Jesse,

There are a couple of models of inflatable PFD's that the USCG has recently begun certifying (past couple of years now). But most...and their general policy...is still "no." So I sort of hedged for the sake of not getting sidetracked in the article. But you are correct. There are, in fact, some inflatible PFD's that are USCG approved for use by adults only and with a couple of other caveats. Mostly, this has to do with neck flotation and upright positioning in the event of the individual wearer being rendered unconscious. As you probably know, the USCG will only approve PFD's that keep the wearer's mouth and nose above water even if they are unconscious so that they can continue breathing. This also requires that the PFD auto-inflates. The very best of these have a selectable auto-inflate feature, so that the wearer can set them to auto-inflate upon contact with water or turn them to manual inflate only. This allows you to wear them (as you do) when wading or floating in belly boats and such without setting off the charging mechanism. What the USCG does not approve for sure is the belt variety of inflatible PFD's. But I will say emphatically that any PFD is better than no PFD. And these belt style inflatible PFD's are actually better than what you get on a commercial airliner. If they FAA and NTSB will allow commercial airlines to fly folks over vast expanses of ocean for hire with less PFD than a good belt type inflatible PFD, then I have no problem telling folks that I would rather see them wearing one of these than nothing at all whenever they are using any sort of watercraft. And it is certainly a step up from having the very best life jacket in the world setting in the boat or stored in a gear bin in the boat, but not actually ON YOUR BODY.