Re: [Paddlewise] Inflatable PFDs

From: "PJ Rattenbury"
Subject: [Paddlewise] Inflatable PFDs


> Anyone used one of these in a kayak rescue emergency?  Pros and cons?
>

In a previous life where I had to work for a living running a hydrological
survey team, we used inflatable PFDs when working from boats to avoid the
bulk of a conventional PFD. We also used them when wading in rivers where
there was a possibility of being swept off your feet, as a normal PFD would
give you lift when you did not want any.

We held a safety exercise once with another team, where, amongst other
things, we tried inflating the PFDs and swimming. The model that we had gave
adequate buoyancy without unduly restricting movement, but the other team
had ones with much more buoyancy, and swimming was difficult. In NZ, where
PFDs are called lifejackets, and are approved for different yachting
categories, a Cat 1 Offshore jacket has more buoyancy than a Cat 2-3-4
Sheltered Waters jacket.

It turned out that our PFDs were Sheltered Waters ones, the other team's
were Cat 1. You would have difficulty re-entering your kayak with a Cat 1
model inflated.

The other thing to avoid is the automatic inflation model. You don't want it
to inflate when you are trying to exit the beach through a wave!

If you look at the website for Safety at Sea Australasia Ltd,
www.safetyatsea.co.nz and look for Sospender lifejackets you will find an
Offshore and a Sheltered Waters model. Other models available here come from
Hutchwilco and RFD, but I couldn't find websites for them.

I think changing a CO2 cartridge on the water would be dicey. You could
probably deflate the bladder and get it more or less back in place under the
cover, but if you needed it again you would have to blow down the tube to
inflate it. If conditions were such that you wet exited though, you would
probably want to leave it inflated while you concentrated on staying upright
and pumping out.

Allan Singleton

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