Life-jacket recommendations

[rubberduck]

Have decided it is time to replace existing stock which is around 8 years old, which ones perform in comfort & safety aspects ?

 

[Poignard]

I just bought a KRU SportPro. I haven't tried it in the water (nor do I intend to ) but it's very comfortable to wear and has had good reviews.

 

[[2068]]

I bought a bunch of these for the normal size crew (auto, no harness, £90).

Plus one of these for myself (fat boy):

 

[pmagowan]

I got spinlock. They have crotch straps, knife, soft harness attachment, spray hood and light. They are comfortable to wear and have a clear window to show that the firing mechanism is good. They are not the cheapest but they feel very well designed.

 

[prv]

I got spinlock. They have crotch straps, knife, soft harness attachment, spray hood and light. They are comfortable to wear and have a clear window to show that the firing mechanism is good. They are not the cheapest but they feel very well designed.

Whereas I tried that and didn't find it very comfortable at all, thus demonstrating the importance of trying them on before choosing

Especially for the fancier, more "fitted" types like the Crewsavers pictured above, the Spinlock, and the Kru Sport Pro. The basic kind with a flat U-shaped bladder and some webbing straps are probably more interchangeable between manufacturers:

Pete

 

[rubberduck]

I bought a bunch of these for the normal size crew (auto, no harness, £90).

Plus one of these for myself (fat boy):

Going to look at these at the weekend, are they comfortable ?

 

[Murv]

They're the ones we recently bought
I was determined to simply buy the cheapest ones we could find, but having tried a few on, the crewfit pro's were significantly more comfortable than anything else.
Your mileage may, of course, vary.

 

[Andrew M]

We bought Crewsaver Ergofit when we decided it was time for some proper lifejackets. Went to Marine Superstore and spent a while trying on every make and wearing them for a while walking around, for me and the misses the Crewsavers were the most comfortable, nice cut out at the back of the neck so didn't rub even in just a tee shirt. They've proved very good to wear, we don't notice them once on, they've got good features, crotchstraps, sprayhood, etc etc.

I guess my advice is to go and try them all on, the different designs, long slimmer jacket body, zips, buckles, all have their own characteristics and it's really which suits you best , you want the minimum disincentive for putting it on so finding a suitable comfortable design is important.

A

 

[CX54WEK]

We bought some Seago Olympic Plus 180N jackets at the beginning of this year and are very happy with them. They are very comfortable to wear and quite well specced for the price.

https://www.mailspeedmarine.com/seago-180n-olympic-plus-lifejacket.html

 

[[2068]]

Going to look at these at the weekend, are they comfortable ?

Works for me ... but definitely try them on for yourself.

 

[CharlieAlpha]

Works for me ... but definitely try them on for yourself.

+1 but as said try them on and do a lot of bending and stretching in the shop no good having a 'bad' crotch strap.

 

[mm42]

I use a Spinlock Deckvest 275 as I needed the extra buoyancy for using with drysuits. It's good but not as comfy as the Crewsaver Ergofit OS190 I had before, I prefer the crotch strap arrangement on the Crewsaver.

 

[[2068]]

no good having a 'bad' crotch strap.

Definitely not.
Bad = Having to jump up and down a few times after taking off a lifejacket