What kind of life vest are you required to have if you want to fish near shore reefs? I am in upstate and all we have or all I can find are type 3 and the orange type 2…Just wondering if offshore type 1 are required to go 3-5 miles?
Type I PFD’s are not required in the legal sense except for commercial guys, just a good idea. But if you’re in the market for lifejackets, unless you plan on wearing them all the time or using them for skiing/ tubing/etc you’re probably better off hunting down some Type I’s. If you’re coming to Charleston there are plenty of places that you can get them starting around $50. If you ever need them for anything other than a USCG/DNR inspection you’ll be glad you have them!
You’ll get a lot of opinions on what is “required” to go anywhere “offshore”…
Angler 204 FX
Yamaha 150
I’m primarily a Lake Murray boater and have the Type II on board along with the hydrostatic vests. Just out of curiosity, I jump in to the water while we had whitecaps and was shocked at how bad they were at holding my head out of the water. Granted, I’m 250#, but I’ll be buying Type I’s in the near future.
Must be a type 1 I am 250# also, and it works well when tubing
Bragging may not bring happiness,
but no man having caught a large fish,
goes home through the alley.
-Anonymous