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Do you wear a life jacket?

29K views 214 replies 92 participants last post by  Brewgyver 
#1 ·
I was thinking about getting a life jacket and I wondered how many people wear them and when. Please discuss other safety devices you find essential.

I have never worn a life jacket sailing but with the new(to me at least) auto inflatable kinds I'm interested. I'm sure most of you have one. Do you like it?

Do you wear your pfd at all times or only in rough conditions. Do you tether yourself to the boat?

Keep in mind I have never been more than 10-20 miles from land so alot of you will have more experience than I. I'm also now sailing in a cold place and I single hand so I could see great value in a confortable inflatable with tether. If I fell off on rough water I could die. Could. Depends on what the boat decided to do and other factors.
 
#123 · (Edited)
That is what I do most of the time. Clip in as soon as I clear the slip. My set up, jack-lines and tether length, varies with conditions and type of trip. The bottom line is "do not go over the side" not just "stay attached to the boat". About the only time I am not clipped in is when I am on the bow to raise the anchor in calm conditions and walk back to the cockpit and then clip in. Rough conditions I maintain the tether or a damn good hold at all times unless I am below. Short tethers can be a pain but you learn to work around it. I have gotten so used to the harness I feel naked without it. I add my pfd with strobe and whistle for offshore and very rough conditions.
I have set up the MC for single-handing as that is how I sail most of the time and she has wide side decks, high toe rail, good hand holds and lifelines. But even with crew I try to follow the same rules.
Dan S/V Marian Claire
 
#28 ·
I have kids and so try to set an example whenever they can see (i.e. wearing one all the time)... that said, I'm quite often not wearing one when sailing "other people's boats" and the kids are not around. Reckon I should be and I endeavour to wear one when rowing the tender in/out, but I'll be upfront and say I do it less than I think I should.
 
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#29 ·
Almost all of the time.

All of the time if I'm solo, there are no other confident sailors onboard, or I'm chilly.

Less likely if it's really hot out and there is a lot of experienced crew.

I did a fair amount of kayaking before sailing and got into the habit there. I feel naked if I get into a kayak without a PFD on.

I also have a kayaking dry suit that I use as my foul weather gear. With that I can be comfortable in the water even if swimming for over an hour. I've tested it before at 45 minutes in 42 degree lake water.

My sailing PFD is an inflatable, but I use a standard one when on the dinghy or a kayak.
 
#32 ·
I have an inflatable jacket with built in harness, crotch strap and spray hood, that I wear when appropriate. I think it’s up to the individual to determine what their risk tolerance is and what is appropriate for them. There are however, a couple of things that I’d like to put out there for discussion:

How many of us have actually tried out our inflatable jackets? When I tried mine I was surprised at how much it “got in the way” – enough that I bought the adaptor to convert it from automatic to manual. I am a strong swimmer and I wanted the option to swim/climb first with the minimum of restriction and then inflate the jacket if needed. I have no evidence to back this up but I feel that, at least for me, I am more at risk from a restricted ability to self-rescue than the risk of being unconscious and not being able to inflate the life jacket. Ironically it appears that the better the life jacket, the more restrictive it is.

Crotch straps and spray hood are proven lifesavers yet I still see a lot of jackets that are sold (and presumably worn) without them. If you are in a situation where you might have to rely on your life jacket to save your life, why wouldn’t you maximize your odds of survival by having a crotch strap and spray hood?

I’m interested what others think.
 
#34 ·
To us it seems very silly not to. We have four Mustang inflatables and usually wear the auto w/o harness. If at the helm alone in anything but benign weather, harness and tether. Bay if Fundy / Coast of Maine - is a tad chilly for anything more than a very quick dip in very hot weather in a very calm harbour.

Got a pretty pink one for Linda a year ago for Christmas. It looks good on her!

Rik
 
#37 ·
Yes you can clip a tether around the built in metal buckles. Hence why many like the offshore version with the buckles. Then hook the other end of the tether to a metal fitting on the deck, or to typically a 1-2" wide strap along the deck going forward. One on ea side.

Marty
 
#40 ·
I join the " no, don't wear one unless the boat is sinking" group.

I sailed firstly because I wanted to be outside, in the sun, relaxing with my friends and family. With a life jacket on, no matter what it's form, I feel trussed up ready for a disaster to come along. I get to wondering about tempting fate. And it makes for seriously funny tan lines.

As far as the "inevitable horrible end" coming along, it sure takes it's time, I've been actively sailing for 40 odd years and have never gone over the side yet and have never had any form of incident where I thought "Man, I wish I was wearing a life jacket". Harness yes, life jacket, never.

I'm not going to suggest that folks who wear life jackets on sunny, 12 - 15 knot, flat-sea days are sissies, I just watch their boats going by with an orange hue emanating from the cockpit and I think "He must have a coast guard official or maybe the vicar on board"

To each his own.
 
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#42 ·
I wear one when the situation calls for it. Bar crossing, bad weather, and as it has a built in harness when working on deck and always at night when out of the cockpit.
 
#47 ·
My daughter is home on leave (Navy Corpsman) and she is giving me a hard time about going to handle the main and set the anchor without one. I will be heading to West Marine for a couple auto inflates before she heads back to Italy.

It is good practice after all;);)
 
#48 ·
The proportion of responders who state they always wear/never leave the dock without wearing them is contrary to my observations during my 53 years on the water. I don't think I have seen 1% of people routenly wear them, this includes Coast Guard, DEP, and Marine Police. . My method is : 1. going offshore the jack lines are strung 2. only person on deck pfd/harness worn and clipped on to one of the padeyes in the cockpit 3. in any kind of weather going forward pfd/harness clipped to jackline 4 weather kicking up pfd/harness worn and clip on to cockpit padeye before you clear the companionway
 
#49 ·
You don't have to leave the dock to need one.
I lost a good friend last weekend at Block Island. He fell out of the boat at the mooring during the night. The crew were asleep and no one heard anything. When the got up in the morning his stuff was there but he was gone. They found him floating a few hours later.
Jim
 
#50 ·
I wear one when single handing offshore, along with a harness. I have worn one a few times when ocean racing in rough weather. Nothing like reefing a working jib in a gale on a 30 footer at night with green water coming over the bow!

But generally I don't wear one. I always have them within reach. Went kayaking around the harbor yesterday pfd tucked behind the seat.

After reading this thread I am going to look into an inflatable and think about wearing it when single handing in my home waters of Long Island Sound. I do disagree with the OP though, I think that throughout the summer the water is warm enough here to survive for quite a while.
 
#51 ·
'''''''''''
After reading this thread I am going to look into an inflatable and think about wearing it when single handing in my home waters of Long Island Sound. I do disagree with the OP though, I think that throughout the summer the water is warm enough here to survive for quite a while.
You can disagree with the OP all you want about how long one can or can not survive in water if dumped overboard. LIS may be warm enough to survive for a bit, but here in the salish sea where it is 40F generally speaking year around, you have 5-15 min at best, generally speaking, before Hypothermia starts to set in. Hence why most folks use dry suits when scuba diving around here too!

Then the water can get rough out int he straight of Juan de Fuca that he cross's.....He is also in a 23' boat, with NO lifelines. So a harness should be part of his normal routine to a degree too.........

Then again as noted by some CG statistics, a lot do not wear them no matter where one is or conditions............

Reality is, a harness/tether and a proper PFD for the conditions should be a part of ones normal boating useage.

Marty
 
#53 ·
I noticed sailing the BVI's this winter that no one wore life jackets down there and was surprized by that. But then the water is warm and I can swim in salt water better, so got a bit lazy and didn't wear one much (plus the PFD's that came with the boat sucked).

Back on the cold waters of Lake Ontario, my inflatable is on from the moment we hit the dock and if the water is lumpy, my tether is close at hand and used if I need to go on deck.

I have heard that a lot of accidents happen when leaving or arriving at a dock - perhaps the most important time to have it on!
 
#54 ·
Honestly, for us it's not a matter of water temp and hypothermia. The waters here are plenty warm. It's just that we're lazy. Who wants to work hard treading water while waiting for rescue while you can just lie back and drink your beer while you bob around in your yellow floatie? You can also use your hands to zip your pants back up before the CG gets there and discovers yet another sailor who was peeing off the transom. Heh-heh.
 
#55 ·
We wear combination inflatable and harness on deck at night, with tether on at all times. Also wear this rig during daylight when weather is partcularly snotty. Rest of the time not - tan lines (kidding).
 
#56 ·
This past weekend I wore my vest when I moved the boat solo ~10 miles from the yard where they dropped it in to my mooring. Water temp 58 degrees, early morning, very few other boats.... Yep.

As our water warms up, and the days get hot, and I'm sailing with people who know how to handle the boat, I rarely will put one on.
 
#57 ·
I was thinking about getting a life jacket and I wondered how many people wear them and when. Please discuss other safety devices you find essential.

I have never worn a life jacket sailing but with the new(to me at least) auto inflatable kinds I'm interested. I'm sure most of you have one. Do you like it?

Do you wear your pfd at all times or only in rough conditions. Do you tether yourself to the boat?

Keep in mind I have never been more than 10-20 miles from land so alot of you will have more experience than I. I'm also now sailing in a cold place and I single hand so I could see great value in a confortable inflatable with tether. If I fell off on rough water I could die. Could. Depends on what the boat decided to do and other factors.
We live in warm water, so what I/we do is likely different from what you would do. We almost never wear any kind of pfd while racing unless it's blowing (usually anything > 15 kts for sure) or doing something off-shore. When we race up and down the coast and it's nice (during the daytime and in similar wind) we do the same as inshore (no pfd). Beyond that, we wear pfd's anytime at night, and are tethered somewhere to a secure point. I have this years' model spinlock deckvest, but a west marine tether- the clips are easier to one-hand.

When singlehanding in light/moderate breeze I wear a plain harness and tether in only when doing something I perceive as risky, but I don't run jacklines when out daysailing by myself. Again, if it's > 15, then I'll wear the pfd and run jacklines and tether at all times.
 
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