I hadn't serviced the lifejackets for 4yrs and this is what I found!

stav

stav

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The date on the lifejackets showed I serviced them about this time of year in 2009.

The two corroded cylinders where from the LJs that get most use in bad weather and the drawing is me trying to be funny as one of the manual lifejackets that gets used in the dinghy hence thrown around in the car etc had a missing cylinder! I was very surprised! Also surprised at how long I had left servicing them but then the new boat has not been heavily used the last two years.

I have also bought some lights from these people at what seems a reasonable price:

http://www.aspli.com/products/1891/lifejacket-light-uml-sea-flash-water-activated

but note the byline price is for hundreds!

Anyway just thought I would post in case you have left this job off the list like I have for a bit too long!! ALso don't blow them up as per the picture in PBO, use a hand pump and keep the insides dry. I just used a balloon pump.
 
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It's OK to blow them up by mouth I'm told. The advice against dates from pre-plastic days when moisture would cause decay. It was a sea safety company that told me this. (I blow mine up with the electric dinghy pump anyway.)

You'r obviously more of an optimist than me. I check mine out at the beginning of the season and again mid-season. I check the bottle and activation doofer fairly routinely when putting them on. (And I take my own life jacket on other people's boats.)
 
stav said:
The date on the lifejackets showed I serviced them about this time of year in 2009.

The two corroded cylinders where from the LJs that get most use in bad weather and the drawing is me trying to be funny as one of the manual lifejackets that gets used in the dinghy hence thrown around in the car etc had a missing cylinder! I was very surprised! Also surprised at how long I had left servicing them but then the new boat has not been heavily used the last two years.

I have also bought some lights from these people at what seems a reasonable price:

http://www.aspli.com/products/1891/lifejacket-light-uml-sea-flash-water-activated

but note the byline price is for hundreds!

Anyway just thought I would post in case you have left this job off the list like I have for a bit too long!! ALso don't blow them up as per the picture in PBO, use a hand pump and keep the insides dry. I just used a balloon pump.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting. Now on 'to do' list!
 
It would be interesting to "test" the cylinders by using them to inflate the jacket, looks like surface problems to me.
 
Amulet said:
It's OK to blow them up by mouth I'm told.
/QUOTE]

If the bottle doesn't work, or is missing, that would be a good idea but I was always told not to partially inflate lj's ( which used to be a temptation when things were grim ) as if the bottle went off as well there is / was a risk of bursting the jacket.
Click to expand...
 
I did mine a few weeks ago and despite doing them every year, this year I found several surprising things:

MY LJ did not stay inflated. It lasted only 2 hours.

2 cylinders corroded as per the pics above.

In 2 LJs that looked perfect, the cylinders looked perfect, but the telltale red/green tabs were not showing perfect - therefore technically unreliable. I threw them both in the bath for demo to family to see what would happen. One deployed perfect the other dribbled and fizzed.

Not sure what the lessons are - but I think my preference will be to invest in cofmortable harnesses and lifelines rather than LJs in future. I just don't feel confident that they can be relied on.
 
Seajet said:
Amulet said:
It's OK to blow them up by mouth I'm told.
/QUOTE]

If the bottle doesn't work, or is missing, that would be a good idea but I was always told not to partially inflate lj's ( which used to be a temptation when things were grim ) as if the bottle went off as well there is / was a risk of bursting the jacket.
Click to expand...

I understood that (like liferafts) there is more gas in teh cylinder than needed & there is a pressure blow off in the valve that stops teh L/J being over stressed. I still have an early 70's Beaufort Manual that is designed to be used part inflated & I see no reason why standards would have fallen since then.
Click to expand...
 
Searush,

I haven't seen any sign of a relief valve on my Kru or Crewsaver lifejackets, they're pretty obvious on liferafts.

In the old days it was quite customary for people not to trust gas bottles so blow a little air in by mouth, maybe your Beaufort kit allowed for this ?

I just thought I'd mention it, personally I wouldn't risk over-inflating.
 
you have a problem stav. I sail through the winter as well as the summer and am one of those sadddos that believe in wearing an LJ at all times on deck. But I have never had any corrosion on the cylinders at all. So ever year I just weigh them on the digi scales and screw them back in.

where on board do you store your LJs?
 
Seajet said:
Amulet said:
It's OK to blow them up by mouth I'm told.
Click to expand...

If the bottle doesn't work, or is missing, that would be a good idea but I was always told not to partially inflate lj's ( which used to be a temptation when things were grim ) as if the bottle went off as well there is / was a risk of bursting the jacket.
Click to expand...

Amulet was talking about blowing them up for testing purposes at home, not semi-inflating them while in use at sea.

I'm sure I've read of cases of jackets bursting seams due to overinflation - whatever Searush's prehistoric gasbags may have had, the typical modern lifejacket does not have an overpressure valve. If you're lucky, excess gas escapes around an insecure fitting rather than bursting the jacket, but definitely not something you want to rely on. As for why "standards have fallen", I'd suggest it's down to cost. How much would those Beaufort jackets have cost in real terms? Bet they were pricier than the typical modern manual jacket. Also if the jacket was designed for partial pre-inflation, obviously the valve was necessary.

As for the OP - lucky you got this wakeup call! Servicing jackets is easy to do, and costs nothing if all is well, so why would anybody not do it annually?

Pete
 
Glad to have given a little encouragement Sophie19, and Camelia I did set of one of the LJ and it worked fine, I would actual be more concerned about the rough corrosion making a hole in the bladder and I did give the new canisters a coat of spray paint. I agree with you Birdseye, the boat is used all year and the last time they where used in earnest was when me and a friend had a rough wet two weeks 3 years ago. Though I always hang them up to dry before putting in the locker (horizontally). Actually I am surprised how long it was since I had looked at them, I will certainly look more often from now on!

To be honest SimonFraser I am inclined to agree either a buoyancy aid or a good safety harness, but then the LJ do have the safety harness and may be I should make better use of it.

All food for thought.
 
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I read part of an article in an old sailing magazine while waiting for the Doctor today. The author of the article reckoned that liferafts on pleasure boats caused more deaths than they saved. The argument was something along the lines of if there was no liferaft, you would work like hell bailing, pumping or whatever to keep your boat afloat. Your boat is a damm site better place to be than a liferaft - assuming the liferaft actually stays blown up, does not overturn, does not get ripped to shreads on debris etc etc. And of course if the liferaft actually deploys in the first place.
 
I believe this to be a pic of Searush - and his lifejacket - in their younger days....

searush1.jpg
 
16 posts and no mention of condoms! There are those who say that a condom around the cylinder is the best corrosion protection.

I doubt the arguments against lifejackets. I think if you made any honest attempt to assess lives lost/saved with and without life jackets you'd be pretty certain to come up with evidence in favour. I have had people go overboard both with and without life jackets. I find that, as skipper, I can think much more clearly about how to pick them up if I know they are being kept afloat. These were in marina situations, but one of them was berthing in the dark in a gale. If I'd had to rush the rescue she'd still have been ok, but there certainly would have been damage to other boats while I was at it.

(NB I am not arguing lifejackets INSTEAD of harnesses.)
 
I decided that we should inflate one of our LJ's just for the experience
The wife put it on ( no she would not get in the bath as requested by our son- kinky little s..d)
When she pulled the inflation cord nothing happened
We eventually found that the cord was wrapped around the top of the inflation unit & would never have worked
It was long enough to protrude out the bottom so we had not suspected such a thing. In fact may not have even noticed it if we had only opened the velcro
On examining the other 5 LJ's we found they had all been delivered like this
Once we altered the cord to allow a direct pull it worked
There is no way someone in the water would be able to work this out, infact due to the angle if they had opened the velcro they could not have seen it
Of course if they had been hydrostatic this would not have been an issue
 
Old verses new

We had several life jackets for 14 years ,forget what they were called but were used on aircraft they had 2 chambers 1 on top of the other and used 2 soda sparklet bulbs for inflation 1 for each chamber (sparklets bulbs 3£ for 10 from boots ) we tested them every year as they cost nothing to test .When the children were 7 /8 they used to jump in with them playing a few times a year ! They still held air when we threw them out , the straps were getting worn/weak and buckles rusty.

We replaced with crew savers but have be very disappointed as after 2 years mine would not hold air. We had six and so threw that one out and I started using another and that has also failed after 2 years .We don,t wear them often ,perhaps 6 times a year, they are kept in original heavy plastic bags and kept dry. The weak point seems to be the folded corners which catch and rub . I dont trust any folded L J's now .

The old ones were bought second hand an had very heavy use but still inflated and held air .They had 2 chambers and if one did fail the other perhaps would still work.With one chamber inflated one could swim, with both they turned me over on to my back . They had no folds.
 
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