USCG approved or not?

Well, its not so much looking cool as it is comfort. I mean, usually the smaller vests are easier to move in etc. I still want to float or I would just wear a rash guard. Also there is becoming a vast selection of non uscg approved vests. In fact it seems anymore is almost 50/50 depending on where you shop. So I was more curious if there really was a big difference. Thought maybe it was like getting a food to be kosher, just need their blessing.

The first pull-over type vests I noticed were nylon Slippery When Wet and made for the jet ski racing crowd.

You must wear it properly!


I just love it when a girl takes off her vest and a nip is out.

Some in our boat choose to wear the non traditional front bobber vest. I tend to prefer these over the other.

IMAGE deleted so this thread is SFW.

+1

This site is not the normal internet forum for boat owners as most of you guys are older and more experienced than a lot of the people posting on forums out there. We will all have (should have) enough experience to know what can happen and how to mitigate risks. If you feel comfortable in a non approved vest and KNOW it will float you in an emergency then go with it, if it wont float you then you are putting your life in the hands and hopefully quick thinking of the guys/girls you are riding with.

Oh and don't forget the difference a wetsuit can make to buoyancy, last time I was diving I had to carry an extra 14kg of weights to get the correct buoyancy due to the 12mm of wetsuits. If a comp vest floats you whilst wearing a 3mm will it do the save if you are just trunking it?

That image isn't very `office` friendly I will need to have a second look at this thread later.

Jllogan wrote: Problem is you dont know until you are in the water.

Exactly- this is the only comparison test that I have been able to find:
http://www.boatus.com/foundation/findings/50/page6.asp

It may just be me and my bad luck but, I prefer a USCG vest. Because if something bad is ever going to happen, it will be me. Being alive is 100% better than ever being dead.

Fixed link

Im a floater, always have been, probably always will

I dont ski so I have no experience with those types of crashes. I had a bad day two years ago on a wakeboard though. It was late in the day and I was kind of beat from riding and being out in the sun all day. We were riding in a nice flat cove on my lake and when the driver turned at the end I decided it would be a good time to cut out hard for a nice powerslide.....done it hundreds of times. Got going about mach 2 and got into the slide, got lazy and stood up. Caught a back edge and hit the water so hard backwards that the lens on my watch broke. I had a USCG approved vest on and did not get knocked out. However, I was under water completely inverted with the board still on my feet. Body tingling, staring up at the sunlight hitting the surface of the water, unable to move any part of my body. As I slowly passed the folcrum and started to float up my buds were out of the boat and swimming towards me. As I reached the surface they were surpised that i was still concious. They had to take my board off and physically put me in the boat. It took me almost two weeks to recover from that crash. Last year I was reading an article Wakeboarding Magazine and Chad Sharpe was writing about the importance of proper floatation. He is a world class rider and experienced the exact same crash that I did and said he has never been that scared in his life. Until you have been stuck underwater, helpless, and concious enough to understand whats happening, but not be able to help yourself will you understand the importance of proper floatation. And I actually had it on. Imagine that same scenario while wearing a comp vest and being spotted by some dudes with a few beers in them that didnt realize you fell till they got 1/2 way across the lake. I'm all set with that. All it takes is a few seconds and it's over. Comp vests are for competitions.

Mike

Bri892001 wrote: He started wearing the helmet after that.

Maybe I should think about that. I drew blood from a minor head wound from contact with my slalom ski after a pretty good tumble last summer. You just never know.

I utilize either a Straight Line or Eagle Non CG approved vest, However in my world very few serious skiers utilize CG approved vest as they ski on private lakes.
Having read many regulations, State and Municipal laws concerning the use of approved flotation it would be in every ones best interest to know what the law's and regs are in their area.

Having been beat up pretty good from time to time taking digger's at 34 and 36 mph I have only had to be plucked out of the water seeing tweety's and Stars once. but when I do fall hard and Float up from it I all way's put my hand up in front of my face. I came up about 15 years ago and as I turned around to look for the boat the ski that had blown off my feet hit me right on the bridge of my nose! ouch! Blood and more tweety's and stars!

I must be falling wrong...

Jody, you've only seen those cool little flashy stars once? It seems like that happens about every other time out for me. Somebody told me once that was an indicator of a concussion, anybody know if that's true?

And Mike, I probably had a half-dozen times this summer where I ended up with my board on top of the water and my body straight down underneath with no idea which way was up. I actually kindof enjoy those, because I can hang there weightless for a few seconds (which feels like an hour), let my body go limp, and know my vest will eventually pull me back up.

Ya'll can do whatever you want, you're grown adults, but with the beating I take, I'll never not have a CG approved vest.

05 210 wrote: Until you have been stuck underwater, helpless, and concious enough to understand whats happening, but not be able to help yourself will you understand the importance of proper floatation. Mike

conscious or unconscious both scary as hell.

My wife took a backwards headslam on a powerslide this past August. That was one nasty fall and her bell rung the rest of the day not to mention twisting a knee. Major mental set back as well.

watrski wrote: I always wear my USGC approved vest when skiing. The problem with USCG vests is the $$ it takes to get them certified. Just because they don't have the certification doesn't mean they will not work.

   75Tique and Quinner both rock those when they're on the water.

   I think that there are inherent risks involved in everything nowadays so I do what I can to be safe that's all. I will never be good enough at watersports at this point in my life to justify the necessary gains from a comp vest. If others can honestly say that the next advancement in their skills would come from a smaller less restrictive vest than so be it. I think the thing that alot of people realize when they start to get older is that it is no longer just about you, its about the wife, the kids, the mortgage, the business, etc. FWIW I dont feel like a person skiing in a comp vest on a private controlled lake is the same comparison as someone out on a larger body of public water, but thats just me.

   Mike

9 out of 10 Veteran skiers prefer the older vests lol,