Life Vests/Jackets

I'm looking for recommendations for a good life vest/jacket for lake fishing - can anyone give me their opinion on the best jacket/vest out there?

colbyhouse

Stearns is a good brand. do you live anywhere near a shop like Bass Pro, Cabela, or Dicks Sporting Goods? Even Walmart has some decent basic ones for sale. you pretty much need to try it on for fit.
Also, the key thing is to WEAR IT at all times on the water. Very few people drown who are wearing life jackets.

I don't get out on the water much anymore, but if I did, and I wanted to wear a PFD all the time, I would really look into one of those suspender type inflatables. Kindasorta like the ones military pilots wear. Seems to me that they would be much easier to wear all the time, and fish with it on...

Is the desire to float if fallen because you can't swim or float if fallen and you can get to shore?

Reason why is that there is a well proven though unconventional floatation device you wear as a belt around your waist. This Beginner Triathletevideo shows what a Swimsafe device looks like. Swimsafe does not replace a PFD for boat safety but for personal use for out of the way carry its pretty good. To inflate you just pull the tab and it can be used multiple times by replacing the CO2 cartridge.

I guess I am looking for a vest that I would wear during fishing on a lake and/or white water rafting on a river. I'm not a very good swimmer at all.

Can anyone provide any specific model numbers that they would recommend?

colbyhouse

Staying not drowned is a good survival topic. A Coast Guard rescue diver wrote, "It's water. It's pretty. All you have to remember is that every second it is trying to kill you."

The key is will a personal floatation device float you face up when you are unconcious. The good stuff is expensive. Good pfd habits will give you the reputation for being a dork. I recommend you be broke, considered a dork, and alive when the stuff hits the fan.

Really good inflatables like those made by Mustang are quite expensive. Still pricey but a bit more affordable are those top-of-the-line pfd's like Extrasport made for strenuous water sports like kayaking. My opinion is everything else is a distant, its-better-than-nothing-but-just-an-illusion-of-safety, third place.

Get to a good retailer who can fit any jacket-candidate to your physiology; this is not a one-size-fits-all purchase.

Learn to swim. Consider swiming as part of an exercise routine. Consider studying freediving or SCUBA diving with the best professional instruction you can find to motivate you to swim.

Get CPR and First Aid certified; pay attention to how to deal with drowning victims.

Get in the habit of always wearing your personal floation device when you are around or on water. Be the dork who puts on his pfd in the parking lot.

It is not just a PFD. You are going to want to learn carry in and on your pfd a number of self-rescue items. A whistle; a rescue hook to cut you free from entangling line, rope, and even wire; a PFAK; etc. This is a topic I have seen discussed at greatest length on sea kayak web forums - consider lurking on a couple and searching their archives. Be the dork with stuff tucked everywhere on their pfd.

Fishing? My favorite hobby. A combo pfd-fishing vest? They make them but I have never been confortable with the compromises. Get an incredibly good PFD; pair it with a good tackle box, or equivalent.

This is my first post...I did not find an "introductions" thread, and if I'm breaking protocol please feel free to school me and point me in the right direction to make an intro.

I live in northern Minnesota, near Lake Superior, and spend a lot of time on water both for recreation and work. My job involves some amount of paddling a canoe in & around the BWCA east of Ely, and I also do a lot of flatwater fishing, including Lk Superior.

I look for different things in a PFD meant for paddling and for flatwater boating. If you're paddling a lot of whitewater I'd suggest going to the nearest canoe/kayak dealer with a good reputation and asking for advice on paddling PFDs. You might be best served by buying different PFDs for the two activities, which is what I do.

I am not a fan of the "suspender" type inflatable PFDs for coldwater boating. They are very comfortable to wear but if you go in the drink in cold water (which I've done in Lk Superior on two separate occasions) I prefer to have the insulation and support of a full sized PFD around me.

As dweste said better than I'd be able to, these are part of your toolbox for preparedness too. In my boat passengers get a short talk about what to do if someone goes overboard, where and how to use the gear, etc. Another thing people don't think of a lot is that PFDs like any other gear need to be maintained. Inflatable suspender types can wear with movement, CO2 cartridges need to be checked/swapped after time, buckles get smashed and laces get unraveled, etc. etc. If you need it, you're going to need it in working order.

That was a longwinded first post...sorry.

Welcome, Matt! Thanks for your thoughts on the topic.

Just pick up one of these.

Get two with all the options, my size is XXL.

Welcome Newguy!!!

well lets toss in my opinion

-nothing screams $800 to me.....sorry, nice vest from aeromedix, but i'd never depend my life on something "inflatable", my luck it would be that one time it failed.

-agreed with the USCG rating........only the best.


-i own 2 myself
-a Astral rescue vest........nice for whitewater use, very comfortable, but its not made for unconscious wearer scenario, the other is standard type 1 ocean vest

here are some generic links for visualization
http://www.sar-shop.com/products/product.asp?pID=331&cID=318

and my typical wear one
http://www.astralbuoyancy.com/products/men/greenJacket/index.html

or make one yourself..a fishermans PFD with the pockets
loaded with survival gear.




this is the contents of the shelter side pocket..search ditch vest--maybe overboard vest for
my full post of this--

Depends on the lake and when you will be fishing. A lot depends on context.

Most people fish lakes that are pretty much surrounded by houses and are well traveled. Also most people fish during relatively warm weather. Under those conditions a full life jacket is ridiculous. Wear one and your going to sweat, chafe and it will get in your way until you take it off. It will end up on the bottom of the boat and be forgotten and neglected. Unworn it won't do you any good if you fall in. No matter how much it costs, USCG approvals, and the buttload of survival equipment it may contain. After some time, even if you later put it on, odds are it won't help you after being kicked around and neglected.

Assuming any or all of that is applicable odds are your going to far better off with an easy to wear automatic compact inflatable model (Type V PFD) that will remain reasonably comfortable under a summer sun and over a light jacket. What it lacks in protection it more than makes up for by being worn.

This article covers the major points but it is from 2002 and the general standards, reliability and functionality have improved since that time.

http://safetycenter.navy.mil/MEDIA/ashore/issues/winter01/automatic.htm

These life jackets are popular with offshore sailors who will wear a PFD for thousands of hours and who often have no prospect of swimming to shore.

Of course if the lake you fish is fifty miles from the nearest habitation, is seldom traveled, if your lake is near freezing because of the season or because it is fed by a glacier, if you like to fish during storms or shoot rapids to get to your favorite spots, then a more comprehensively protective vest and, perhaps, a certain amount of survival gear makes a lot of sense.

In extensive discussion of the inflatable versus non-inflatable PFD, the positions and arguments are relatively clear. I think the most telling thing I read was again from the Cosst Guard Rescue Swimmer: for himself he had to wear an inflatable as did his helicopter crew - but only because he needed to be able to dive under water and the helicopter cabin was too tight to allow the crew any other type of pfd.

What did he put on his children when they were near the water? Nothing that depended on mechanical or chemical mechanism to inflate, nothing that could be punctured before or after deployment, nor anything that depended on the victim being able to pull a toggle or blow into an inflation tube as backup.

One key to dealing with hot weather is to insulate yourself. You know like long sleeves and pant legs - or a nice thick pfd. I live where it is routinely over the 100 degree mark in summer, sometimes with plenty of humidity and no cooling breezes. Stay hydrated, protect your skin and eyes and wear your pfd.

You are either going to wear a properly fitted and outfitted pfd or you are not. Hot weather or cold, you either wear the appropriate gear, or you do not. Supposed comfort over safety - your choice.

Me, I'm a BIG buy, so there aren't that may choices - I believe Mustang does make stuff for us oversized guys

RE which PFD. While I personally like a nice vest type (vs one of those univeral life jackets), I'll say floation devices are a LOT like flastlights and knives in the best is the one you'll wear. Is inflaitible as good as a nice SOLAS rated jacket/vest/drysuit. No, of course not. On the other hand, if you're willing to wear and inflaitible all the time, every time, it's a heck of a lot better than the best sitting in the bottom of the boat

In another thread, I mentioned that my daughter (now 11) has been invited to do some sailing next summer. I WILL go buy her the best vest I can. Well worth the $$$

Disclaimer - I'm one who worries a bit around H20. I'm on the Shelter Island Ferry, and feel nervious because I'm not wearing a vest, or have one at immediate hand. First time I ever go on, I checked where they store their PFDs

Put on the pfd of your choice and jump into the water feet first with your arms over your head. Not only is this something that might be done by a person abandoning a vessel but it is a compressed-time test of what can happen after many hours of floating around in your pfd.

Many pfds ride up: choking the user, eventually covering the mouth and face while impairing sight, hearing, and the ability to breath; and eventually slipping off or causing the user to "escape" the pfd to feel safe.

Does your pfd have crotch straps? Do you use them whenever you put on your pfd?

After jumping in, go limp for at least 30 seconds. An unconscious person, a sleeping person, an inured person, a hypothermic person, a person disabled by heart-attack or stroke, or a just-plain-tired person will not be able to swim or scull to offset the natural buoyancy position of the pfd. Does your pfd keep your face out of water so you can breath? Many do not.

Have your loved ones do this with their pfds. Have your loved ones do this about once a year because their size and weight may change significantly. Each time send the pfds back to the manufacturer with a nice check so they can be tested and repacked - and keep everyone away from the water while you wait to get them back.

Are you a person who religiously maintains all your gear? never misses an oil or filter change? changes the smoke alarm batteries every year without fail? never forgets a loved ones' birthday and anniversary? Good for you, you will probably do the annual maintenance and buy the annual actuater replacement required by manufacturers of inflatable pfds.

You don't trust lives to chemical or mechanical devices when lives are on the line? Good for you, and you can save money, too, get the pfd's you only inflate with a breath tube. All you have to trust is the one-way valve - and that whoever is using the pfd in time of need will be conscious, won't panic, and will be in good enough condition to stay above water long enough to remember how to inflate the pfd. Just keep drilling your loved ones over and over : don't fall overboard if you faint, have a heart-attack or stroke, or are knocked unconscious, don't panic, etc. [Because inflatable pfds all have the "manual" infalte tubes as a backup this applies to them in case the auto-inflate device fails.]

Yep, inflatables have an initial comfort advantage for some, they are getting better and more reliable all the time, and if they are fitted and deploy properly, do not leak and are not punctured, they usually have more buoyancy than floatation filled pfds. I would definitely take one - over nothing.

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Mr. Ritter's aviators jacket is a highly specialized bit of kit for use in an environment where space is a challenge. Like the military aviator usage, you gotta do what you can do. My general comments are directed to recreational pfd use.

I am somewhat annoyed by this bulky personal floating device i've been using for more than 15 years now (Buoy-o-Boy orange PFD). It has big foam panels on the front and back. That said, i've been wearing it every single time I went fishing (usually in a small jon boat) and it's the only thing that I feel keeps me safe.

Considering the risks such as falling overboard knocking your head on a rock or the side of the boat, inflatable jackets just don't cut it for me. Even though they keep you cooler and weigh less, I can live with the disadvantages of my bulky PFD.

Since the original post was about fishing in a lake, I will stand by my suspender type PFD. Casting with a big bulky non-inflatable PFD on is a pain...

Never bothered me in a decades of club level tournament bass fishng and recreational "pre-fishing." It is important to get an active sport -type pfd, like one for kayaking, and have it fitted to you. PFDs are not one size fits all.

Wearing something is way better than nothing.

And going fishing is too important to let something like a pfd choice get in your way. Good catching, OBG!