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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.
 
#2 ·
I ALWAYS wear my old SOSpender auto inflate jacket. It also has a built in connection for a tether. It still works very well after many years and I re-arm it every 3 years. Today, I proved it works as I had forgotten I was wearing it and bent down to make sure my powerboat was on its trailer while I was standing in waist deep water. Suddenly, "SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH" and I felt silly standing there with an inflated jacket. They really work. The small ones for kids were worn without complaint by my kids for years.
On my auto-inflate jacket I have a strobe and my personal EPIRB.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I put my life jacket on when I leave the car and take it off when I get back to the car.
I have a good auto inflatable mustang with integrated harness but usually just wear a standard type two near coastal.

I am in the extreme minority as far as I can tell.

The fact that I'm not a good swimmer is only a small factor. I doubt if many people can swim effectively fully clothed for more than a few minutes. I doubt if even ten percent of boaters could even tread water in a pool for an hour.
http://floridamaritimelawyer.claris...u-tread-water-about-30-minutes-is-the-max.php

I sail in long island sound. The water temperature is usually too cool for someone to last very long.

If I end up in the water it is probably the end result of more than one thing going wrong. The amount of energy someone expends in just a minute or two during an event would also probably affect their ability to effectively swim.

Swimming in a pool and in open water is not even remotely the same.

Falling off a boat often entails some injury.

I am almost always alone or the only boat handler on board. If I go over I may be on my own for a long time.

Coast guard personnel wear life jackets and they are smarter than me.

ASA schools require everyone to wear life jackets, they are smarter than me.

I want to sent a good example.

The most important reason however is Soundings Magazine.
Soundings is a Long Island Sound boating magazine. At least twice a year for as long as I have been getting it they print the same story with names changed.

It goes something like this:

Carl was 59 years old and a life long boater. He was a member of the fire department until he retired after 20 years service. He was devoted to he boat Summer Sun which he sailed for the last 40 years. Yesterday his boat was found washed up on the noname beach. His body has not been recovered. Carl was not wearing a life vest.

This story runs almost every summer month every year.

Off-shore I wear the mustang and use the harness at night or in gusty conditions.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Yup! Auto Mustang with harness. Dock to dock. In the canoes, too. Why add needing to swim to survive dealing with whatever put you in the drink. I am a good swimmer but our water is cold. It is terribly inconsiderate to leave your loved ones to deal with your demise because it was too inconvenient to put on your life vest. Is there anyone you care enough about to make the effort to spare them that misery? That is my question to myself.

Down
 
#9 ·
ummmmmm, You do not wear one! WTF! oh well, you have maybe 5-10 min before you might be unconscious in the salish sea waters, so PFD's are there to help the rescuers find you that much quicker! So YES, you should wear one per say. Most of us probably do 110% of the time.

Time to make a trip to WM a block away, assuming you are still in PT, get one of the offshore mustang or equal with a built in safety harness. Then if really rough in the straights or equal, you can tether yourself in.

Marty
 
#10 ·
Hi,

When I sail along I wear a PFD. When I race I wear one. If I am out with others, and the weather is nice I don't wear one. If the weather gets bad I will put mine on.

I don't have a harness.

BTW it is rare for me to see another boater (sail or power) wearing a PFD. I don't think I have ever seen someone use a tether. I'm mostly a fair weather sailor, so that might explain it.

Barry
 
#11 ·
Like others, I always wear my Auto Mustang. I use the harness when I am sailing solo, or out of the Golden Gate (which equate to open ocean for me), or in rough weather.

If you have any doubts about this, look at reports of boating accidents and fatalities. In almost every fatality the person was not wearing a lifejacket. Especially among powerboat users, and jetski users.

A life jacket is essential!

As for essential devices, that is a rather open-ended question; it depends on the boat you are in (rowboat, 54 footer, etc). A good place to start is the USCG which mandates minimal safety equipment (e.g. flares, horns, etc). We can suggest others. depending on your situation.....
 
#13 ·
It's your life. If you want to not wear a PFD its up to you. If you've already seen everything and lived everything you intend to then stay the course

Personally I were a mustang auto and am tethered in when by myself all the time when topside. It's the first thing discussed with any guests.

When with my wife is onboard anyone who gos outside the cockpit does so with a vest on.

Buy a comfortable vest or continue your current path to an eventual tragedy
 
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#14 ·
I was recently 5-10 miles off the coast in the Gulf Stream off Miami. On a crew of 4 plus a 'captain' for 6 days sailing in the ocean coatal cruising i was the only one wearing a Pfd. I don't know why the others don't wear one.... I wear it like I wear my pants...it's an automatic given. I have too many people who love me not to take the simple precaution of a Pfd- same reason I wear seatbelts in a car--- for them. Now, if I was alone in life I would not care and I would not wear one. I wear it for others... Not me. Those who don't wear one tend to be loners who are not responsible to anyone. But if you love someone then wear the friggin Pfd already. Just sayin.
 
#16 ·
A conundrum!

First we purchased two automatic mustangs to make it "easier" to wear them all the time. No excuses! "What do we tell our guests?"... So we purchased two more automatics (without harnesses this time). They are a little less bulky. Strobes for all. There is room in all of them for two hand held pencil flares with light lanyards to keep them from floating away. If you are guest #3 we have vest type PFDs you can wear. Kids sizes, too. These are in the barn with the canoes unless they are needed. There are 4 "regular" offshore PFDs stowed aboard also. Wearing one of those would be uncomfortable, unless you were in the ocean waiting for rescue. O.K. Now the rule that everyone wears a pfd all the time on Tundra Down is reasonable and enforced. Ooops! We only have two survival suits!:eek:

Down
 
#17 ·
I wear an automatic self inflating PFD all the time on the water and also when solo (or with just the kids) on the pontoon. Water is cold around here. You'll be amazed how quick you become hypothermic when immersed and how soon you loose both your strength and your ability to think and coordinate movements before you become unconscious. I feel naked without one. Can't really tell the junior crew of eight and ten years to wear one if I am not exemplary. Anybody ever jumped into the water with their pfd on ? I did a sea survival course with the RYA (which I can highly recommend to anybody wherever you sail). Jumping with full gear into a wave pool you soon understand why the RYA recommends that your PFD should have a crotch strap (its amazing how quick your PFD will pull up and away from you), a spray hood and a D ring for attaching a harness so you don't fall overboard in the first instance.
 
#82 · (Edited)
Where do I get one with a spray hood and crotch strap?

By the way, I showed this to my obstinate youngster this evening to help motivate her to put her life jacket on. I was "starting" to leave her on the shore this evening, until she put her's on, fully buckled.

Regards,
Brad
 
#19 ·
Life jackets are for water. You should stay on board and make sure you stay o board as long as the boat is floating. If you are in the drink, what ever the conditions the possibility of death is very high. Stay on board. Make sure you are connected to a very strong point on the boat which will not let you fall to sea. Any type of connection which allows you to fall to sea coneected to the boat is fatal.

Use your pfd (it should be a life vest) in case your boat is sinking.
 
#20 ·
personally I think a harness is more important than a PFD, better to stay on the boat than anything else. If I were to travel offshore, even coastal I would demand a harness be wore 24/7, even while sleeping. Its not going to do much good when the sheet hits the fan and you have to wait for the harness to be put on.

The inflatables PFDs are super comfy, but if I knew heavy weather was coming I would wear my regular PFD. One snag on the inflatable PFD and it's toast.

Sailing around the bay in normal conditions with my family I typically do not wear any.
 
#22 · (Edited)
In 50+ years of boating I have only gone overboard twice when it wasn't intentional or an anticipated possibility. Canoe racing excepted. Once as a teenager driving a class B hydroplane when the steering suddenly failed. The boat turned sharply to the left and I went straight ahead. It was so violently fast my hand did not trip the crash throttle. I survived. That is an interesting and funny, unbelievable, story. The second one was last year at our mooring in Seal Harbor when the lifeline parted as I was reaching for the pickup float. Life vests both times. WW canoe racing requires worn pfds. Plenty of possibilities to swim. Class III rapids are much more comfortable when you are wearing a life vest.

Staying aboard is the plan. That is why our sport is not called swimming!;) If you have any experience with an avoidable, tragic, accidental death you understand the remorse surrounding that irreversible event. Current equipment is not too bulky to be worn comfortably. Wishing you could undo an accident that ended the life of a friend or loved one is a permanent reality. Selfish is one of the words that comes to mind when I read of people who have died while boating and were not wearing life vests, leaving their loved ones behind to grieve. For ever!

My politics are Libertarian leaning Independent. Hands off! Don't regulate my personal decisions.... But, if you want to sail with me, you will wear a life vest. It is a loving thing to do.

Down

I am more comfortable in just shorts too, when the conditions are appropriate. But!
 
#23 ·
I do not wear one all the time on our boat. While these could become my famous last words, it would be pretty tough to fall out of our cockpit, through the bimini frame then through the lifelines/pushpit. (throws salt over shoulder)

However, I will wear one in rough conditions or on lengthy passages, where it is just the two of us and one is sleeping or down below.

On a boat which would be more likely to knock down or easier to end up in the drink, I would also wear one more often. If one is alone, I see no excuse not to wear one at all times, with a handheld radio, regardless of the boat. Seriously, what would the back up plan be, otherwise?

As for the feedback that inevitable proclaims that some wear them all the time, no matter what, etc, etc. My observations of sailors over 40 years, is they must sail well out of sight distance. I see very few come and go with their pfds on, all the time. I find it somewhat amusing that the entire crew in the Newport-Bermuda race is required to have them on when the cross the start and finish lines, but fielders choice in between. They are trying to set a good example.

While it remains good advice to wear it at all times, there are some that claim to, but have posted several pics of themselves sans pfd. You know who you are. :)
 
#24 ·
The auto-inflatables really take a lot of the air out of the argument to not wear them.

Even so, I'm not religious about PFDs. I always wear one when I'm working the foredeck on my Friday night race boat. When single-handing, I wear one when the water temperatures are warm enough for me to survive for a period in the water. When the waters are colder, I either wear a harness and tether or my SOSpenders with integrated harness.

On those occasions when I have crew, or when I am acting as crew in the cockpit of someone else's boat, I don't wear one, especially if the water is warmer.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I sail inshore, so I generally do not have rough conditions to contend with. I always wear an auto-inflatable belt pack inflatable. Not as good or secure as a vest/harness type inflatable, but very comfortable. You don't even know it's there most of the time. However, it is not as safe as the harness type inflatable in that you have to finish putting it on after you are in the water and part of the process is letting out some of the CO2 to partially deflate it so you can get it over your head. Then you pull the straps tight to finish. You use the mouth piece to re-inflate fully after it's on. If it becomes rough, then I go to an auto harness type inflatable, which I carry on board at all times, also have tethers/jacklines to clip in. I have three of each type on board, plus a bunch of the red foam Type II's.
 
#26 ·
Nope.

Kayak, but generally only whitewater (always) or cold water. On warm flat water the kayak isn't going anywhere, I can reboard, and the jacket is in easy reach. Not hard to put on the in the water. These skills must, of course, be practiced.

Tender if out of the harbor. It could leave me if I forgot the dead man switch.

Harness if...
* alone
* night
* rough weather
* chute up in moderate weather
* going forward in moderate weather
* cold water

Reasons?
* Hot in summer. Harness is more comfortable.
* Harness is more comfortable all of the time.
* Harness much better for the above for conditions.
 
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