life vests

[4beader]

As some of you may remember, I just purchased my first pontoon boat. I now want a life vest, and with Christmas approaching Santa has said that I can get what I want, just to let HER know. I have narrowed it down to a Stearns or Sospenders inflatable, but that is where the question arises. I want the waist pack type rather that the kind that fits behind the neck and down across the chest. However, I wonder about the relative safety of the waist pack verses the behind the neck type. Which do you perfer and why? I plan to fish the Yakima River and some central Washington lakes. No white water nor anything approaching that. Your input will be most appreciated.

Thanks, Jim

[4beader]

Thanks for the suggestion JC, but I did not want a vest style. I already have a "lucky" vest with a fair amount of mojo. I don't want to upset the river gods .

Jim

[Webfoot]

If I understand the way the waist pack models work you still wind up with an inflatable pillow around your neck and comming down your chest ... it just takes an extra step of you putting the loop in the pillow over your head manually after it has been inflated. The extra step might be a problem in you were being swept down stream by a strong current because you'd need to free at least on hand to position the pillow over your head.

Personally, I prefer the behind the neck type because it's just one less thing to worry about if an emergency arises. I wear a lanyard and SOSpenders with pockets (room for flyboxes and other stuff) and don't even realize I have them on most of the time. It allows me to do away with a vest completely.

Dean