Home Forums Fishing Saltwater Inflatable Live Vest ?

I am interested in get a inflatable life vest.
The Onyx A/M 24 automatic auto inflate interests me.but I don't know how comfortable it will be to wear, and I will have to order it, none of my local stores have one.

Do any of you use this vest ?. is it comfortable ?.

I am open to other suggestions too.

thanks
Kevin

Thats the vest I wear when I am working water patrol. I typically wear it for a few hours at a time, and its pretty comfortable.

I thought they were an interesting concept until several years back when I took a former boss fishing. I don't know if he accidentely hooked the dicharge device or the thing just decided to inflate on it's own, but inflate it did. I was suprised how slowly in inflated and it didn't seem to inflate that fully.

I've been working in industrial safety for almost 20 years and have formed some pretty strong opinions on safety. One thing I've realized is that catastrophes are always several things going wrong in concert, not just one thing going wrong. And when one looks at mitigate the risks of a catastrophe, those mitigating steps should be as full proof as possible.

So when it comes to life jackets, I want something that so long as I wear it, will work. For an inflatable vest to work the CO2 cartridge has to be at full pressure, the activation mechanism has to work, and the bladder has to hold pressure. If you get knocked unconscous in the process of going overboard the vest also needs a way to automatically discharge.

I've fished in a conventional vest enough to not notice it, and spending a bunch of money on a more complex and potentially less reliable life saving device just doesn't make sense to me.

Those worthwhile comments notwithstanding, a properly maintained and used inflating life vest is more than adequate. Note that self-inflators may not meet Coast Guard regs unless they are actually worn. (Having one "at hand" doesn't cut the regulatory mustard.) IIRC, they are listed as a Class V device, or something like that.

I bought a manually actuated vest for fishing aboard my little kayak/boat. I also have a standard vest, but it is hot and bulky. The inflatable is comfortable and doesn't get in my way at all. I wear it all times anyway, and reason that a vest I'm wearing is much better than one I'd watch float away if I rolled the boat. I picked a manual inflator because it isn't rare to get a lot of spray (or rain) when in this small a boat and I didn't want it to go off by itself.

Unless you get one that's brand new and freshly manufactured, replace the CO2 cylinder before use. You might even want to test the old one by yanking the tab. The vests deflate and re-fold easily.