Suitable life jackets for kids (not babies)

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cmedsailor

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My kids have grown up a little bit (currently 8 and 10 years old) and it’s time to replace their “baby style” foam life jackets. I don’t know if I trust automatic inflatables for their age (manual inflatables are out of question). On the other hand foam ones are bulky.
What are the most suitable life jackets for kids of that age? What do your kids wear?

PS: Kids are tall (1.4 and 1.55m) and thin (25kg and 35kg), both can swim (not perfect swimmers but at least they both can stay at the surface) and the Med is not really a protected sea especially when heading offshore.

Edit: They don't need to wear them all the time.
 
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Childrens automatic LJs are available from most of the big manufacturers. Take weight generally between 20 and 40kgs. Your older one is almost big enough for an adult size, but a childs one should last a couple of years.
 
I went for a foam filled LJ as this is:

1) does not inflate if they go for a swim; and

2) is warmer

If my child is on deck or in the dingy she wears a LJ. Simples.
 
I don't have kids, but at that age I'd be going for auto jackets, simply a smaller version of adult ones. Young children could be panicked by a gas jacket inflating, but I'd have thought they're old enough to be ok with that.

Making someone wear a foam blanket in the Med in summer sounds like cruel and unusual punishment to me :)

Pete
 
We have been through the full range over the last 10 years. Both Crewsaver and Baltic which were our favourites, most of them with built in harness as you want to be able to attach them to the boat occasionally and the built in harness are no real extra hassle to put on and off. Only when they get to 10-12 would I consider an inflatable, just too much to go wrong before that age IMHO.
They find it hard to swim with a gas inflated lifejacket, as do you and I, where as we have been swimming in the foam filled ones, not always by choice!
 
From an early age mine has been in a automatic inflatable, with harness...

She has always been told about the loud bang it goes off, I showed her mine inflating on one occasion as it was due a long over due service...

On the boat if outside cockpit she is ALWAYS clipped on, so that is first form of defense. She is also still light enough I can lift her on deck. Less bulky, less hot easier to fit...

I need to get a buoyancy aide for in dinghy, as I now plan to let her loose on her own or with friends to learn to row etc (she is 6). I will have chase boat.

As a youngster, I went into several chanderies and said I would buy any life-jacket that she could drink a Hot Chocolate with both hands whilst she was wearing it...

They where just to bulky, in the end my sister supplied me the one her kids used...

I think you should also ask your children what they prefer and what they find comfortable, its them who is going to wear it... They should also be made aware of the pluses and minuses...

Inflatable life-jacket means no spontaneous fun time swimming...
 
There used to be a Crewsaver jacket which had some foam built in, but can be topped up with air. They are not bulky, and if the jacket of choice for my children (shame I only have one jacket but several children who want to use it!). I am not happy with a self inflating one for them, and the bigger foam filled they find bulky and hot if we ever get some summer, so it is sometimes a bit of a fight to get them to wear them.

Only problem is I can't find anyone who currently makes anything similar.
 
I would suggest auto gas for serious offshore heavy weather sailing. But they are not really for everyday use and dinghy sailing /fun etc.
Check out the ones that dinghy sailors use, sort of tabard style, they come in trendy colours and have the "right" labels are are considered "cool".
They are also useful as they afford a certain amount of body armour protection from the general bashing that kids inflict on themselves in boats.
They comment about kids panicking when a lifejacket auto inflates is relevant. I have seen a kid traumatised when her brother set hers off. One minute playing peacefully then a pop and very loud hissing and something grabs you round the neck. OK if you are expecting it.
 
Most dinghy types are buoyancy aids not life jackets and won't keep the head out of the water. So OK if in a dinghy or canoe and you capsize but not if your knocked out of a yacht by a swinging boom or bang your head as you fall overboard. Personally in cooler areas I would choose the foam LJ with foam collar but in hotter areas I think I would go with the auto inflatables. A fright when it goes off is surely better than being face down in the water?
 
We use a Secumar Arkona midi for our 7 yr old. Secumar say it's good for kids from 20 to 50 kg. This is an auto gas jacket. We have added a water-activated light.

http://www.secumar.com/secumar/php/main.php?lang=e&group=php&seite=produkte&id=731&mnid=395

As we cruise in an area (Bristol Channel) with strong tides, lumpy seas and usually a F6 on the nose, we wouldn't go for a foam LJ for kids of this age. It may be a different matter in the med, but I reckon you could be pushing the buoyancy of some foam jackets with the oldest child, especially if you consider waterlogged clothes and so on. Especially with kids I'd spec the jackets for the worst conditions you might encounter rather than the average.
 
bitbaltic said:
We use a Secumar Arkona midi for our 7 yr old. Secumar say it's good for kids from 20 to 50 kg. This is an auto gas jacket. We have added a water-activated light.

http://www.secumar.com/secumar/php/main.php?lang=e&group=php&seite=produkte&id=731&mnid=395

As we cruise in an area (Bristol Channel) with strong tides, lumpy seas and usually a F6 on the nose, we wouldn't go for a foam LJ for kids of this age. It may be a different matter in the med, but I reckon you could be pushing the buoyancy of some foam jackets with the oldest child, especially if you consider waterlogged clothes and so on. Especially with kids I'd spec the jackets for the worst conditions you might encounter rather than the average.
Click to expand...

Apologies for the thread drift but why do water-logged clothes affect the buoyancy requirements? I've heard this many, many times but it doesn't make sense to me. I can understand the problems they cause when trying to get out of the water but surely they are neutral or slightly buoyant whilst in the water. All the clothes I've lost overboard have floated..
 
We bought our 5 year old (now 7) a (Seago) child's inflatable. He finds it uncomfortable after a while: the gas bottle is hard and heavy. It's also one more thing to go wrong.

I've been looking for a foam life jacket with a front harness ring, but nobody seems to make them.

grumpy_o_g said:
Apologies for the thread drift but why do water-logged clothes affect the buoyancy requirements? I've heard this many, many times but it doesn't make sense to me. I can understand the problems they cause when trying to get out of the water but surely they are neutral or slightly buoyant whilst in the water. All the clothes I've lost overboard have floated..
Click to expand...

I'm with you - I don't think clothes make much difference.
 
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