Lifejacket thigh straps ......

[Refueler]

I posted this many moons ago - but its got lost in the mists of time .....

I really do not like the thigh straps that are provided by manufacturers .... they work - after a fashion - but are awkward when you move around ... if you sit down - the loop tends to drop down the leg and then when you stand up - it tightens ...



So I did a bit of thinking and decided to modify from around the thigh - to actually a crotch strap .... so you can move around easily and no interference.

Good grade webbing ..... strong seamans waxed thread ... palm and needle.



It is far easier to put on ... basically put on the jacket ... reach under your ar** for the strap and the clip at front ... pull tight if needed ...

 

[DJE]

Or you could have two crotch straps.

 

[zoidberg]

Any eedjit who still thinks those are unnecessary clearly has never tried to do a 'press-up' on a lifejacket's lobes.

 

[Graham376]

I agree, thigh straps are horrible and restrict movement. All of ours now have two crotch straps, much more comfortable and just as safe.

 

[[70521]]

You mean wedgie straps.

Personally, I'd prefer them to the LJ riding up and not working, your choice.

 

[Refueler]

I thought about two crotch straps .... but in the end just went for single as simple.

Who-ever designed thigh straps must have never actually worn them !!

 

[thinwater]

I thought about two crotch straps .... but in the end just went for single as simple.

Who-ever designed thigh straps must have never actually worn them !!

Nearly all climbing harnesses have thigh straps, but there are two important differences:

• They are worn snug.
• There is elastic in the back from the strap to the waste band to prevent them from falling.

Without these two factors... they suck.

The main advantage of twin crotch straps is what happens if you fall on them or hang from them, as if you were overboard on a tether. I STRONGY suggest you try hanging from your strap arrangement for just 1 minute.

• A single strap can really hurt, and I don't just mean private parts.
• The snap connectors have been known to fail under body weight. Get them wet (lubrication and bounce on them).

Also remember that no strap system I am awware of is rated for falls. Only to hold the PFD down.

 

[bikedaft]

the single crotch strap does not work for me - when i crouch down, the loop falls down, then snags when i try to stand up, making me a grumpy quasimodo.

i added a extra crotch strap (you can buy them singly for 10-15 quid ish) to my LJ - to give two thigh straps at a reasonable price. works great for me. they need held laterally at the back side, easy to do, as they slide along the waist band, then tighten at appropriate place with a cable tie

 

[thinwater]

I wonder if a pair of light elastic loops that pulled each of the twin thigh straps tight around the thighs, up high, wouldn't be a good, comfortable solution.

 

[bikedaft]

I keep them tight, seems to work bending, kneeling etc. I am used to wearing a climbing harness though. But saves LJ riding up much if deployed

 

[langstonelayabout]

Or you could have two crotch straps.

As the proud owner of one of these (even the same colour!) I'm pleased to confirm that the crotch straps work well. Too well in fact as when you are in the water and someone grabs the back of your lifejacket to get you to safety, you'll be sore for a week or so afterwards.

Interestingly the thigh straps that everyone here seems to be deriding must be the way forward. Decent thigh straps have been fitted to parachute systems for years. I never received any crunched goolies or damaged anything else in years of skydiving; it seems to be that the thigh straps used by those here are cheap, poorly designed and badly adjusted. Take a look at what proper thigh straps look like:

 

[Elessar]

As the proud owner of one of these (even the same colour!) I'm pleased to confirm that the crotch straps work well. Too well in fact as when you are in the water and someone grabs the back of your lifejacket to get you to safety, you'll be sore for a week or so afterwards.

Interestingly the thigh straps that everyone here seems to be deriding must be the way forward. Decent thigh straps have been fitted to parachute systems for years. I never received any crunched goolies or damaged anything else in years of skydiving; it seems to be that the thigh straps used by those here are cheap, poorly designed and badly adjusted. Take a look at what proper thigh straps look like:View attachment 85224

They are to take your body weight.
Lifejacket straps don’t have to take your body weight or anything like it. - probably 5% of body weight max in the water.

Loads may increase if you are being hauled out by the jacket. Not great practice but if you are in the water, needs must.

In that situation you can loosen the straps and then they don’t have to take your body weight either (because it doesn’t matter if the LJ rides up if you are being hauled up.)

 

[Daydream believer]

I started out with the old Spinnlock thigh straps & soon dumped them. I changed to a sail tie fastened t the front with 2 half hitches. The reason is that I could easily adjust the length as I changed clothing . I do not have to rely on silly little bits of plastic & i can adjust easily for whatever i am doing. However, I do recall in heavy weather, one day, I leaned against the sink to put my LJ on & having done so, could not move. I had put the tie around the tap first

 

[Refueler]

As the proud owner of one of these (even the same colour!) I'm pleased to confirm that the crotch straps work well. Too well in fact as when you are in the water and someone grabs the back of your lifejacket to get you to safety, you'll be sore for a week or so afterwards.

Interestingly the thigh straps that everyone here seems to be deriding must be the way forward. Decent thigh straps have been fitted to parachute systems for years. I never received any crunched goolies or damaged anything else in years of skydiving; it seems to be that the thigh straps used by those here are cheap, poorly designed and badly adjusted. Take a look at what proper thigh straps look like:

As we were told on Fire Courses regarding saving life ... if a person gets a leg broken ... few bruises when you drag them out of a building / cabin whatever to safety - so wht ... THEY ARE ALIVE ....

Same goes for bruised goolies lifting a person out of the water SAVING their life.

As to thigh straps .... the ones you link to are tensioned to stay UP top of leg .... problem with typical LJ ones .. they are just a loop of webbing you pass leg through and it hangs loose round your thigh. Its fine when standing ... but sit down and that loop falls lower down the leg ... now stand up and it binds causing you to have to wriggle it back up again.
A crotch strap if adjusted well - does not have to sit over your goolies ... and is a far better way of stopping that LJ from riding up.

In rescues of survivors from ship disasters - a number of people have drowned because the LJ has ridden up and person has struggled to get it back down in place while head is held under water ...

Which do you prefer ? I know its a simple answer for me ...

 

[coveman]

Hopefully, most will now use a single crotch strap with a LJ which wasn't so common in the past, and as Refueller says, people have drowned due to LJ's riding up making them next to useless.
It should also be noted that if two straps are used such as used in fall arrest harnesses it is critical that if suspended by them it is for the shortest possible time before rescue. The result if suspended for a long is "suspension trauma" when the straps constrict blood flow in the femoral vein which in extreme circumstances can lead to death. Unlikely in a quick rescue but if someone falls overboard and is being dragged by a life line at speed it could possibly occur.

 

[colind3782]

As the proud owner of one of these (even the same colour!) I'm pleased to confirm that the crotch straps work well. Too well in fact as when you are in the water and someone grabs the back of your lifejacket to get you to safety, you'll be sore for a week or so afterwards.

Interestingly the thigh straps that everyone here seems to be deriding must be the way forward. Decent thigh straps have been fitted to parachute systems for years. I never received any crunched goolies or damaged anything else in years of skydiving; it seems to be that the thigh straps used by those here are cheap, poorly designed and badly adjusted. Take a look at what proper thigh straps look like:View attachment 85224

Nice looking Fire

 

[thinwater]

This was an experiment in leg loops that move with the sailor, can be fitted to any sailing chest harness or PFD, and can withstand an actual drop test with no bruises (tested with five 2-meter drops using a person, until the climbing rope used was showing signs of failure). They are feather light and self-adjusting so that they move with the wearer (the cross-overs at the hip slide when you rotate your torso).

Such a harness could also serve well on the foredeck, up the mast, or during MOB recovery.

Something could be designed, there is just no interest from the market or the manufacturers.

leg loop testing
leg loops

Heck, I've seen the carabiners they make.
unclipping video

 

[Refueler]

All good .... but isn't there a benefit to being simple ?

Put jacket on ... reach under, strap round and clip .... done.

 

[thinwater]

All good .... but isn't there a benefit to being simple ?

Put jacket on ... reach under, strap round and clip .... done.

Absolutely. I agree. The harness shown takes a minute to put on. But some smart guy ought to be able to find a middle road. The above harness is MUCH more comfortable to wear, even without falling. It NEVER falls behind a knee when you squat and it NEVER pinches.

Sorry, but I can't wear a nut-strap with a straight face. Can't do it. I might be rare on this thread, but I think the great majority feel this way. I think it is probably 50:1 against in the real world. Just as inflatables have encouraged PFD wear, crotch strap just arn't going to sell with most. I'm just calling it like it is.

Even a WWII Mae West had twin straps (other versions had only one strap), and they were configured so that they stayed in place better (the jacket came down much farther than the current dysfunctional designs). A fundamental problem/challenge with modern inflatables is that the main strap is niether high enough to be safe as a chest harness (should be in the armpits) or low enough to serve as a waist belt (below the ribs). Comfort has trumped function... and I get that--people won't wear what is not comfortable. But it's really hard to work around such a basic compromise.

And this, about the history of PFDs, just for fun:
History of PFDs

 

[Refueler]

How a person straps or not is their way - we all have our preferences.

Just to comment about this 'goolies' bit ....

When I 'designed' my own version of crotch straps .... I made them easily adjustable .... the front part has a couple of stitches holding the webbing to the side attached to the loop on the cover. The rear attachment is free to slide along the waist strap.

On checking - as its been so long since I made these - there are actually two straps per jacket ... giving the same V solution as the Maewest and other twin ideas.... so the 'goolies' don't get caught !!

At front :



At rear :



The main point is to be aware that a LJ riding up can KILL .... and any means you have to keep that LJ in place is better than none.
Also not to forget that when we don the LJ - its deflated and all those straps can move a bit ... once you pull the toggle - that jacket inflates and now you feel you are in a very tight strait-jacket.
This also tightens the crotch straps ...