New Safety Vest

[Clew In]

Hey Rick,

Have you seen this safety vest?

http://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/viewtopic.php?t=5847

Funny Stuff.

Clew In

[ricki]

Just saw your post, it is a funny image. Lots of irony there, not quite sure what they are lampooning though.

Here's another image. Imagine you are struggling towards shore and are getting hammered with swells throughout. You just abandoned your kite in offshore winds and are just trying to get on to dry land. The cut and calm water are very close by but you don't have enough strength to make it there. So you go and climb up a rocky revetment being hammered by waves. You get washed off, bump your head, lose consciousness and stay that way, permanently. Before you lose it, you may recall that you told the local shop you would be in for an impact vest the next day.

How about this one. You are a stoked newbie, can't wait to get water time in. All you have are lakes, but there is a light breeze, the sun is up, it isn't so cold in your 3/2 wetsuit, yet. Thing is the wind dies, the sun sets as due normal winter temperatures in the midwest and the fog moves in. Hypothermia comes on and steals your strength away until you can no longer swim around in circles trying to find land. Down you go, lacking flotation or an impact vest and there you stay.

Grim, true as are both stories. But if the point of that post on the California forum was to ridicule use of flotation, I think it was a stupid, ill considered idea. Too few guys use it currently which is why there will likely be repeats with variants of the above images.

Ignoring all that underlying "deeper meaning" stuff though, it is a funny image.

[conchxpress]

Rick,

How much flotation does an impact vest really amount to? Never tried one, so I figured you'd know. They should make one with a small CO2 cartridge.

F.

[Danimal8199]

I have had two of these sort of experiences. I most always wear a floatation/impact vest when i ride in the gulf.

Once as a newbie was riding in light wind with a seat harness and booties on, wind dies while i'm in a channel with a strong current which made it difficult to do anything. Add in the imobility of a seat harness and drag from booties combined with the fact that it was hard to swim in with all the channel markers, I had one hell of a time!


Another time I didn't have my vest on I got stuck on a crab trap bouy and could have got my kite free had I had floatation. Since I didn't I ran out of gas quickly and had to swim back to shore...

The second story was after much more experience, so anything can happen...

[ricki]

Not that much perhaps around 11 to 15 lbs. for an adult Type III-like PFD or impact vest. This compared to the average adult head weight of about 8 lbs? A Type I with the neck flotation collar that will float you face up even if unconscious provides about 22 lbs. of buoyancy. The neck collar is great until it potentially contributes to cervical trauma in a powered wipeout. Then there is all that bulk and loss of movement that comes with a Type I PFD. If you are conscious and able to remain head up or on your back a Type III PFD or impact vest should keep you from drowning.

An impact vest is no substitute for good watermanship skills. I believe all kiters should have strong swimming skills to be able to act as competent, independent riders if necessary. The vest is just a supplement not a replacement. The last reason I wear an impact vest is for flotation, still in a crisis it is fine with me it it moves to first position. It also helps to keep you warm, gives you a place to keep your keys. I used them routinely for almost my entire time kiting, coming up on ten years next month.

I like long sessions as you've noticed, eight hours is good if the conditions are prime and I have the time. I like to ride a couple of miles offshore at times, accepting the need to come back under my own power if things go wrong. Not shy about swimming long distances but I've still always worn an impact vest. It helps if you have to fix something using both hands, relaunching kites in deep water with gnat sneeze breeze, it can make a difference if you have to help someone else in deep water, lots of stuff. For guys that throw powered tricks it may prevent or minimize rib damage on water impacts. I am surprised that guys that have fractured ribs in wipeouts don't use them routinely. I assume my vests have spared me some broken ribs several times. To each his own but the pluses far outweight the negatives in my mind. As with a helmet you forget you have it on in short order.