Life Vests
 

What is with all of these videos posted showing
beautiful boats running at extremely fast speeds,
and no one wearing a life vest? It seems sort of
Darwinian to me, but I guess nothing bad ever happens.

Most of the chicks on these boats have giant fake tits, so they will float. No need for a life jacket.

You only have to have had one accident to learn. In our case, the Lifeline jacket clearly saved a life as the person ejected was knocked unconsious. Not only should all passengers have life jackets, but they should be Lifelines.

Lifelines for anything over 70 and a bag of cheap ass orange around the neck jackets to be coast guard compliant.

Don`t need one , I have a Cigarette. There rest of you should probably wear em starting at idle

:drink:

For me it's a judgement call based mostly on the water conditions. If it's really bad or the water is very cold I vest up and so does everyone else. If anyone is a poor swimmer they are going to wear a vest. I encourage and like to see all passengers in a life vest. However if the water is not too bad I often deem the risk to be reasonable and forgo the vests.

I agree the Lifeline PR type of jacket is not much protection. However, the Lifeline race jackets are as good as it gets in an open cockpit boat. The USGC approved floatation devises are ok if you fall off a dock, are trolling, anchored or a cruiseing at low speed. What's going to save your ass if you are ejected at 60-90+ MPH? This is what this Forum should be considering.

So is this a good time to ask about the Onyx and Mustang auto-inflatables for sub-70mph use? I mean, I know they aren't Lifelines, but between my employment and my social life I've been in comparatively sketchier situations with less protection.

I always said at speeds over 100mph it only makes the dead body easier to find.

There have been a lot of people that have survived crashes at speeds of well over 100 MPH. Even without lifelines. More would have survived had they been wearing them.

agree 100%, whats interesting is if I'm not mistaken the race jackets are not coast guard certified. I keep race jackets in the boat for actual use and a brick of the cheapie orange ones under the bench for compliance.


I wount say I havnt used them but auto inflates are nearly usless for our purposes, you go in at speed and that thing wont be on for long.

Dave, the Coasties have never given me a problem over my lifelines, especially if I/we are wearing them. I do carry an assortment of neoprenes though so that I can fit anyone in a decent vest. The bottom line is that the Coast Guard loves to see boaters wearing any type of vest.

This could be a very good discussion. As I have seen from the past weekend more pictures of boats running the poker run and no lifejackets (and yes I know there is a time and a place). We always wear ours especially in our cat. Funny how they say no pictures of the boats if you aren't wearing lifejackets yet they pop up continuously. Just my opinion. I'd rather attempt to be safe than worry about a good picture with no jacket on.

Like this one? I thought poker runs required them. They should.
http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/x...C222/me028.jpg

I have an auto inflate I bought from West Marine. I always wear it because from what I understand it is not considered a PFD unless your wearing it unlike the orange cheapies that you don't have to wear. I also have a neoprene vest when it may get cold. I also wear my lanyard all the time. I do a lot of boating by myself too.

what's everyone's thoughts on these for 40mph - 80mph range.....? I know they are for ski's but some of those ski's are running 70+ out of the box.....

http://www.liquidforce.com/vests-flex-comp.html

If you are running less than 70 just about any ski jacket will stay on you but what you don't get is the protection of the stiffness of the Lifeline.

Heavy-duty impact foam with built-in ‘Flak Type’ impact material to give extra protection to chest, sides and back
- Excellent torso protection and outstanding flotation characteristics

Most of your damage happens before you hit the water!

They say they do yet you continuously see people without them. Some wear them, some don't. I'm with you on this. Every picture we have from a poker run we have ours on.

I have a set of 4- Red Lifelines for sale if anyone is interested. 2- men's & 2- women's/children's.

PM sent.

I can cancel the auction if someone is serious about them!
Must pay via PayPal but I'll knock $100 off and ship free tomorrow.

Did you sell these jackets?

Yes sir in less than 24hrs.

Very nice avitar