Manual or automatic?

Colin_S

Colin_S

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Might have been covered before but the search facility is hard work.

I'm going to treat myself to a new life jacket and wonder which is favoured. I can understand the possible problems of an automatic going off in rough seas but with a manual jacket I wonder about the safety aspect if one was knocked overboard by a swinging boom or the like. I would rather pay for a few rearming kits than risk going overboard unconcious.

Your views please.


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Automatic, with harness and with the "hammar" (sp) type hydrostatic auto inflator, stops all that rough sea stuff, only goes off in the water, or just under it anyway.

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Seconded. Hammar (spelling correct - it's made in Norway) inflator is the type to go for. Check that the bottle is well screwed home each time you put it on.

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?
 
For what it's worth, we've had automatics for the past 10 years and only ever had one go off accidently and that was when a bucket of water was inadvertantly thrown over the jacket. We've worn them in all sorts of weathers and been covered with green water, especially on rides ashore in the tender.

I did hear of a foredeck man getting stuck between the forestay and a sail but this is the only one I've of in the same period. As the autos also have a manual override and the differential cost is small I'd have thought that this was a nobrainer.

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To buck the trend here I am going to say manual.

I understand all the arguments for auto, but on TC being hit by the boom is pretty much not going to happen as it is above head height and where not sweeps over the aft cabins. Yes there are other ways to be knocked out, but most are as likely to happen if not wearing a jacket, such as slipping in the cockpit.

I have worn my jacket in the water when clearing a rope on the prop, could not have done this with an auto, gave me confidence should I have become fatigued etc.

Also as we wear them in the dinghy, should we fall out in a few feet of water or close enough to swim to shore I would like not to have to re-arm the jackets. Obviously they will be used without question when genuinely required.

Just my tuppence.....

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>Woof</A>
 
Re: I have

4 auto's with harness, crutchstraps, sprayhoods, lights and flexible tethers.

Ones red, ones yellow and two are blue, (different manufacturers). The idea is, for a usual crew of 3, foolproof colour coding.

I've got two none auto's from dayboat days for visitors.

My initial instinct was towards manual jackets to give me more control. ie If I wanted to swim about without the obstruction of a bladder of wind. Those days are past and I've settled on auto's. They don't go off by accident very often these days and it's not just the boom that renders you insensible. There's plenty of other things to hit if you fall and the cold shock can be debilitating.





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I tend to go with ShipsWoofy on this. Our boom is also above head height in the cockpit although that is no help if on deck, but then again the boom there is well below head level. So chances are if one is in the water one is concious.

An inflated lifejacket really complicates rescue, especially ones own efforts as the casualty and probably more so if one is on a tether. I would leave mine deflated whilst in the water if I was able.

May be different for those without much confidence in the water, but I suspect that anyone who has spent years sailing dinghies would be well over that.

John



<hr width=100% size=1>I am the cat but I am only 6.
 
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