[killarney_sailor]

I recently had a survey for offshore insurance and the surveyor is recommending that we have Cat I lifejackets onboard for every person on offshore passages. Is this the norm? It would make more sense to me to have good quality inflatable life jackets with built-in harnesses that would be worn rather than bulky jackets stored somewhere. I asked him about this and his feeling was that you wear the inflatables until such time that you were thinking about using your liferaft and then you put on the Cat I jackets. Your thoughts ...

 

[killarney_sailor]

I am pretty well-equipped now

If I knew I was going to spend a length of time in the water I wouldn't go on the trip. Period.

I would invest in grab handles, jacklines, harnesses (yes you are right you are better off wearing a harness/jacket than a cat I and no harness) lifelines etc.

Then I would spend your money and precious space on things like a liferaft, (portlandpudgy.com) supplies for the raft, EPIRB, survival suits if you're in cold water etc. Don't waste your space and money on a cat I jacket as you'll likely never wear it and a jacket you wear (such as a comfortable inflatable with harness) is better than the best jacket down below in the locker.

MedSailor

I have good handles, harnesses, tethers, jacklines, liferaft, EPIRB, flares and inflatables along with PFDs and we are not going to be in cold water any time soon. The question was specifically about these jackets. I can't imagine wearing them so the only time I might use them would be when abandoning ship. Seems like unnecessary expense and a lot of bulk to store.