Opinions on inflatable life vests

Brian,I have the Mustang with the HIT inflatable system, and love it. Inflates under hydrostatic pressure so it will not prematurely go off if you get in a heavy rain. Was never really a fan of the pull the inflate vest. Get the best there is out there, you never know one day your life might depend on it.Jay

I do not have any experience with the inflatables. I know BCB does not like them. My brother has used them off and on. Now he will not wear them due to an incident this summer.He was fishing with his friend and they encountered a bow hook that ejected both anglers from the boat while running the river channel. He was using his BCB lifejackets at the time. The boats kill switch activated and the boat glided to the shoreline/lilly pads. Paul was able to locate where Bill was, some 20 yards from where he was. He swam over to his friend, who also was wearing the BCB lifejacket, and checked him over. Bill had sore ribs and leg was sore. Paul swam to the boat, towing Bill, some 30 more yards. Managed to get back into the boat, and both were sore, but nothing broken.The BCB jacket is impact tested at 100mph. They were actually doing only 45mph in the Cougar FTD/250XS.The inflatables are nice/lightweight, but offer no rib/back protection. Not worth it IMHO. I am sure there will be some that disagree……. Last edited by jignpig on August 30th, 2010, 3:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.96 Eyra/12 Mercury 175 Pro XS with 2015 single axle trailer2017 Victory Gunner

I ONLY WEAR INFLATABLE WHILE FISHING, IF MY BIG, OLDDD BUTT FELL IN ID PROBABLY NEED IT, BUT RUNNING I use BCB vest!BAYOU BANDIT

I do the same thing Sam does. In fact, I got the inflatable specifically to wear on hot nights. The foam vest goes back on when I get behind the wheel.Edit: Its the Mustang with HIT. Pretty comfortable to wear. But it is just in case I fall out.

Sams got the right idea after revisiting the intended use. Regular jacket for running, lightweight for on deck fishing. Im a bigger boy than Sam so unless they make a 4-5xl inflatable with 40+ lbs of buoyancy, guess Ill have to sweat it out or take my chances on the deck.96 Eyra/12 Mercury 175 Pro XS with 2015 single axle trailer2017 Victory Gunner