Do you know Your Life Jackets

[Volvo]

???Maybe that should have read "are you familliar with your life jackets you have stowed somewhere's in your Boat :-/....
Have you ever tried them out to see if they suit your size,n shape of your?/ lets say profile lol..
Have you ever taken them down to your local pool, chucked em in the drink and then hopped in and tried to put them on securely whilst bobbin up n down in the drink ???..
Want a bit of advice ???..I recomend you do so ;)..I'm hoping you may never need to do so but after a wee bit of VMR training i participated in at our local pool today(after thinklin i knew it all lol)..
I realised what a great value of a coupla hours that was and thought "Okay next i log onto Forums, i'm gunna bring the topic up"..
Have been through most the proceedure back in me younger Navy days , hence the thought of thinkin i knew it all lol, but couple of things disturbed me enough to want to bring it up here..
(a) Some of the Life jackets used which i'm sure would be sitting under the lid somewhere with maybe at least 50% if not more of most Boats...
The type which have the blocks of foam or whatever material it is inside them..Found that they had a habit of wanting ta squash me Adams apple or choke the shitter outa me lol..had to adjust it so it rested up under my chin kinda ???..in the end i took the bloody thing off in disgust..Which would be a no-no under a real emergency ey :-[..
(b)Have never ever thought that "Just maybe??" the need to fit them onto one selfe after an emergancy might ever come up and how hard it would be to do so??..Or how to do so??..Some may think that there will always be ample warning if need arrises to fit them??"dunno" ???..
(c) Exactly how does one fit them properly to oneself, and what are all the thingies sewed to them for??..
Personally within the next month or so my budget will be to go buy some inflatable life vests and exchange them for the ones allready in the boat..
Or at least do a good suss out of Life jackets and which are the most safe, comfortable and easy to fit in anger, if that could be a right term lol..
Take my Missus and those who mostly come out with me for an hour or so in the local pool just for a muckaround fitting the things lets say "after the event"..
okay leave it at that for fear of rambling on too much lol...
Cheers n hope ya think about it ey :)..

[blaze]

hi volvo
Life jackets are part of life in tassie, good thing to i think. Must always wear them in a power boat whilst under power if the vessel is under 6 meters.
The inflatables are a good thing for confort BUT if shit happens and you are ko-ed, then it wont auto inflate if you dont get the auto inflate swicth (about $100 more)
I think if you buy some good quality pfd1's and get into the habit of wearing them, you wont go to far wrong
cheers
blaze

[Needmorerum]

What was the VMR training that was on? This is something that I would have loved to have gone to. Was it for the boat crew was it? Should get them to spread the word a bit when these sort of days are on so we can all come along.

You've bought up a very valid point here, and out of all that read this, if only one person tries this out and works out how to do this important step, then it was well worth it. I know I am going to give it a shot.

Corry

[wessel]

Volvo

There is a bit of science behind of all of the "what to do in case of an emergency scenario"

With all that adrenaline rushing around your body when the proverbial has hit the fan, your motor skills have deteriorated to the point where you become useless at doing certain things requiring fine motor skills and eye-hand co-ordination

Take a needle and thread. Time yourself while you try to put the thread through the eye of the needle. Now, run as fast as you can to the nearest pub, run up to the counter, grab the barman across the counter and kiss him on the lips. Now you have a reason to get the hell of there and make it home in time to complete the rest of the test:):):)

Now time yourself trying to put that same thread through the eye of the needle.

It is almost impossible with your heart beating at a million miles an hour and the barman trying to kick down your front door.

A bit of a naff saying but;
Amateurs practice till they get it right, professionals practice till they can't get it wrong.

Same with stupid things like lifevests lurking under boat seats. Can you put that thing on in a storm tossed sea? Can you fire a flare in a storm with no lights to help you see what you are doing - without setting what remains of your boat on fire?
Can you operate your radio blindfolded and get a call out for help in an emergency? Do you know the channels and the procedure when making a distress or emergency call or do you first have to find that piece of paper you wrote it on?
Do you have emergency numbers preprogrammed into your GSM telephone?

I am going off topic here as always - Sorry about that :-X

Look out for lifejackets made by a company called SECUMAR. They are the auto inflating type that kicks in when they hit the water. Make sure though that you get the foul weather type. They are expensive at just under US$150 a pop - but in my opinion they are worth it. (Normal boating shops wont stock them, you may have to try an Occupational Health and Safety Eqpmnt supplier if you are willing to fork out that amount of money) You can get them without the auto inflating attachment if you go out in heavy rains and rough seas regularly, but if you get knocked unconscious in the water somebody will have to pull the little red cord for you.

Time for me to return to my corner

Wessel

[Volvo]

:)Blaze in agreement with you rewhen life vests should be worn ey.
Corry,Boat crew Training mate.Bit more than just the lifejacket bit but that was a wee concern of mine to want to bring it up..Mainly the overhead fitting type :-X...
Wesel, might agree with you a wee little bit only :), BUt!!! , get into a situation and after the the poofle valve stops opening and shutting at a fast rate of knots and i garauntee you you will remember important facts which may help you out a tad longer ;)....
I have two type of life vests in my Boat at present. Overhead and jacket type that zip up the middle plus belt clip...
The overhead type will get scranned from my rig once some good inflatable type come onboard..
I guess its like House Fires??....."Never happen to me" and we become a little complacent till we hear on the telly how some toddler got fried due to a Fire mishap and we say "Shit must check me smoke alarms" or other??...
Bit of a wake up call ey??
I guess little safegaurds or excercises are like checkin out the batteries in your smoke detectors???.
I do know that when buyers of new or secondhand Boats negotiate Life vests with the buy that life vests ,How can say it?? without getting myself into bother??
Anyway lets say cheaper quallity :(.....
Anyway nuff said :)....lets hope no onewill have needto use their vestsinareal life threatening situation....
Cheers

[freefish]

Agree with all that's said about wearing & practice. Did a spring clean of all the boats a while back ( yacht,5m plate boat, small tinnie & tender) & checked all the life jackets (10). Some I could not get my head thru, some deterioated, jackets would not zip (I'm overweight) & worst of all for me most rated to only 65 kilos. Worrying when you weigh 105kg. A bit of research & now the owner of an inflatable which is worn nearly all the time with little discomfort. Bill

[Aaron_Fogarty]

Gday
You appreciate a good quality jacket when the forecast predicts 20\25 SE
and it comes away at 30/35knots southerly and you got an hour or so of that nutorious moreton bay chop to get through to get home. I ll never settle for those cheap and nasty $19.99 jobbies again, maybe all right for crabbin up the creek to satisfy the water police but for all you blokes that fish serious water, check out your gear..You think it wont happen to you?..Thats what I thought!
For the sake of the extra 50-100 bucks your life could depend on it...
Im in Japan at the moment and most offshore and rock fisherman wear the inflatable jackets they retail over here from $120 to $300. How much are they in Aust?
I had pro fisherman mates of mine sink out shallow Tempest at night, after cracking their hull. Lucky they werent alone and another pro fished them out.
Regards Aaron
THey never had a chance to grab their jackets the boat went down that quick.

[Thebuffalo]

I got into the habit of lettimg the rug rats wear them in the pool etc. Got them familiar. One problem with the tropics is the heat, it's never an excuse but never the less, I have not yet seen any person with a life jacket on up here. Our weather is a little more predictable to which helps and we don't have the bar crossings etc. I am in the process of making the jackets a lot more accessible, under the bow just doesn't cut it.

[reef05]

When ever I take someone out for the first time in my boat I always take them on a safety tour of the boat, show them where every thing is and how to use it epirb ,fire extingusher,radio & my mobile phone but I must confess I have never shown any one how to put a life jacket on (just took it for granted) but now it is officially on the list of things to do.You never know when the fit will hit the shan and there is a lot of water out there.

[subzero]

I had the missfortune once to do a public display on Flinders Day, to swim with a life jacket on, with 2 vests in tow to take too people in the water... I wish we had practiced it first.... I did it.. about 5 minutes to get 15-20 metres.... I was exhausted.... I could not think of anything WORSE, than trying to swim to my family with vests to save their lives, and watching them go under as I struggled to reach them with the gear to save them....
Its very hard to put on a vest IN THE WATER, which is what you must learn to do!!!! its even harder to swim with the gear to save someone in almost ideal conditions with 500 people looking on, and im a reasonably good swimmer..... damned near drowned
Make sure if you do attempt to practice this that their are at least 2 people available to help you if you get in to difficultys. (Would hate to hear someone drowned in their swimming pool). It's even worse in the winter when wet, cold, tired, dark, possibly injured and frightened.... Think about it!!!!!!!!

[subzero]

Just as an aside, if people from here are interested, I could arrange the Surf Life Savers on Coochiemudloo to oversee, and everone take an organised dip on Main Beach and give it a go... for those that wanted to beforehand I could give a brief 1 hour lecture on PFD1, 2, 3, Coastal, inflatable Stormy Seas, care, maintanance etc at VMR Vicky Point first...
I can arrange the use of our showers etc afterwards and then you could all head off fishing...
Reply to this post if their is an interest from the locals
Regards Lloyd