Life Jackets
 

As are a lot of us, I am guilty of only wearing a life jacket if caught in very rough water. I know they save lives but they are also bulky and uncomfortable especially on a hot day. How reliable are Mustang inflatable vests? Are they just a false sense of security at anything above 50 mph or so? Does anyone here wear inflatables on a go-fast?

I just took the Tres Martin class and he does not endorse that type at all...

My passenger (Rik) and I were wearing Mustang Survival auto-inflate life jackets when we put my 30 over back in '06 and they worked perfectly. Rik said it saved his life for sure, as he was swimming the wrong way (down instead of up), and when he finally gave up the fight of swimming, the jacket turned him around and raised him to the surface. It's what I keep in both my current Skaters (36/46) for myself and all my passengers. They're definitely not as safe in the event of a high speed water impact as a Lifeline poker run jacket, but if we wreck at high speed we're all dead anyway, no matter what jacket we're wearing.

I carry a pair of Mustang inflatables on my boat and sometimes wear them if we're not going fast. Having owned Lifeline Racing vests in the past, there's no comparison. The big difference is impact protection. The Lifelines are zippered and strapped on - with leg straps - and all metal fasteners. The inflatables are simply single plastic snap / strapped on. if you crash at any kind pf speed, there's a pretty good chance the inflatables will simply get stripped off. As has already been said, if you crash at high speed, the impact will probably kill you, but at least with a Lifeline, finding the body will be easier. When the inflatable gets stripped off, well, you know. I have Lifeline Poker Run vests on order since with last fall's re-power, we're running more than fast enough to need them.

Oddly enough, most inflatables are USCG approved and Lifelines are not. I still can't figure that one out.

USCG approval doesn't apply to LL as they are made to order as a custom fit (No idea on the Poker run series are they are production run and not "custom") .. as the dimensions change the certification would not be umbrella-ed on the jacket originally submitted....

A friend of mine has a saying, the safest vest is one that you wear. So we have went to the inflatables with the straps that go under you. I hear what everyone is saying about impact and suck but we wear these things a lot and sometimes forget they are on.

Life line will not do much good if you only put it on when you THINK you may go fast. I also had a old coast guard guy tell me something like 40% of the bodies they recover have their fly open. LOL.

I'm not surprised that Tres Martin doesn't endorse inflatables. I do own a lifeline for myself and a variety of zipper neoprenes. The fact is, we rarely wear them. Skater30, cool story. I'm sure that was scary af! A couple more stories like that and I'll definitely invest in some Mustangs!

IMO, Purchase a vest with a buoyancy of at least 150N (100N is a typical life vest for sheltered waters)

Inherent with many inflatables, when inflated, it wants to raise up making it uncomfortable and hard to swim. I solved this problem by adding a Boat Cover Adjustable Strap placed between the legs. It also aids in the prevention Of the vest being stripped Off the body.

But any vest is better than non. Said the drown..

Edit

I have some thoughts:

Example of inflatable jacket not inflating and person drowning while surrounded by people trying to rescue him

In the above example the inflatable jacket was 16 years old and failed to inflate - could have been in manual mode however, we don't know.

Example of PWC style jacket staying on and keeping head above water after crash

In the above example the person did wind up perishing but the lifejacket seems to have done a good job - she was probably riding fairly fast on the jet ski and the vest stayed on her body after the crash and kept her head above water.

Where I boat it's just too hot to wear a PWC style jacket if you're not getting splashed/soaking wet and getting cooled down often. To me, inflatable is better than nothing just be sure to keep them in good shape(replace when expired, don't store in 120 degree boat cabin etc) and make sure the people wearing them know how they work. That last part is key - to you it's common sense but some people you may bring on the boat just have no clue about anything boating related. I once asked a (smart, engineer!)friend to drop the anchor and didn't give him any instructions (other than not to throw it) figuring it was common sense. He payed out all 200 feet of anchor rode and it was only 4 feet deep...