Recommended Automatic life jacket

[msanford]

Please can any reader recommend a top quality Automatic life jacket for Offshore/transAtlantic sailing.
I am semi retired and will be participating as crew on Trans-Atlantic delivery trips.
many thanks

 

[ChrisE]

Crewsaver is a good brand and there are others.

Personally, I prefer to have a pressure release (Hammar) rather than the cardboard tube type on some of the cheaper models. Unless you are going to be be going into the higher latitudes then a 175 kn model will be OK (unless, ahem, you are a bit of a porker). Oh, and make that it has crotchstrap, sprayhood and light.

You'll probaby pay about £80-100.

 

[Norman_E]

Whatever you choose, try it on. If it is uncomfortable you will be tempted not to wear it. If I was buying new ones now I would look at the Spinlock Deckvest, to see if it is more comfortable for long term wear, and worth the extra cost.
Anyone who has bought one care to comment?

 

[gerry99]

Having been washed overboard at 4 in the morning the fact I was a) clipped on to the jackstay and b) wearing a crewsaver with hammar are the reasons I am here to write this. I don't skimp on spending on lifejackets and have no hesitation in recommending the Crewsaver - and go for an auto inflate not a manual inflate one. I have kitted out my yacht with them

 

[Alfie168]

I bought a couple of Seago Automatics largely on the strength of the PBO group test. We find them comfortable and wear them at all times (on board of course, I tend not to wear them at home). I suppose you must try a few on, but yes, it seems a proper hood and a good diving strobe light are the other things that will improve chances of survival..along with being hooked on of course.

Tim

 

[aknight]

Re: Spinlock Deck Vest

Mine came through via mail order last week. All I've done with it so far is adjust it to fit as I left on vacation the following day.

Initial impressions only, therefore:

- it's fiddlier than the XM jackets that I currently use, especially to do up - there is some kind of proprietary catch which I'm sure is very secure, but is tough to open and close.

- the loop to which you attach the gibb hook on your safety line is not metal but fabric - I'm sure it's rated to a very high snatch load, but instinctively I tend to prefer metal over fabric.

- the (included) thigh straps are fiddlier than the (optional) XM ones and I haven't yet figured out how to rig them without twisting them, whereas the XM ones took barely a minute to set up the first time I used them.

- packing and unpacking the contents involves using a zip that is intended to tear apart rather than opening it in the traditional manner, i.e. by unzipping it - again I prefer the XM which just folds down and seals with velcro.

- the instructions say the firing cylinder has to be replaced every year, whereas in the XM the cylinders have a three year life. However I haven't yet opened that funny looking zip to check whether the cylinder on the Spinlock is date-stamped with a later expiry date, which in fairness it might be.

- the instruction book is unclear. Ikea has taught me to live with books full of diagrams rather than words, but it doesn help if they are large and clear. Spinlock's are not.

- it is relatively bulky compared to an XM. Of course it does contain a light and a sprayhood.

- in terms of comfort it's neither better or worse than the XM, but as I say it feels larger.

As I say, these are initial impressions only and it may grow on me as I use it more.

 

[webcraft]

Re: Spinlock Deck Vest

[ QUOTE ]
the loop to which you attach the gibb hook on your safety line is not metal but fabric - I'm sure it's rated to a very high snatch load, but instinctively I tend to prefer metal over fabric.

[/ QUOTE ] A bit illogical really . . . the metal harness ring on lifejackets fitted with them is attached to fabric after all.

 

[aknight]

Re: Spinlock Deck Vest

Well...yes, and the Gibb Hook on my safety line is also attached to fabric. I'm still happier that the hook is made of steel, not fabric, no matter how highly that fabric might be rated for snatch loads.

Steel might become fatigued, but a steel loop on a lifejacket won't chafe through in the ordinary course of using the harness. Perhaps Spinlock's fabric loop is made of some high-tech material that the Gibb Hook won't be able to chafe its way through when it's hooked on - time will tell.

 

[Fin]

Get one with a hood that is in position on inflation. The stress you may be under while attempting to find something that may be on your belt may prove difficult.....

 

[alant]

One with a manual activation as well as auto.

A friend was recently wearing one which was auto only, activated at 1 bar & had a traumatic experience of almost drowning when he was pitched into the Thames & swept along underwater in the current! Also, I still see people wearing L/J's with the manual pull tucked away - the tab should always be visible so accessible if needed.

For Ocean, you might want to go for a 275 Newton, rather than the usual 150.

 

[markdj]

One of the most difficult things to do is to enter a liferaft from the water with an inflated lifejacket. On our survival course we were told and shown by demonstration that anything higher than 150N is going to be very difficult because of the large buoyancy hindering climbing.

Personally, a 150N with auto-inflation, salt tablet (the pressure ones are very prone to failure according to RYA rep.) with crotch strap or leg straps, D ring for lifting and hood, and light, maybe a mini flare kit too.