How do you handle life jacket situations?

[R055]

Hey guys my boat is a 2003 maxum 1900 sr with 8 person capacity, my plan for life jackets is to buy 4 good adult wakeboarding/watersports jackets and then 4 more cheap orange ones just to have on for every person on board, 2 kids ones and 2 adult ones.

How much life jackets do you have and in what size that works the best for most people? Obviously I'm not trying to buy nice life jackets for every size there is, if I invite a family with kids that want to go tubing should I tell the parents to get decent life jackets for the kids?

BTW I'm in washington and you're required to have a uscg approved and fitting life jacket for every person on board.

Also if I ever see nice life jackets at yard sale or for good price on Craigslist I would pick them up but not trying to pay 1k to get nice life jackets in every size.

 

[fhhuber]

Buy life jackets based on normal expected occupancy (jackets to fit the actual people you usually take out in the boat) plus a couple of spares that people will actually wear. Then add to boat max rated capacity with cheaper (reasonably comfortable to wear). Then add 25% more (cheap emergency use orange ones)... and 2 throw-ables.

What I like to wear is a self-inflating. Minimal to no issue with getting hot wearing it in the Texas summer. There are some that are just fine for about $100.

There are reasonably comfortable life jackets under $30 each at Wal-Mart.

It is my opinion that if the boat is under 40 ft and not a live-aboard situation.. everyone wears a life jacket.

Up to you if you ask your guests to supply the odd size for kids or you get them... but the kids need to WEAR their correct size life jackets. So the life jacket needs to be one that is not annoying to wear.

I have a friend that was on the dive recovery/rescue team... it was never a rescue.
By the time you call.. they grab equip, drive to the lake, launch and then get to the scene, you're lucky if its under 1 hr after the person disappeared under water... and they haven't even asked where in relationship to your boat they should start looking yet.

Maybe I'm paranoid... but am I paranoid enough about that wet stuff that is constantly trying to kill people?

They've already drug 4 bodies from the local lakes this year.

 

[redneck joe]

I keep one kid size, otherwise its up to them to bring. Most anyone we would have on our boats are boaters as well so no issues from them.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have 6 orange PFD's on board, 2 fishing PFD's about 10 water-sports PFD's ranging from XXL down to kids small. I also have 3 throw cushions, and vests for the dogs. My boat will take 12 people according to the capacity tag, however most we ever could fit is 8 comfortably.

 

[Newbie@boats]

I have probably 6 of the cheapo orange life jackets which I keep in my ski locker, 2 real nice life jackets similar to this one http://www.overtons.com/modperl/pro...3238424c574c&gclid=CNnf0_-BicwCFRFahgodv50DXA I also keep 2 throw-able devices in the boat as well they usually sit on the rear seats.....

I am not huge into water sports but if I go out and float around in the water I want a life comfortable life jacket to use

 

[oldjeep]

We have a lot of spare kids vests from as the kids were growing up, so we'll bring along appropriate sizes if guests don't have their own. Have some spare vests from when my wife and I have upgraded and one orange jacket for the occasional guest to fat to fit in a large vest.

 

[drrpm]

I have a boat rated for 10 people. There are 5 adult sized people in my family now and everyone has their own PFD. I have another 1 or 2 ski vests for guests to use, the remainder of the PFDs are the cheap orange ones.

 

[JASinIL2006]

We try to supply vests whenever we can. If the kids want to invite a friend along, the answer from the friend's parents is likely to be 'no' if they have to go out and buy their kid a vest.

We have a decent supply of the inexpensive orange emergency vests, and we've built up a collection of skiing/tubing vests, too. I've found you can get really good deals at some of the big box stores at the end of the season. Garage sales, Craigslist, and similar can also be a good source. In just a few years, we've built up a supply that we keep on shore and load the boat with whatever is appropriate for a given trip.

The most important thing is to make sure everyone has a vest that fits.

 

[R055]

Thanks for the replies guys good to know how everybody else does it

 

[SkaterRace]

I keep only 1 on the boat and load up only what I know I will need for that day or weekend. I have a manual inflating one for me I always use then the spare fits me. I have a total of 9 PFDs at the house and on the boat. I find it is a better use of space to just take out what I need since my boat is only 16' and is lacking on storage.

 

[fhhuber]

Well... I always have more life jackets on the boat than I think I need. Spares on hand never hurt a thing. Someone needing one and not having it is a disaster.

And the tossables may or may not be mandatory by law depending on boat size... but if you need one and don't have it you get to watch someone drown.

That is what we are dealing with here. People's lives.

 

[Captain Caveman]

My boat only has a max capacity of 5, so I keep five life jackets that I would entrust with my life. I don't treat any passengers as second class, they get the same type of life safety devices that the captain gets, or if anything, they get the better stuff.

 

[keith2k455]

I don't ask people for gas money so I don't ask people for life jackets. I have plenty of adult jackets (10), but if you are 300# you may need to get your own. I also have enough kids jackets for 4 kids and this year we've decided to buy our kids new more comfortable jackets. If I know I'm inviting kids that I don't have a jacket for and the parents don't have one, I will go out and buy a jacket for them. Kids always wear a jacket from the time they get out of the car and everyone else must wear a jacket before getting out of the seating area for swimming and biological reasons. I also have a throwable and the boat is rated for 10.

 

[R055]

I don't ask people for gas money so I don't ask people for life jackets. I have plenty of adult jackets (10), but if you are 300# you may need to get your own. I also have enough kids jackets for 4 kids and this year we've decided to buy our kids new more comfortable jackets. If I know I'm inviting kids that I don't have a jacket for and the parents don't have one, I will go out and buy a jacket for them. Kids always wear a jacket from the time they get out of the car and everyone else must wear a jacket before getting out of the seating area for swimming and biological reasons. I also have a throwable and the boat is rated for 10.

I also don't ask for gas money but I do require on my boat for water sports a life jacket that fits, zips up, and has straps. Usally will have enough life jackets because usally it's average size adults and maybe a couple older teens that fit adult size. I just don't want to buy a bunch of kids or xxxl jackets because the ones with a zipper and straps coat atleast 50$. Plus all the people that have alot of kids are usally relatives the self invite themselves so I don't feel too bad telling them to bring life jackets for their kids that have straps and zipper .

Also I only require auctally wearing the life jackets if doing water sports or if I know you're a weak swimmer and you're trying to go swimming off the boat or if you're under 14.

The reason I require straps and zippers was because last year while tubing on a friend's boat my friend was wearing a life jacket with just straps and fit him pretty good, he wiped out on the tube and somehow surfaced without the life jacket, could have ended worse if he wasn't a strong swimmer or fell harder off the tube.

 

[keith2k455]

R055, I like how you deal with self invites by having them bring jackets. Me providing kids jackets works well for me because mine are 6 and 4, so I have to have them anyway. Any nieces and nephews are younger than mine and use jackets my kids have leftover.

 

[R055]

R055, I like how you deal with self invites by having them bring jackets. Me providing kids jackets works well for me because mine are 6 and 4, so I have to have them anyway. Any nieces and nephews are younger than mine and use jackets my kids have leftover.

yeah I don't have any kids and require life jackets that zip up and strap up for water sports. The self inviters are my relatives so they also don't mind getting life jackets for their kids because they know they'll be on the water more than once. I just don't want to pay 50$ per jacket for all the different kid sizes.

 

[JoLin]

I carry 2 auto-inflating PFD's for the wife and I, plus 4 orange 'bricks' for visitors. I have several more available at home, and when I need kid-sized vests (seldom) I borrow them from a fellow Power Squadron member. All 6 of the PFD's I keep on the boat have whistles attached, and 4 of them have water-activated strobe lights, too.

My .02