Bruce Baker
Life of the Party
I have a West Marine PDF that I got as a Christmas gift. It is an auto/manual model. Right now it is manual for my float tube fishing, but it is nice to know I can convert it back to auto if I want to.
Inflatable PFD - Manual or Auto?
- Thread starter Josh
- Start date
Something that floats when you hit the water is definitely safer, as long as you are wearing it. I am more likely at times to be wearing the inflatable. If it's hot, or sometimes the foam one starts to chafe, I might take it off.
A friend of mine ended up in the Lower Columbia in March, The water temperature was in the low forties. The current quickly swept him away from his anchored boat. He said he was a hundred yards from the beach, and after it happened he said he wouldn't have made it. Legs started cramping from the cold. Fortunately the LC is pretty crowded during the Springer season and someone picked him out of the water. He was religious about wearing his inflatable after that.
A friend of mine ended up in the Lower Columbia in March, The water temperature was in the low forties. The current quickly swept him away from his anchored boat. He said he was a hundred yards from the beach, and after it happened he said he wouldn't have made it. Legs started cramping from the cold. Fortunately the LC is pretty crowded during the Springer season and someone picked him out of the water. He was religious about wearing his inflatable after that.
I don't think they do. Or at least, I've not seen one.
The foot controlled ones that the bass boat guys use have the option to be set to momentary or constant. And I think are mostly used on momentary, so that they shut off if you aren't pressing the foot switch.
A federal boating law was established in 2021 that all operators on boats up to 26' and over 3 hp use a kill switch, as an attached kill switch lanyard can be as important as a PFD. Many are the storie of boaters run over by their own prop when going over the side without a kill switch, their OB immediately going hard over, the boat spinning doughnuts and running over ejected operator or passenger.
"Federal law effective April 1, 2021, those piloting boats less than 26 feet in length that are not in a cabin are required to use their engine cut-off switches. (Formerly referred to as, “kill switches,” the term engine cut-off switch, or ECOS, is the preferred nomenclature, whether referring to engine-cut-off switches operated by a physical lanyard or any of several electronic solutions.)
Specifically, Section 8316 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 passed by Congress requires individuals operating recreational vessels less than 26 feet in length with an engine capable of 115 pounds of static thrust (3 hp) or more to use ECOS links. However, this law applies when the primary helm is not in a cabin and when the boat is operating on plane or above displacement speed. Situations in which an ECOS link would not be required include docking, launching and loading on a trailer, trolling and operating in no-wake zones.
Bruce Baker
Life of the Party
If you are talking about manual combustion, yes per @SurfnFish's post.
Transom mounted electric trolling motors no. Bow mount no, but then they are normally controlled by a foot pad or remote, so if foot comes off pad or finger off of remote....motor stops. At least from the motors I have been around.
Good idea. Incidentally, Canadian federal regulations require a lifejacket or PFD to be on board for each person. In open boats, inflatables are only approved if they are worn. If the boat has a cabin, you only need to wear an inflatable when you're out on deck, or in the cockpit. Are there similar laws in the U.S., either federal or state?
All passengers required to have a PFD onboard. If the only ones onboard are inflatable then they must be worn at all times. If type 1 PFDs are onboard they are not required to be worn.
For the boats I run I carry type 1 PFDs onboard as well as inflatables and require one or the other be worn.
Auto. There have been several mentions of getting knocked out. As a person ages the word “stroke” is encountered more and more. A 36-year old friend had a stroke that rendered him unconscious for a month and permanently hemiplegic. My mom was 62 when a stroke stole her independence. I've known several people who suffered strokes and all of them were intellectually nonfunctional when they hit the floor. You don't have to hit your head to be instantly disabled. I wear either my Chinook or an automatic inflatable.
If you fall out of a small boat it's probably going to skate a few feet away. If the wind is blowing, it is going to continue putting distance between you and it. If it is winter and you go into northwest waters dressed for the season you have about two minutes to get back in the boat or ashore before your muscles lock up, and with all those clothes and footwear on it's like swimming in wet cement. 40 degree water is very very cold. Been there, done it years ago. I wasn't going to come back up, but somebody snagged my coat with a long driftwood branch. Some days you just get lucky.
If you fall out of a small boat it's probably going to skate a few feet away. If the wind is blowing, it is going to continue putting distance between you and it. If it is winter and you go into northwest waters dressed for the season you have about two minutes to get back in the boat or ashore before your muscles lock up, and with all those clothes and footwear on it's like swimming in wet cement. 40 degree water is very very cold. Been there, done it years ago. I wasn't going to come back up, but somebody snagged my coat with a long driftwood branch. Some days you just get lucky.
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The problem I had found, when using a tube or pontoon, was in the seats backrest. I have an excellent PFD designed for WW kayaking that I can't use because of the foam in the back, hitting the backrest and pushing me forward. I tried finding one with no back floatation but gave it up. So an inflatable it is, set on manual. Biggest danger I perceive is slipping forward while reaching, and taking a swim. Im still not convinced that boating in waders is a safe practice, tho I do it anyways. Thinking about buying wetsuit pants and just living with the wet feet...
Dustin Chromers
Legend
Get the Mustang Josh. It's a great unit and I've never heard of one going off unintentionally. Well that is unless your buddy puffs you out for a joke. It's not funny by the way.
Bruce Baker
Life of the Party
When in the 'tube or 'toon, do you also wear your wading belt? Most times I do not.
My waders have side pulls and a drawstring, which I use. But truthfully, being elderly and a bit chubby, I seriously doubt I could pull myself up and back into my pontoon with water in my waders and a heavy coat in cold weather. It could make for a long swim to shore, hopefully being supported by my boat. You really need to make an honest evaluation of the dangers..
yes - under 3HP and under no ECOS is required, which is pretty much the max hp of electric motors.
During the mid 70's, when I co-skippered multi day offshore albacore trips on the 85' Chubasco (two captains required by USCG for such trips), which slept 28, we maintained 2 type 1 PFD's for every passenger and crew. One for on deck storage, the other on a hook at the foot of their bunks so if we ever hit anything at night that endangered us (lesson learned after hitting an enormous floating log while running hard after midnight, damaging our hull and keeping our bilge pumps running full tilt as we returned to port and an expensive drydock), it was right there.
Boating accidents are real, happen in a flash and there are no second chances, you're either prepared..or not.
Like some others have mentioned I use a manual inflatable for stillwater in a SFC and my WM.
For rivers in the WM I wanted a Type III. Extrasport (bought out, then discontinued by Old Town) had the so-called RetroGlide shoulder adjustment system. It adjusts easily by just pulling the side straps at the waist that I thought might be easier and more comfortable than buckles at the shoulders. To address the concern raised by @Wetswinger the Extrasport PFDs had a foam back that didn't extend below the top of my WM "highback" soft (that's a relative term) seat.
I bought an Extrasport Sturgeon PFD for the nice fishing vest layout and pockets big enough to stow the larger flyboxes I was using at the time.
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