Repairing Lifejacket Bladders

[Baddox]

I’ve just done my twice yearly lifejacket check and found that one of them has a pinprick size hole in the bladder. The leak is only sufficient to drop a little pressure overnight and only took three or four pumps with the bike pump to get it back up to pressure. So, the question is should I repair or replace the lifejacket?

The hole appears to have formed on the corner where the bladder has been folded; it's a flat area away from any seam or valve. A drop of Aquasure glue and perhaps a small patch should secure it.

 

[MoodySabre]

Unless you can fold so the crease is somewhere else then I'd bin it. Why take the risk - you'll only know for sure at a time when certainty is required!

 

[duncan99210]

Unless you can fold so the crease is somewhere else then I'd bin it. Why take the risk - you'll only know for sure at a time when certainty is required!

+1 it's just not worth the relatively small cost of replacement. There's a chance that unless you can source a adhesive that the manufacturer approves as being compatible with the bladder material that you'll turn a pinprick into a hole the size of the patch as well as any problems with getting the patch to stick in a crease.

 

[yoda]

Replace it.

 

[Kwik Decision]

If it were mine, I'd remove the gas cylinder, firing mechanism, light etc to keep as spares (after checking expiry dates), and then bin it and replace.

Out of interest, what make / model is it, and how old?

 

[Tony Cross]

Unless you can fold so the crease is somewhere else then I'd bin it. Why take the risk - you'll only know for sure at a time when certainty is required!

+2 You don't want to be in the water on a dark and stormy night hoping to see your boat come back for you and be wondering how good your repair was!

 

[Alfie168]

If it's holed in one spot, what are the chances there are other weaknesses as yet unseen.

It does beg the question of whether instead of just putting them away folded, LJs should be stored unfolded over winter with a small degree of inflation to reduce creasing. ,or is that a bit OTT ?

Tim

 

[duncan99210]

The reason you get holes where the folds are is down to movement in the fabric as the LJ is being worn. No movement = no wear, so all that time hung up not in use will not affect the bladder, being worn with the associated movement will cause bits to rub together, leading to holes.

 

[Champagne Murphy]

A new one is much cheaper than a coffin:ambivalence:

 

[Alfie168]

A new one is much cheaper than a coffin:ambivalence:

Besides, you'd need paddles with the coffin, and an anchor........ And which anchor is another question entirely.

Tim

 

[robertj]

If its gone in one corner the there is a weakness for other folds in the fabric to leak. As previous post mentioned strip it for the spares and buy the best your life requires.

 

[Tintin]

Is your life potentially worth so little?

 

[awol]

Keep it! It's the very best kind of life jacket to have as recommended by the RNLI no less .......... "Useless unless worn" ....... and yours is certainly worn.

 

[Rock Dodger]

As I charter my boat, two weeks ago I had seven lifejackets tested and serviced by a reputable local firm. One of the jackets had a small hole in the bladder caused by wear. They told me that the rules do not permit a repair so it was scrapped and replaced. I kept the old one and used it to demonstrate to sailing friends how to inflate a lifejacket. Something they had never done before

 

[Boathook]

As others - bin it.

 

[lw395]

This can be a consequence of wearing LJ's all the time, or stuffing them into kitbags etc.
I have two personal lifejackets, one for day to day mucking about in RIBs, inshore racing on small boats, in the tender etc and another for offshore work.
The inshore one sees a lot of wear and tear, gets sat on, rubbed on deck paint, chucked under seats on the RIB etc.
So it's a throwaway item.
The offshore one has light, harness etc, cost a lot more and gets looked after.

If it's less than two (?) years old, try sending it back, I know people who've had new ones for free.

 

[biscuit]

I once asked my snappily dressed, very camp barber what to do with silk ties when they got a bit grubby? He replied, gaily,
" Well my dear, just throw them away!" It's a phrase which comes to mind, in a variety of situations, perhaps like this one.

 

[Baddox]

Thanks for the feedback folks, that’s what I expected but I thought it worth checking before retiring the lifejacket. I’ll chop it up before binning it, so no one is tempted to reuse it.

The lifejacket is about six years old and has been used but not abused. On closer inspection the pin prick hole is where two folds meet at right angles, and appears to have worn through.

 

[andygc]

Thanks for the feedback folks, that’s what I expected but I thought it worth checking before retiring the lifejacket. I’ll chop it up before binning it, so no one is tempted to reuse it.

The lifejacket is about six years old and has been used but not abused. On closer inspection the pin prick hole is where two folds meet at right angles, and appears to have worn through.

I was extremely unhappy to find at the end of last season that a 6 year old Crewsaver jacket that was the spare for occasional visitors had done the same. I don't know where all this movement came from, hanging in its original bag in the hall most of the year.

 

[Bilgediver]

I’ve just done my twice yearly lifejacket check and found that one of them has a pinprick size hole in the bladder. The leak is only sufficient to drop a little pressure overnight and only took three or four pumps with the bike pump to get it back up to pressure. So, the question is should I repair or replace the lifejacket?

The hole appears to have formed on the corner where the bladder has been folded; it's a flat area away from any seam or valve. A drop of Aquasure glue and perhaps a small patch should secure it.

This is a common problem with some life jackets and the bladder may be thin at the same position on the other side. You may find the protective cover has chaffed to a hole in this area and this is what is wearing away the bladder material.

Time to retire the life jacket.

If I was on an ocean passage and discovered this corner chaffing I would cut out 30 mm dia circles of sticky spinnaker tape and put them
on the inside of the protective cover to reduce the chaffing wear on the bladder. This can be a problem when rowers use this type of jacket.!