Auto inflating life jackets

[wavelength]

I put clients into auto inflate lifejackets but except on advanced courses I wear and prefer the instructors to wear buoyancy aids as there are circumstances which could possibly require the instructor to enter the water and in which a 150n lifejacket would be a hindrance

[whitingiom]

I decided that two of mine needed a service last night, so stuck them on the kids and pulled the cords........

The cheaper Sowester Sport inflated in about 6 secs.

The more expensive Hammar fitted Sowester Fulmar took about 10 seconds to inflate, and seemed to have problems opening the velcro on one side.

Neither leaked, and neither needed any assistance from the mouth inflator.

A pity Sowester are out of business these days!

Off to the chandler for some new gas bottles at lunchtime.

Ho hum.

[Jelly]

My personal view is that teaching & Safety work I use a manual 150N crewsaver ( I have found it much easier to work in the water with a deflated gas jacket than my bouyancy aid on dinghy rescue - not that you should be in the water at all (3 times in 9 years)) and have auto's for passengers and offshore.
I do have an inhouse report which I can't post.
It did point out that reliablity of firing is a good thing (which some weren't as good as others), floatation hight (combination of what you are wearing and floatation device) - too low you get a lot of water over you/ingested, too high you loose stability in the water and can get flipped etc.
Hoods are good for obvous reasons and strobes ar better than lights, crutch straps are there to stop us falling out not to make you smile like the 'Mona Lisa' when lifted by the harness.
Jelly

[matiboy]

Originally posted by crazyhorse
Who makes the Ocean Passage jacket?

aladins cave emailed me with the following responce:

made by crewsaver


yes we have the hammer hydrostatic auto std jacket with harnes & crutch straps £64.99
hammer OP plus lifejacket auto as std but with hood and light £89.99

the above 2 are produced by crewsaver

we also have the OP super bobbin in manual with harness crutch straps and spray hood £62.99
and the OP super bobbin automatic with harness crutch straps and spray hood £69.99

light option for the super bobbin aq98 £18.00

the super bobbin are produced by remploy

all prices include vat

so got to be good ?

[dgpw]

I have a light on my jacket and have a strobe that goes on my arm when out at night. The strobe is fantastic and only cost about £10 (light is very important) Doing a realy sector search for a person in rough weather in not fun in dalight let alone the dark.

[crazyhorse]

Ok Matiboy,Looks like were getting close to a purchase.

Seems the Hammer arming kit is on a few different jackets so it seems to be the standard,so you will get spares real easy, and in the future.

We use the Crewsaver Crewfit plus 150n,with light and harness and detachable hood on webbing. And the all important Hammer arming thingy.

The down side of the Hammer arming kit is its only good for 3 yrs and has a shelf life,It has a colour bar that turns to red when its knackered I presume.So I will be buying a new one then I think.

Know then there are two questions that need asking in my humble oppinion. 1 x What is the difference between the Ocean Passage and the 150nt crewsaver crewfit plus. Cost and any difference in spec.

Does the whole hammer kit need replacing and how much in 3 yrs or just the bottle.

3x for luck is the gas bottle thread the same.

If you get a favorable responce then IMHO you have a great piece of kit,proberbly cheaper than my crewsaver crewfit plus air only jacket with all the bits. Good luck let me know.

[crazyhorse]

Yes good idea dgpw and Jelly, I am also getting a strobe for the top of my head in my neoprean helmet.

See http://www.equipped.com/ What a site if like me your interested in this subject.

[whitingiom]

I put a new Hammar and 33gm bottle on my LJ today........

£25!!!!!!!!

My son's 'salt tablet model' was £15

Expensive thing safety!

[crazyhorse]

Very Good point Witingiom.Yes ours takes the same hammer.So maybe the cheaper alternative is to go Salt Tablet same jacket.Bet you cant get them as were getting close to there marketing truth,and the reasons why they sell them at the price,cos they will take another 25 quid of us all in three yrs time.

Clever,But I am happy that we have got to the bottom of there game.

No such thing as a free lunch.

[Phill]

Used salt tablets for many years, never fancied having to go deep enough to have to set a hyrostatic one one off. Never had (until tomorrow!) a false firing. Have Crewsaver, Baltic, and Cosalt 150N (all long enough for mildew !) Seem great, right an unconsious casualty, keep you there (all-deliberately-tested in open sea at one point or another). All take the same CO2 cylinder size and thread - but different auto's (salt tabs). Also have a few Crewsaver 275 autos. Much stiffer and heavier, you're far more consious of wearing a life jacket.
The other advantage I've found with the polo (salt tab) rather than the hydrostatic is that it only takes 10-15 secs to convert it to a manual. Autos are not allowed in SAR helicopters (or any other aircraft), and having the option in one lifejacket is faster/cheaper than changing jackets - probably a fairly personal requirement though.

[matiboy]

Looking in to things a bit I actually think I would prefer the salt tablet mechanism- as I believe they will activate quicker and dont rely on you possibly having to go under first to activate inflation

but knowing the size of waves in the Solent wind over tide I think a spray hood is a survival must if you end up in the drink

No good just floating if waves are going to constantly break over your face

So need to find that combination

ps: The ocean passage jackets are dated to 2008 , so 5 years use.

[crazyhorse]

Hammer Hydrostatic is 10 cm of sea water pressure for activation.

Yes I think I wish I had known about the £25 before parting with my money.To late but its a good Jacket.

Good luck Mateboy have a look at Baltic.

[wavelength]

someone mentioned earlier that his lifejacket had a bit of difficulty parting the velcro on one sidewhen inflating-which brings me on to an incident a couple of years back on the course we run every year for a group of local authority beachguards. As part of their training their boss wants them to inflate at least one manual lifejacket a year in the water so they can see what happens and to make sure they know which bit to pull !
Now James thought he would give his jacket a head start and opened the outer cover velcros and entered the water with the jacket opened flat but not inflated. When he pulled the cord nothing happened no matter how hard he tried. His colleagues though it hilarious and suggested tht he should not take up skydiving! When we examined the jacket it was obvious why - the cover panel inside the jacket is a very loose fitting thing and all that was happening was that the bottle assembly was moving around as he pulled the cord. Folded the jacket up again so that it holds the botle secure and it went off perfectlly when he pulled the string. So the moral is I suppose if you know you are going to end up in the water don't open the covering in an attempt to help it -& - if at first you don't succeed then sky diving is not for you