In a tight spot, inflatable personal flotation devices (PFDs) will save your life. Because you are more likely to wear the trim units in their uninflated state, manufacturers believe they offer more meaningful protection than standard PFDs stowed on board your boat but not worn. In fact, Type V PFDs, as these are designated, are legal PFDs only when worn — not when simply carried on board.
A second point to note is only adults may legally wear them to satisfy the PFD carriage requirements on board.
Different mechanisms arm them in case of an overboard situation, and each offers specific advantages and disadvantages. To get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses, we conducted a dunk-tank test of each PFD and put the rearming process to the stopwatch, and we looked for strengths and weaknesses inherent in all of them. What follows are the results of BoatingLAB’s extensive testing in the field.
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A second point to note is only adults may legally wear them to satisfy the PFD carriage requirements on board.
Different mechanisms arm them in case of an overboard situation, and each offers specific advantages and disadvantages. To get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses, we conducted a dunk-tank test of each PFD and put the rearming process to the stopwatch, and we looked for strengths and weaknesses inherent in all of them. What follows are the results of BoatingLAB’s extensive testing in the field.
Continue Reading....
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