Life Jackets Manual or Automatic

Magaz97

Magaz97

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What is the opinion of the esteemed forumites.

I am about to purchase a life jacket for myself. I have a limited budget (£60 - £70).
I would like a crutch strap, harness (or D ring), but do not know if I should go for an automatic or manual inflation type. It will be used whilst coastal sailing and some RIB use. What would you recommend?

Thanks
 
Magaz97 said:
What is the opinion of the esteemed forumites.

I am about to purchase a life jacket for myself. I have a limited budget (£60 - £70).
I would like a crutch strap, harness (or D ring), but do not know if I should go for an automatic or manual inflation type. It will be used whilst coastal sailing and some RIB use. What would you recommend?

Thanks
Click to expand...

manual
 
It comes down to a choice between the likelyhood of finding yourself in the water unconscious or unable to help yourself due to shock or cold; automatic, or being trapped inside or underneath an upturned boat, manual. Owning a catamaran I favour the latter, monohulls would tend towards auto, RIB's err.

Peter.
 
automatic with a hammar system if budget allows: these wont be activated by just spray in a RIB as they use water pressure but will go off if you find yourself in the water, the cold shock can disorientate you and make you forget to pull the manual toggle!
 
chubby said:
automatic with a hammar system if budget allows: these wont be activated by just spray in a RIB as they use water pressure but will go off if you find yourself in the water, the cold shock can disorientate you and make you forget to pull the manual toggle!
Click to expand...

Agreed and seconded.
 
I have a pal who went overboard off the tyne two winters ago, he was single handing and by the grace of god another yacht spotted him and hauled him out. He told me later when he went in the cold and the shock disorinted him to the point of immobility and he could not pull his sodden clothed body aboard unaided (in a boat with minimal freeboard). His tale was very sobering. I sail single handed at times and with friends sometimes. I have atotal of 5 manual jackets. After his tale I went straight to Storras and got two auto jackets. Its now all I use and the second i insist is used by my crew. If there is more than one then they are in manuals and I hope either me or my "first mate" would be there to haul em out!
 
How much is your life worth

So you buy a cheap life jacket .. Its not until you need it that you wish you had spent considerably more .. :eek: .. Mine was about £170 .. Crewsaver 275 Newton .. Crutch Straps and a face shield .. At least if I die i will know that I could not have done much more .. :rolleyes:
 
Magaz97 - If you are constrained by budget, then go for manual with, as you suggest, the crotch straps and D Ring for the safety lanyard. Make sure that you have a good quality Safety Lanyard. Obviously, staying attached to the yacht prevents you needing the automatic inflation features.

However, you say you will be RIB riding. The chances of being flung out are much more and as Chubby says the hammer systems are best. If you are likely to be predominantly sailing, then a manual lifejacket will be adequate, if you have the safety lanyard and use it.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the info guys....it would seem that budget is a bit of a draw back, if I wanted the auto with the hammar system. (I called in to Storrars today, but am loath to pay for another term of private education for Robbies kids!!!...good service, but he is not the cheapest!)
The RIB riding will probably be limited, and a lot of it is with a dry suit and bouyancy aid (all bought from Storrars) so maybe I just need the LJ for Yachting.....oh what to do?
 
I used to have a manual Beaufort & would part inflate it (nice comfy collar - as warm as a scarf). That way if I fell in it would keep me afloat even if I couldn't pull the cord. If I did inflate it, they are designed to vent excess CO2so won't burst.

I bought a new set of automatics this year from the Northern Boat Jumble as the beaufort & it's colleagues are well over 30 years old.
 
You won't gat a Hammar auto lifejacket for your budget but you will get a Harness std Auto-lifejacket, but make sure you have crotch straps as well - very important as they prevent the lifejacket riding up if you end up in the drink. Any auto is better than a manual in my opinion - I've converted to all Harness Auto with crotch straps on my boat.
 
I may be teaching you to suck eggs here, but I suspect it may help to know why people are recommending the expensive hammer type autos.

Most autos have a salt pellet or paper/ card disk retaining a trigger spring. Over time in a damp atmosphere (err, like on a boat:rolleyes:) or with heavy rain or spray (hence issue with using a RIB) these may get soggy & can trigger unexpectedly. The sudden explosive expansion of an LJ can then actually cause an accident. They have been reported as going off in cupboards. This is not an everyday occurence, but incidents ahve been reported on here

Hammer mechanisms are triggered by water pressure and are very unlikely to go off unexpectedly when not actually under water.

Hope that helps your decision.
 
.
For RIB use I would think manual or Hammar - too much danger of the ordinary autos going off as per Searush's post above.

We've only had manuals ever snce we got the boat seven years ago, and they were second hand from a friend then. We have tested them once and they both went off and fully inflated even though the bottles looked a bit corroded. I make a point of regularly checking that I can find the activation toggle when I am wearing one.

Having said that, I think we will in due course replace them with auto when we can afford decent ones with all the bells and whistles.

- W
 
Searush said:
I may be teaching you to suck eggs here, but I suspect it may help to know why people are recommending the expensive hammer type autos.
.
Click to expand...

The down side is that you are recommended (and have to if MSA coded) to service them every year. A hammer mechanism has to be done in a recognised service centre however the pellet type can be annually replaced at relativly low cost.
 
Yes you will and possibly with change ...

I believe that you find what you seek....

ebay search

hydrostatic lifejacket

new

ebay.co.uk


I found a few, quite a surprise really
 
ianabc said:
I believe that you find what you seek....

ebay search

hydrostatic lifejacket

new

ebay.co.uk


I found a few, quite a surprise really
Click to expand...

I'd want to check provenance very carefully - Hammar have recently issued warnings about fake releases on the market.

On the original question, I asked for advice on this matter a couple of months ago and as a result of the answers bought a couple of Crewsavers from Jimmy Green. Hammar plus sprayhood and light, 125 quid each.
 
Magaz97 said:
What is the opinion of the esteemed forumites.

I am about to purchase a life jacket for myself. I have a limited budget (£60 - £70).
I would like a crutch strap, harness (or D ring), but do not know if I should go for an automatic or manual inflation type. It will be used whilst coastal sailing and some RIB use. What would you recommend?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Take a look at these:

http://www.marine-super-store.com/posit/shop/index.php?selectedpartno=COMMODORE+++++++++++

You will see you can get an auto jacket with harness and a crotch strap (essential features) well within your budget. They are made by (for) Ocean Safety in the UK, so no need to compromise on quality by buying some cheap far eastern import.

I do know a little about these jackets. We have two. They were originally made under the brand name Remploy, we have had ours probably 12 years now, every year they are inflated for test and have always stayed fully inflated for several days (until I remember I left them in the spare bedroom!).

They are not Hammar, but in the 12 years of ownership I have never had one (in fact any lifejacket) go off uninvited. They are always left on the boat. A good many harbourmasters and their staff wear these jackets who are often driving RIBS, dorries and are out in all weather. I dont think they would use them if they had problems with them going off in the rain.
 
Ubergeekian said:
I'd want to check provenance very carefully - Hammar have recently issued warnings about fake releases on the market.

On the original question, I asked for advice on this matter a couple of months ago and as a result of the answers bought a couple of Crewsavers from Jimmy Green. Hammar plus sprayhood and light, 125 quid each.
Click to expand...

I wonder why the largest manufacture of lifejackets in Europe, Baltic, dont use Hammar firing systems?

This might be of interest to those without Hammar firing:

http://www.baltic.se/_pdf/_eng/info_inflatable.pdf
 
Buy one that fits you, some of the cheaper ones are very short, meaning the main strap is very high on the chest for some bigger people. These jackets then definitely need a crotch strap, which may get in the way. I don't use a crotch strap for inshore keelboat racing, might think again for offshore at night.
I have had Halkey-Roberts polo mint type go off while sailing, also a Hammar type, I was on the rail of a small keelboat, racing off Cowes in about F5-F6, big wave hit the side of the boat and soaked me (again), 5 seconds later comedy hissing noise etc.
Lots of people have had the H-R type go off, one bloke in the fleet had his kit bag split apart a few hours after chucking his wet kit in the bag and zipping it up! Gave us all a laugh in the bar. This is abuse though, I tend to keep separate LJ for 'rough' inshore racing and a decent one with light etc for cross channel.
I've also been over the side in an autojacket while keelboat racing, it happens. It costs you £25+ . I would still always buy auto for other people, on balance.
I actually prefer my dinghy racing foam BA, when push comes to shove you can trust something with no moving parts and not made in Gosport.
Avoid boat jumble deals, ebay, etc if you give any credence to the rumours of reject/untested product leaking out of various factories...
Harness built in goes without saying, I hope?, assuming any use beyond dayboats/RIBs.
 
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