# Service your inflable life jacket!



## Feral (Oct 18, 2008)

Ok I got my 10 yo son an inflatable lifejacket for christmas for those times when he absolutely does not need to be wearing a life jacket for safety reasons, but the law requires him to. (IE in the local creek which is only 3 foot deep, drifting in grandads 4.5m boat on calm days etc etc) Like most kids he is turned off fishing by having to wear a hot cumbersome jacket, and the infatable makes the experience much more enjoyable for him.

However if he is wearing it, I figured he should know how to use it. So I have been giving him training at various times with dry runs etc.

Today Ray gave me his old inflatable life jacket that was 2 months outside its service period, he didn't want it anymore, he has moved to a yak style PDF2 and for $30 I had another inflatable (price of service kit).

Apart from being past due for a service, I noticed it also had some surface corrosion on the cylinder, so obviously they are serious about it needing to be washed after use near salt water! Ray had only got it wet once.

So I decided before I serviced it I would make my son Alex do a "deployment" on dry land just so he knows what will happen when he pulls the cord!

Well he did, but the jacket gave a dismal performance, leaked everywhere around the cylinder, did not even build enough pressure to push apart the velcro. It served its purpose though, he was just about having kittens about pulling the cord, but once he did, it was all fine, I dont think he will have any problems pulling it for real if needed.

Just for the record, when inflated through the tube, it was perfect.

Here is the video of the "deployment"


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## Duane (Oct 20, 2007)

I've got an inflatable stormy vest i bought for yacht sailing. I give it a visual inspection and an oral inflation test at the start of each season but haven't had it serviced in the three years I've had it.

thanks for the timely reminder.


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## hobieadelaide (Jan 20, 2007)

From watching the video of the deployment,I would say the CO2 canister was not screwed into the housing far enough.If the canister is correctly "inserted" there should be no gas escape as is evident in the video.If the jacket inflates properly by mouth then the bladder is fine.Make sure the gas canister seats firmly down and that you have replaced the green safety tab on the striker.If in doubt,take it back to where you bought it and get them to make sure it is ok.
Just out of curiosity,what brand of PFD is it ?


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