Inflatable life vest

[Tater]

Yes, the label matters.

Read the CFR I linked to above. “Readily accessible”. Maybe one of our resident green jeans can link us to the state law that overrides the above referenced federal law.

The impact resistance that Bad Habit alluded to is important, especially for duck hunters. Rarely are we in clean water and the inflatable bladder is thin and when you lose the air you lose the buoyancy.

The throwable must be “immediately accessible”. Now, I wear an inflatable, but I have a non-inflatable stowed on the boat also.

My throwable stays close by and in hairy situations it will be clipped to my belt. I can swim like a fish, but I’d rather KNOW I have the ability to float and evaluate if need be.

[tprice]

We wear them if working alone or on the Marine base (required to just walk on the pier)- while working we tuck the manual pull handle up inside it to prevent accidental snagging and deployment- we had a few surprise deployments before doing this.

Ours are the West Marine brand- they had the same rating as the Mustang for 1/2 the price- all that I looked at when shopping them had to be worn and buckled to count.

One thing to think about- they are NOT impact rated like a ski vest, Mae West, Float coat or bass pro style vest- they are just a folded fabric closed by velcro with a heavy duty plastic bag inside- and not recommended for rough water or long term use. A good comparison is they are an inflatable version of the cheap orange vests.

No one ever thinks they will be thrown out of the boat, but I personally know many who have- and I came darn close when I hit a stump and spun out a bass boat at 70, when it stopped I was halfway out of the boat holding on with 1 hand to the steering wheel- good thing the kill switch worked and was connected.

Thanks for heads up, looked at WM at they have “offshore”. version with 35lbs buoyancy and same features as Mustang. (auto deploy ) and on sale

Just put in my order

[FEETDOWN]

My throwable stays close by and in hairy situations it will be clipped to my belt.

“Hairy situations” = Riding with BFD…..

[Tater]

True. Very true, in fact.

[cajunwannabe]

Zipped and clipped life vests are comfortable and seem so much more reliable than auto / manual inflatables.

[killzone]

“Hairy situations” = Riding with BFD…..

Hahaha that is a valid statement

[ecu1984]

I have two Mustangs and two West Marine (all are auto/manual)
I usually wear a Mustang if fishing alone in the winter
I just re-armed these two with new cartridges a couples of nights ago.
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[scatter shot]

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