Lifejackets

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Home > Lifejackets >

Lifejacket or Buoyancy Aid?

A Lifejacket is designed to save your life. It can roll your body in the water, to ensure your head is kept above water, all without you doing anything. So even if you are unconscious, it will still save your life. A buoyancy aid helps you stay afloat, if unconscious, then you may be face down.

How do they work?
The front and back of the lifejacket is designed to have unequal buoyancy (the front being more buoyancy), so if you land in the water on your front, you will roll over and continue floating on your back.
Lifejackets normally have a collar to support your head, and keep it above the surface, until you are rescued. Lifejackets serve to keep your head above water, preventing you from drowning, not to help you swim.

Why would I need a Lifejacket and not a Buoyancy Aid?
Firstly, if you can't swim a lifejacket is for you because it will float you without you needing to do anything. However Lifejackets are not exclusively for non-swimmers. If you plan to sail quite far from the coast, or alone, then it's strongly recommended you have a Lifejacket because of the time it may take to rescue you. If you're in a situation where you could be knocked unconscious (e.g. the boom hits you), or unconfident swimming with strong currents, then it's sensible to have a lifejacket.
However if you're dinghy sailing, canoeing, jet skiing or close to other people or in a popular area with lots of people around, then you may want a sport specific buoyancy aid. These aren’t as bulky as a permanent-buoyancy lifejacket and aren’t as expensive as an inflation lifejacket, should you fall in. In the end it's up to you. But to help here is a list of different types of lifejackets and buoyancy aids with a brief explanation of what they do.

Manual Activation Lifejackets
Manually activated lifejackets have a pull cord located on the bottom of the jacket. When the jacket is needed, the user simply has to pull the cord and the jacket inflates. This has the advantage of not triggering simply because you were sailing in the rain or because you accidentally fell off the pontoon, saving you money on the re-arming kits. However, should you be unable to pull the cord, the lifejacket WILL NOT inflate and will be useless!

Auto Inflating Lifejackets
Automatically inflating lifejackets self inflate upon contact with the water so even if you're unconscious, the jacket still inflates and saves your life. They activate when water enters a firing head and dissolves the trigger. However the can sometimes activate in damp or very wet conditions. While not as error proof as the Hydrostatic system, this has the advantage of being slightly cheaper.

Hydrostatic Lifejackets
Hydrostatic Lifejackets are popular because of their firing head only activates when the jacket is submerged in water (when submerged to a depth of 3 inches or more). not just because water reached the firing head as in heavy seas or rain. These lifejackets only go off when you fall in, no matter how wet you are before hand. Hydrostatic Lifejackets are the choice of the Emergency Services, the Forces, and the RNLI because of this feature.

Permanent Buoyancy Lifejackets
Permanent Buoyancy Lifejackets are foam lifejackets normally with a collar to support the head above water. They don't need re-charging every time they are used and are therefore cheaper both to buy initially and to use. However because of the buoyancy needed to make it a lifejacket and the permanent presence of foam around the neck, these lifejackets are a lot bulkier to wear than gas inflation lifejackets or buoyancy aids.

Permanent Buoyancy Lifejackets
These are very popular for children because they offer parents the peace of mind of knowing that the child doesn't have to be able to swim or tread water until you rescue them. Users who are trying water activities for the first time also like these as they are not that big an investment should they not take to it.

Buoyancy Aids
Buoyancy Aids assist in counteracting the pull of clothing as well as increasing your buoyancy making it easier for you to swim. Because of the waistcoat-style design they also protect your upper body from wind and spray keeping you warmer making them especially popular with sailors of traditional dinghies and motorboat/RIB users. There are variations on the basic buoyancy aid to cover specific sports. Canoeing and dinghy jackets are shorter that the traditional style and also have cutaway arms allowing freedom of movement whilst still retaining the same buoyancy. They may also specific features such as having the zip at the side to minimize chances of it getting caught.