Life jackets for overwater

My opinion of flying is you are one emergency away from disaster, so always plan for the worst. To me, flying over open water or over rugged mountains are two conditions where you are at risk and should avoid it if possible, or prepare for the worst. Having the life vest on is really the only viable option in a crash situation over open water. Having some survival gear over rugged mountains is essential if you survive the crash.
 
OrangeOkie said:
My opinion of flying is you are one emergency away from disaster, so always plan for the worst. To me, flying over open water or over rugged mountains are two conditions where you are at risk and should avoid it if possible, or prepare for the worst. Having the life vest on is really the only viable option in a crash situation over open water. Having some survival gear over rugged mountains is essential if you survive the crash.
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Survival gear should be a no brainer no matter where you fly. Any place between Denver and the Pacific coast your options are to fly over mountains or high desert or stay on the ground. Suiting your survival options for the conditions enroute should be part of the preflight.
 
danpass said:
I've been considering the Sportys x-back crew vest

http://www.sportys.com/Pilotshop/product/17024

And adding the pockets. Essentially creating a civilian survival vest. Couple of pencil flares, PLB, boonie hat, signal mirror, strobe light, a couple of water packs, maybe a food bar.

This is assuming a 3-4hr wait in the waters of SoFla.
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I'd go with the Aviator Life Vest on the same page for a hundred bucks less.
 
gprellwitz said:
The SOSpenders are very nice, but make sure you do not get one of the ones that say "[FONT=arial, helvetica]Automatic Inflatable."[/FONT] We purchased a couple of the manually inflatable ones and wear them when flying over water beyond gliding distance. Note I said "wear them." Any vest or belt will take too long to put on during an emergency, especially because you need to undo your seatbelt to put them on. Sure wouldn't want your seatbelt to be under the life vest!
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I sometimes wear SOSpenders for a couple days at a time. If you hunch them up a bit they can sort of work as a pillow if you sleep on the deck.

The automatics can usually be converted to manual by replacing the dissolving spool with a plastic one. Check b4 u buy.

I leak check and weigh the CO2 canister every year.

Obviously, you don't need one with a harness.

And, yes, I wear it when I fly over Lake Erie.
 
CT Arrow said:
Care to share?
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Andy, Ken is superlative aviation writer, wrote a book and for flying Mag at one time.

OrangeOkie said:
Here is an interesting link and video about a 38 degree water mishap.
LINK
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I remember that video so incredibly tragic.

Now to the OP's question, first Mike good to hear from you. Has your head recover from that smash in the Lancair:wink2:

Seriously great thread thanks for asking the question. There are many more knowledgeable here than. Me including a few former Coasties.

So I'll just give my personal experiences. I've flown over three main bodies of water a few times in my 12 years of flying GA. They include, The Delaware Bay, Cape Cod Bay and Lake Michigan. The Delaware bay was at night in October no flotation which was kinda stupid. The times over Ce Cod bay we had PDFs in our laps (non inflatable) it was Memorial Day weekend and there was a lot of boat traffic, mostly lobster boats and pleasure craft, not the kind of boat that takes 10 nm to stop, the times over Lake Michigan late summer we had PDFs and flew high 10 or 12 K and 16k respectively. I like the PDF the OP posted looks like the type the airlines have.
 
Hi guys,

In our area (Caribbean), all flights are over water... Probably 80 % of us single engine guys use the following rutine. If flying over water out of gliding distance from land we will use suspender type PFDs. Dont use the automatic ones. And BTW, you put them on before starting the engine. We carry a liferaft and I personally carry a floating marine handheld radio strapped to my PFD.

Some of the guys carry a marine PLB. Probably that is my next "tool". We do this everyday, but water temp is about 75 deg year round so.....

But we have hungry sharks!!!!!!

If flying over water..... Please use some kind of PFD..it can save your life.
 
Dead Stick said:
Yes, that one has a step which makes it easy. A step is a must have, but not all rafts have them. Now try doing that in frigid water with an injury and unless there's someone nearby to pluck you out of the water, about all that life jacket is going to do it make it easier to recover the body.
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All rafts have them anymore that I know of, pretty sure it's a requirement.the ***** is when your legs fill with water and you have slosh your way into the raft.
 
Even if you don't fly over water there is the possibility of needing to ditch on water due to hazardous terrain like it happened to flight 1549 on the Hudson river. Specially at night where a lake or a river may be a better option than dark terrain. Most GPS today depict water bodies on the moving map that you can easily fly to and ditch. Having a life jacket onboard even for overland flights increases your survival chances.

José
 
Piloto said:
Even if you don't fly over water there is the possibility of needing to ditch on water due to hazardous terrain like it happened to flight 1549 on the Hudson river. Specially at night where a lake or a river may be a better option than dark terrain. Most GPS today depict water bodies on the moving map that you can easily fly to and ditch. Having a life jacket onboard even for overland flights increases your survival chances.

José
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Nice point. One thing to keep in mind in that scenario, is to plan your impact so you wind up close to shore or on it.
 
Jim Logajan said:
It does look hard - here's a video on youtube showing an exercise of people trying to get into a raft. I'm not sure, but it looks like the raft has some sort of strap underwater that helps serve as a sort of ladder step that makes it possible to raise yourself using your leg so you can get over the side easier. Something to look for in a life raft I suppose. Haven't shopped for any yet.

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It looks like the raft has those inside handhold straps in the floor.

Such an incredibly obvious and simple addition that I'm surprised at rafts that DON'T have them.
 
Dead Stick said:
Jim Logajan said:
It does look hard - here's a video on youtube showing an exercise of people trying to get into a raft. I'm not sure, but it looks like the raft has some sort of strap underwater that helps serve as a sort of ladder step that makes it possible to raise yourself using your leg so you can get over the side easier. Something to look for in a life raft I suppose. Haven't shopped for any yet.

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Yes, that one has a step which makes it easy. A step is a must have, but not all rafts have them. Now try doing that in frigid water with an injury and unless there's someone nearby to pluck you out of the water, about all that life jacket is going to do it make it easier to recover the body.
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And not just freezing water, but any sort of waves. That was calm harbor conditions!
 
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