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PFD with integrated harness, or separate?


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I'm looking to buy a PFD and harness for coastal use and maybe further afield down the track. I'm not sure whether to go with integrated or separate harness. Anyone out there with opinions either way?

 

I have searched for this, but couldn't find what I wanted, but if it has been covered already, please post a link.

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There are enough different models of integrated lifejackets/harnesses about to give a good choice. I find that having an integrated unit means I have all bases covered when it's needed. And the L/J's are so compact now you don't even notice it is there. For me, it's the only way to go.

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We have two each and auto inflate option (both with harness rings as is standard these days). We tend to wear our lighter Hutchwilco PFD's during the day and in for pottering about, and then wear our bulker full noise Crewsaver ones at night -especially on passage (they have a bit more gear inside them). We are usually two-handed and on solo watch -and offshore a bit. So get the best you can afford and wear it. Remember it is the tether that is most important. Just a tip - add some extra glow in the dark tape onto the front. Makes it much easier to find your PFD in a dark cabin! And have spare inflation kits onboard for the time it self inflates (it will one day!)

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:thumbup:

So good to see the above opinions.

Clip on....

You would not believe how hard it is to see a person in the water in a swell at night...

A life jacket is essential...

But...

You would not believe how hard it is to see a person in the water in a swell at night...

 

A search area gets larger at a frightening rate by time...

 

You would not believe how hard it is to see a person in the water in a swell at night...

 

The average head is 300 mm x 200 mm...That is what a FLIR camera will pick up.

That is your only hope by aircraft or high end rescue vessel.

 

The life jacket with SOLAS tape will show for several kilometers ...as long as the light source and the searcher look at the same time....

Your odds are now decreasing Badly...

 

Come daytime...your SOLAS tape is not going to help...

Its now down to FLIR and hoping that in a brief flash across a huge expanse you will be spotted by human eyes on a run...

 

Its called mowing the grass in search terms. Its the most efficient and practical way to do it.

You search in a line...get to the end...turn 180 deg...move across many metres and go again...   ONLY ONCE !

 

If you miss the first time ..tough.

The laws of survival in the water state that in our latitudes you have very little time...SO if we miss you ...

Search rules are hard but true...we must keep moving as quick as possible just in case. We will only be back on a second full run.

As your body temperature reduces so does the difference that our FLIR cameras see... If you are the same temp as the water ...we cant see you ...and you are dead.

 

CLIP ON... 

 

 

 

 

(Disclosure, I am a skipper in a marine rescue organisation

a live aboard sailor, a marine repair contractor, and  

going out and seeing dead people really really sucks..

it is a reality kick that I hope comes across in what I am saying) 

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I've never understood the current fixation on lifejackets. Wear a harness and clip on

LJs are secondary to that.

Because of you end up over the side, tethered on, but need to cut free, then you'll need the life jacket. I would say both are equally important.

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Because if you’re being dragged along the side of the boat doing anything more than 2 knots you have about 2 minutes before becoming exhausted and succumbing to secondary drowning (depending on what awkward position you find yourself in). If sailing solo, short handed or other crew off watch then such a scenario is feasible. Having a tether cutter gives you an option, assuming you can reach and use it before you drown.

 

So now you’ve cut yourself free and watching your boat sail over the horizon, then what? Inflate the Lifejacket, if it hasn’t already done so, and set off the PLB that’s attached to it (assuming you’re still conscious). Now you’ve improved the chances of S&R finding you - dead or alive.

 

If I am sounding like one of those health and safety w**nkers, that’s because i am! ???? (Safety in design, risk management, etc.).

 

Cheers!

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Possible yes. But best practice is to use a tether that is too short to reach the water. And clip on!

 

Has anyone considered attaching your harness to a spare halyard?   

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Been mentioned in forums I’ve seen before. Have you considered how much the masthead moves in a big sea? Plus, on the LEE side you can be dragged easily a long way from the boat - the masthead is not always vertical.

Short tethers, on the windward side jack stay seems best to me.

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Have you considered how much the masthead moves in a big sea? Plus, on the LEE side you can be dragged easily a long way from the boat - the masthead is not always vertical.

Short tethers, on the windward side jack stay seems best to me.

 

I see,  seem like it a daft idea then.   

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Possible yes. But best practice is to use a tether that is too short to reach the water. And clip on!

 

On the leeward side when heeled over, such a tether might be so short you cant even stand up straight.

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