I was stopped with a fishing buddy early Dec and then the next week while fishing alone. Both times all the guys asked was to ‘see’ the life jackets. They were in one of my storage compartments. Both times it was an OK.
BB
the primary purpose of the inflatible models is to make a vest lighter, less bulky and more comfortable, so that people will actually wear them.
why would anyone spend the premium money then keep them in a compartment?
Seems weird to me
Storage space on small boats.
-Albemarle 248xf “Chella”
-Dolphin 18BC Pro
-Miscellaneous boats
“Praise the lord and pass the ammunition” -Howell Forgy
Island Boy
Done some more checking and it seems the inflatable vests do come in
class III and V------III’s are rated for a few additional uses and V’s
aren’t approved for skiing or other high speed activities ,along with age and weight appropriate…But inflatable ones must be being worn to be legal .
Most of the info is still a little puzzling and I still want to
get the full skinnee before running into the ticket writers or worst
yet a true NEED…
I’m not sure about the law concerning wearing the inflatables either but I recently completed a boater safety course where I learned that “no inflatable is legal for any watersports such as water skiing or jet skis” I recently bought a pair of West Marine offshore inflatable vests with the harness and the tag on them states they are type V with type II performance. They were on sale at WM recently and I bought two for $99 each, half price.
I for one can’t afford the inflatable one and barely can afford the regular vest type. The bulky orange ones don’t work for me because of the gut I have so the vest is a little better. Don’t take this wrong because I’m not trying to be a smart arse or any thing like that. But please correct me if i"m wrong. I know, just set my self up for criticism but that is ok. Lets look at this and see where it goes.
1)You buy them to take up less room for storage.
2)Do they have to be worn to be legal?
3)Some of you wear them
4)Some of you don’t
5)Unless I’m wrong they are the same things the dnr and law enforcement wear (hangs around the neck like a horse shoe and has a strap around the back).
So if you buy them to get away from the orange ones why would you not wear them. If they are in a compartment they can’t help if you fall overboard no more than the other ones. You are looking at buying for safety on the water so why all the guess work? Yes I do take my vest off but the boat is anchored or tied up and the vest is clipped to my belt or laying next to me where I can grab it if need to. If you buy the things wear them for the family if for no other reason. That and you’re not spending that kind of money just to put it away.
I have the Spinlock Automatic Inflatable DeckVest™ LITE and I wear it any time I’m fishing alone. It was pricey but its comfortable and trusty. Plus I feel strongly that it makes me look like I know what I’m doing.
C-coot
This inflatable PFD issue is a mix of convenience , common sense , law , and storage capacity. Law says you must have on board</font id=“red”> pfd for each person , not required to be worn at all times , just on board. Inflatables state must be worn to be legal </font id=“red”>. I fish up to 4 adults at times and just don’t
have the storage capacity for total of 5 adult old style PFDs since
most of the time it’s just 2-3 on board and have in past forgotten
to carry the extra needed ones, oops. I can store five inflatables
in less space than two old ones, so for me just makes more sense.
And yes they are far more comfortable to wear all time on water!!!
Works for me.
As some of you know, we do a lot of bowfishing and there’s always a chance of falling in when you’re running around with fish and lines everywhere. We decided to get some since we could never bring ourselves to wear normal life jackets the whole time and I’m amazed by how much you forget about it. Fairly often I won’t remember it’s on until I hop in the truck. They take up a lot less storage space as well. We use Onyx
They’re relatively expensive comparatively, but it’s a small price to pay to live to fish another day
Gail wins, I understand what y"all are saying about they need less storage space compared to the others. I used to have a 17’ Key west and storage was a pain in the butt. I was more or less commenting on the guys that were asking if they had to wear them or not.
