Life jackets yes or no?

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After falling out of boat twice, one accidentally missing the boat boarding it, the other just starting to fish, tripped on first step! Both times without life jacket, THANK GOD someone was with me to help me! From that point on I wear one from time to board boat, to loading boat to go home! All it takes is one mistake!
 
Only reliable styrofoam for me. If your life is on the line, why rely on something that 1) has to inflate 2) might have a mouse hole chewed in it
 
Now to answer my on question. I do use a inflatable one and I require anyone with me to wear one when the boat is on plane. That is the only rule in my boat. As pointer 78 said I do inforce this rule. I know he does not want to wear it but he now puts one on most of the time with out me saying anything now. Not picking on Jerry but trying to may a point. He once told me he didn't need one he is a good swimmer and I asked him if he could swim if he was@ knocked out or injured. Call me selfish but most of the people in my boat I consider a friend and I don't want to think if I had only required them to wear their jacket! I also must admit I rarely wear one if I'm fishing. At my age that is probably not a good idea since I fish alone most of the time especially when it is cold.
MY HOPE IS THAT MAYBE SOMEONE WILL READ THESE POST AND DECIDES TO PUT THEIRS ON THE NEXT THEY GO FISHING. IT MIGHT BE A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. YOURS OR A FRIEND!!! Fish on and be safe. Thanks to all that posted. May we all be blessed with s 10+ pounder this year.
 
Yes, Always. I have the inflatables used while running. When stopped and fishing I wear the Life Belt which is always on. when moving a put the jacket on. Anyone in my boat will wear a life jacket if the boats engine is running. I only fish with family and friends, both are hard to come by and too easy to lose. Things happen fast we must always be aware of what we are doing.
 
If you use an inflatable vest, take time to check a couple of things. First the dissolving pill ( trigger ) , replace per instruction book, then check the plug used to manually inflate the vest. Make sure that this plug is firmly placed in the vest.
 
I have a couple of kayak vests. The NRS brand. Expensive but the most comfortable that i tried on.... even at that they can be extremely hot in the summer. The only difference in a kayak vest is they do not have lower back flotation materials so that helps with comfort a little while sitting but the material is thicker everywhere else to gain the buoyancy back.

I bought a couple of the mustang vests last Christmas when they were half off at BPS. I wear one of those if I have a thick jacket on or if I am a co angler trying to reduce all the gear I carry.

I am pretty good about wearing one when I am by myself and in the winter. I get lazy in the summer with a partner.
 
I wear a PFD when the big motor is running, when fishing on rough water (this includes heavily trafficked areas), and all the time in cold wx. Goes for my passengers, too.
 
leg straps are important. A loose jacket otherwise properly worn will ride up and hinder movement when in the water.
 
I always wear a jacket when the big motor is running. A few years ago i got an inflatable and that is what I wore. When i'm solo i wear it 100% of the time. It is just good common sense and also to give my wife peace of mind as she always asks me if I wear it. I was always uneasy when fishing with Jmax since he didn't usually ever wear a jacket at any time and I would encourage him to put one on but he wouldn't. Many years ago we fished a CFF out of Sullivans that started at like 3:00 am. I will never forget that morning. We were like #5 to blast off and we had 15 miles to run. Jim being super competitive as he is put the Ranger in warp drive and off we went into the darkness. I had my hand held gps and watched our speed go up and up. We were running around 70 in the dark and jumping boat wakes. Finally we were in the lead and boats were behind us. Then I noticed that for some reason all the boats that were straight behind us were all of a sudden way over to our right. The next thing I noticed was stick ups and twigs flying past me that I could have reached out and grabbed, then I saw a big brush pile right in front of us. Yep Jim had missed a turn in the channel and we were off to the left and in trouble running fast. As the big brush pile loomed closer and closer I for a second considered just jumping off the side and taking my chances, after all I had a life jacket on and the water was obviously pretty shallow. To Jim's credit he kept his cool and kept the power on and made a hard right turn. The Ranger skipped right and the brush pile flashed by just out of my reach on the left. We then by the grace of God made it safely back out to the channel without hitting anything. We really didn't talk about it for a long time but on the trip back to the ramp when we went by that area and saw the path we had carved through the weeds with logs and stuff all over it was eye opening to say the least. I remember as we made our way at high speed back to the channel thinking, "God if we hit something and get thrown in the water please let me end up close to Jim because he doesn't have a life jacket on." When we got to the ramp for the weigh in we heard people talking about the crazy morons that cut the corner that morning and we confessed it was us. All the years we fished together I encouraged Jim to wear a life jacket. I hope he is reading this and is now wearing one emoAngel . Since I got my FX21 which goes pretty fast I've started wearing a 100mph heavy secure life jacket attached to the kill switch when running the big motor and I change to the inflatable when fishing. An inflatable would be too easily torn away in the event of a high speed ejection. We can't be too careful and I'm sure that anyone who has had a boating accident who drowned without a life jacket said, "Those things are hot or uncomfortable and besides I'm careful, won't happen to me". emoSorry . Everyone be safe and live to fish a lot of days. emoWorthy
 
Great story. Never fished a tournament before, but have often wondered is it really necessary to travel that fast, especially in the dark and regardless of how familiar you think you are with a body of water. I kind of understand if you are miles away and it is close to weigh in...maybe. Nevertheless, just Not smart. Just my opinion.
 
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