life-jacket under a zip front

dylanwinter

dylanwinter

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 Mar 2005
Messages
12,954
Location
Buckingham
www.keepturningleft.co.uk
I occasionally get comments about my bad habits

"Like your videos, noticed your wearing a inflatable life jacket under your jacket. ive heard of them deploying and crushing you if you go into the water."

so - has this ever happened or it is an urban myth?


I only wear loose zip front jackets over my life jacket

and having watched the way they deploy I am confident that it would emerge safely around the collar without crushing me

better to go over the side with one on than without one on at all

"0.09sec. Please do not do that"

 
Last edited:
"And, please Miss, that naughty Dylan wraps the jib sheet around his hand as well as hiding his lifejacket!"
whistling2.gif
 
It cannot be a good idea to wear a self inflating life jacket under clothing. It may well delay the firing of the CO2 cylinder and when it does fire the result would be pretty random, possibly leaving you with buoyancy in all the wrong places.
Having said that, I am amazed that all sailing jackets don't have some kind of buoyancy fitted when manufactured.
 
windlipper said:
Chuck yourself in the water, video on Utube so we can all benefit from the result of the experiment. You make get an award for services to sailing (could be posthumous of course!)
Good luck.
Click to expand...

Let us know when and where Dylan and some of us will turn up with our GoPros and Xacti's (can't afford the really good kit you have) and we can record it for you, maybe get PBO to write about it too :-)
 
Giblets said:
"And, please Miss, that naughty Dylan wraps the jib sheet around his hand as well as hiding his lifejacket!"
whistling2.gif
Click to expand...

I once interviewed a Jesuit Priest

he was a lovely bloke

quiet, thoughtful

but thought that the wold was going to hell in a handbasket

he thought it was time for the second coming

I suggested that maybe he was the second coming


"not me," he said" "Heaven fore-fend.... I have the most fearful appetites"

so like Brother Steven I have many sins to confess and the most fearful appetites

it always worries me when people say that they have learned a lot about sailing from my films

Dylan
 
dylanwinter said:
I occasionally get comments about my bad habits

"Like your videos, noticed your wearing a inflatable life jacket under your jacket. ive heard of them deploying and crushing you if you go into the water."

so - has this ever happened or it is an urban myth?


I only wear loose zip front jackets over my life jacket

and having watched the way they deploy I am confident that it would emerge safely around the collar without crushing me

better to go over the side with one on than without one on at all

"0.09sec. Please do not do that"

Click to expand...

You've obviously never had to use one in anger!
 
dylanwinter said:
that is true

but has it ever happened that some-one has been crushed by an exploding life-jacket

or is it an urban myth?

such as cans exploding when boiled in waterD
Click to expand...

One of my earliest memories (still in a highchair as a babe), was of my Dad, clad in a pristine white shirt, opening a can of spotted dick (or similar) which had just been boiled. As soon as the tin opener was stabbed into the tin (remember those), there was an almighty explosion, with all in sundry covered in pudding!

The problem with LJ's under clothes, as has already been mentioned, is (1) that they will not inflate properly,(2) you may not be able to reach the manual "jerk to inflate" toggle - trust me, when under water, even with an auto inflate, it takes time to activate & you will try to reach for the toggle, (3) you will be unable to reach the mouth inflate tube, whistle & any light will be unseen.
So why be lazy & take the risk?
 
I don't think you'd be crushed to death, but it would restrict it inflating.

The bloke who died during the Windermere Winter Series was wearing a foul weather jacket over his lifejacket and this was found to be why he drowned.

If you're going to wear of lifejacket it seems pretty stupid to negate it's effectiveness. Might as well take the cylinder out to make it more comfortable to wear.
 
dylanwinter said:
that is true

but has it ever happened that some-one has been crushed by an exploding life-jacket

or is it an urban myth?

such as cans exploding when boiled in water

D
Click to expand...

In latter years my dad always wore a jacket over his PFD. It kept him warm when out fishing.
I expect its a myth. The jacket will rip before you are crushed.
Why not just wear a floater coat? They’re warm and float.

Actually heating cans without piercing is not a cunning plan. If heated in water should not reach boiling point so should not explode but I still pierce it.

I still wear my old Henri Lloyd jacket with built in harness. I can't find a new one. I wish I could, its extremely convenient.
 
Last edited:
Uricanejack said:
In latter years my dad allways wore a jacket over his PFD. it kept him warm when out fishing.
I expect its a myth. The jacket will rip before you are crushed.Why not just wear a floater coat? There warm and float.

Actualy heating cans without piercing is not a cunning plan. If heated in water should not reach boiling point so should not explode but I still pierce it.

I still wear my old Henri Lloyd jacket with buit in harness. I can't find a new one. I wish I could, its extreemly convenient.
Click to expand...

Might have kept him warm, but did your Dad test if it would work if he fell in?

"I expect its a myth. The jacket will rip before you are crushed"

You know, or is this guesswork?
I find it unbelievable, that anyone would flout such obvious rules & risk a watery death!:mad:
 
alant said:
Might have kept him warm, but did your Dad test if it would work if he fell in?

"I expect its a myth. The jacket will rip before you are crushed"

You know, or is this guesswork?
I find it unbelievable, that anyone would flout such obvious rules & risk a watery death!:mad:
Click to expand...

My dads PFD was not inflatable (it did not sugest it was)it was a blue foam filled jacket style . It was not a life jacket as it would not roll upright or suport head but it would have provide bouyancy if he fell in. No need to test it. The volume was fixed. The bouyancy provided fixed.

Guess work based on my impresion of the relative strenth of stiching compared to the human body. I wouldn't recommend though.
I would recommend a floater coat as better alternative.
 
Last edited:
cans and life jackets

I also have a paddie that I wear most of the time

bu tI spend most of my sailing time up rivers and estuaries

the waterproof top is on and off all the time

and getting into the trees is quite common

and I know that if I had to put it on over the loose zippy top then there are times when I would leave the cockpit without putting it on






the bloke on the Lakes.....

did his jacket fail to go off?

did he get crushed?

any links to the report you know of

D


as for piercing cans before boiling.... why?

they cannot explode and if you peirce them then they exude their contents into the boiling pan - it which case you might just as well open the can and put it into the pan and then deal with the washing up
 
Last edited:
Uricanejack said:
My dads PFD was not inflatable (it did not sugest it was)it was a blue foam filled jacket style . It was not a life jacket as it would not roll upright or suport head but it would have provide bouyancy if he fell in. No need to test it. The volume was fixed. The bouyancy provided fixed.

Guess work based on my impresion of the relative strenth of stiching compared to the human body. I wouldn't recommend though.
I would recommend a floater coat as better alternative.
Click to expand...

That is clearly a different scenario - dinghy sailors where a top over their buoyancy aids to prevent getting caught up when they are in the water.

Alant's point is right - why would you want to be the first person to find out that crushing is NOT a myth ?
 
dylanwinter said:
I also have a paddie that I wear most of the time

bu tI spend most of my sailing time up rivers and estuaries

the waterproof top is on and off all the time

and getting into the trees is quite common

and I know that if I had to put it on over the loose zippy top then there are times when I would leave the cockpit without putting it on






D
Click to expand...

If you are determined to ignore the instructions from manufacturers who design, exhaustively test and market safety equipment for a living then I am a little surprised at your question and your defence of that. But its your choice.
 
I suspect that wearing a life jacket under a waterproof coat is only done by this intrepid sailor because he's been ordered to wear one by SWMBO and doesn't want to look a 'wuss' to other salty sea dogs.

It does seem a daft idea to me. Either you wear a life jacket correctly as recommended or you don't wear one at all.
 
To be honest I doubt whether the co2 in the life jacket has enough force either to hurt you or to burst the jacket.

More likely it either won't fully inflate or burst it's own bladder. Either way you're dead.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top