolves and fires the cartridge. This bobbin is protected from falling water and would have to be submerged to activate.

As already mentioned, it makes no sense to buy extra re-arm kits as they have expiry dates every 5 years. I don't know how much faith I have in them ever expiring, but I'm not about to push the limits either! I like Tomcats idea to test the old ones before installing new kits.

I personally always wore a standard PFD whenever my main engine was running, but generally tossed it off when i started using the trolling motor. I now have a pair of auto/manual inflate ones and wear them constantly. I do forget I even have it on!

Speed is no longer much of a factor for me, so I'm not worried about protection from impact.

[BillM]

If the water is that cold, you should be in a floater/survival suit anyhow...   Life jacket isn't going to save you from hypothermia.  

[GBW]

My BPS auto inflate is so slim I bet I could easily wear it under a 3 or 4 buckle life jacket while under power and then remove the jacket when I'm at my spot(s).  That's another idea vs trading what you have on.  

[aplumma]

40 minutes ago, GBW said:

My BPS auto inflate is so slim I bet I could easily wear it under a 3 or 4 buckle life jacket while under power and then remove the jacket when I'm at my spot(s).  That's another idea vs trading what you have on.  

The caution I would have is if you are wearing both meaning a class 4  high impact usually has 3 or 4 straps that will not move when you are skipping across the water at a high rate of speed as well as an auto inflate vest you could be in trouble. The straps designed to not loosen in a tumble will not allow the auto vest to deploy and leave room for you to breath. A cracked rib or getting the wind knocked out of you is possible as well as jamming the release buckles so make sure if you are using both that it is a manual one. Personally I strap my manual vest to the leaning post when I am using the main motor and that reminds me to put it on before I start fishing. 

Art