aTX427

Are they any good? Any recommendations would be helpful?

Vinny P

Those vests are only good if the boat sinks from under you. If you hit the water at speed, they have been known to come off. Stick with LifeLines. I use them all the time. They are comfortable enough and to my knowledge, are the best.

PatriYacht

They might be good for sailboating but they are too flimsy for hitting the water at any speed.

BraceYourself

I would say they're good. Lifelines are the best but to bulky and hot for me. I do not race and I do where the inflatables on poker runs or when running hard. I'm not so sure they would rip or come off if worn correctly. To say this is a broad general statement.

PatriYacht

The guys that were thrown out of the boat at Smoke on the Water a few years ago had theirs torn off. One guy was never found. If he had been wearing a Lifeline, he still might've died but his family would've had his body. My boat is slower than most poker run boats so I wear a waterskiing type lifejacket that is coastguard approved. They're made to take a good impact. I've been waterskiing for years and unfortunately hitting the water at 60mph or so fairly often and have never had one come off.

BraceYourself

I agree with you. However can you go ski 60mph with an inflatable and crash for me. Let me know what happens. With the waist belt tight I can't see it coming off. This first hand experience would possibly change a lot of our opinions. This is not to be derogratory just would like a real world field test.

Airpacker

Ocean class inflatables do not come off. They are twice the price of the regular ones but take a look at the construction, design and webbing. Its like being tied to the vest with seatbelts.

Chris Sunkin

Inflatables are made strictly for buoyancy. In racing, they're only permitted in canopy boats. There's a reason for that. I've come out of boats on 3 different occasions between 75 and 90 mph. Twice with lifelines, once with a Stearns that I knew better than to have on- and it's rated for a 100 mph ejection. Needless to say the Lifelines stood up. The Stearns stayed on but was substantially damaged- it may not have worked out that way had I caught a different bounce. A little more tear or in a different place and I might not have been as lucky. And I'll tell you this- I was in no condition to swim enough to save my own life. At least not for several moments- and that's all it takes.

One last thing about inflatables- I know my lifeline will float because it was buoyant when I put it on.

PatriYacht

There must be a better way to test one, lol. It hurts too much.

Ms PatriYacht

your foot got all broke up but at least I found you floating face up and your life jacket still in place.

on a side note, if you are wearing one of those inflatable jackets make sure you don't accidently inflate it before the run and then wind up having to wear an orange jacket on the run because you did not have the re inflate attachment on board