Life Jacket & Life Vest

What is a Life Jacket?

Life jacket is sleeveless accessory that is normally filled with air to help one remain afloat or buoyant while in water.

The wearer of the life jacket can be either conscious or unconscious.

Life jackets come its different designs and types and they serve the same function.

Life jacket

What is a Type 3 Life Jacket?

Type III life jacket also is known as type III personal floatation device (PFD) are normally used for calm and inland water. Moreover, under these instances, the rescue is likely to occur quickly. Type III life jacket is often designed to make the wearer remain in a vertical position and the wearer has the ability to keep himself or herself into a face-up position. They are often put on during recreational boating as well as fishing and they can come in the form of coats, vests, and jackets. However, type three life jackets come in two different forms that include; i) Foam type III that allows the wearer to be in a face-up position and provides up to 15.5 pounds of floatation that is equivalent to 70 Newton. ii) Inflatable type II life jacket that offers higher floatation as well as more comfort and provides up to 22 pounds of floatation that is equivalent to 100 Newton.

How Many Types of Life Jackets are there?

Well, there are several life jackets classification and their uses depend on the type of sailing, floatation, and size.

i. Offshore Life Jackets

Offshore life jackets are often used for all waters including open sea, rough seas or remote waters. In these instances, rescues are often expected to delay and they come in either form type or inflatable type. Moreover, they have bright color and have a reflective tape with the ability to turn someone who is unconscious to a face-up position. They, therefore, provide a buoyancy of 33 pounds.

ii. Near-shore Vests

These are often used for inland waters. In these cases, rescue is likely to occur very quickly and have the ability to turn the unconscious to a face-up position. However, they are always bulky and therefore not preferred to wear while sailing. They come in foam type that provides 15.5 pounds of floatation and inflatable type that provides 33 pounds of floatation.

iii. Floatation Aids

This is preferred by most sailors where rescue is expected to be quick and often offers freedom of movement for someone who is conscious. They come in inflatable type offering 22 pounds of floatation and foam type offering 15.5 pounds of floatation. However, the inflatable type is always offering higher floatation an even greater comfort and used at all times.

iv. Throwable Devices

These are often thrown to someone to act as a backup to other personal floatation devices. They come in the form of cushions or ring buoys. Whereas ring buoys offer 16.5 pounds of floatation, cushions provide 18 pounds of floatation.

v. Special Use Devices

These are used for special activities such as water skiing, kayaking, windsurfing, and they have labels that show the special activity it is designed for.

How Does Life Jacket Work?

Life jackets often have the ability to float because they are made up of buoyant materials. The materials found inside the life jacket have the ability to trap air and because air weighs less than water, this makes the life jacket to remain afloat on water.

Swimmer with life jacket

What is Type 1 Offshore Life Jacket for?

Type 1 offshore life jacket is used when cruising, racing or fishing offshore. It can as well be used when boating and is often used in open, rough or remote waters. In addition, it offers best protection to the body since it has the ability to keep the heat to the body. However, it is bulky and uncomfortable.

Can Automatic Life Jackets be Fired Manually?

Yes. Automatic life jackets have tubes that can be blown into to provide back up to inflation. These life jacket have cartridges of carbon dioxide that is attached on them and when they become activated they release the gas which fills the chambers of the jacket. The automatic life jackets often inflate automatically when in contact with water. They use a paper capsule that has the ability to release a firing pin when they become wet. However, a manual life jacket is fired manually by pulling the inflation tab which activates the carbon dioxide cartridge that inflates the jacket.

What is Inside a Life Jacket?

The substance found inside life jacket is classified into three categories and include; inherently buoyant, and inflatable.

Types of life jackets – Source: jetski parts guy

i) Inherently buoyant materials used often include plastic foams such as polyvinylchloride and polyethylene. These life jacket does not need anything to activate floatation since the air trapped in foams aids in buoyancy. ii) Inflatable life jackets have cartridges of carbon dioxide that is activated when the life jacket is exposed to water and thus releases the gas automatically that fills the chambers of the life jacket and therefore aids in floatation. Another inflatable requires the wearer to manually pull a tab which the activates the inflation. However, the inflatable also has tubes that can be blown into to provide backup for inflation.

What Causes Life Jacket to Wear Over Time?

Life jackets like any other equipment require regular maintenance and should be used only the activity which it is designed for. Therefore, what makes life jackets to wear overtime is the exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun that breaks the synthetic material used to make the life jacket. In addition, it is always advised to test your life jacket in shallow water or swimming pool before use.

What is Type 2 Life Jacket?

This is a life jacket used where rescue is expected to be quick and often offers freedom of movement for someone who is conscious. They come in inflatable type offering 22 pounds of floatation and foam type offering 15.5 pounds of floatation. However, the inflatable type is always offering higher floatation an even greater comfort and used at all times.

Is there Difference between Personal Floatation Device (PFD) and Life Jacket?

Yes. There is a difference between a personal floatation device and a life jacket. However, these two terms are used interchangeably but they mean different things.

Life Jacket	Personal floatation device
Life jacket is normally made to turn someone who is facing down to face up on water.	Personal floatation device has the ability to keep a conscious person afloat on water
Life jackets often have more buoyancy than personal floatation devices.	Has less buoyancy because the devices that aid in floatation are found at the back.
Life jackets are often red, yellow or orange and have a whistle for easy location.	Personal floatation devices come in a variety of colors.

What is a Type 4 PFD?

These are throwable devices to a victim who is overboard to help in supplementing buoyancy. They include ring buoys and cushions and whereas ring buoy offers 16.5 pounds of floatation, cushions provide 18 pounds of floatation.

Is a Swim Vest the Same as a Life Jacket?

No. A swim vest is not often considered as a personal floatation device but a swim aid. Therefore, it is used to assist children who are learning to swim or who are learning to be comfortable in the water. It is important to note that life jackets come in different sizes ranging from infants to adults while swim vests are often meant for children. However, life jacket is a personal floatation device which helps in maintaining buoyancy while on water and made of waterproof materials that help to keep your head out of water.

What are Inflatable Life Jackets?

Inflatable life jackets are those that are used to aid in floatation and designed with cartridges of carbon dioxide. When exposed to water inflate the life jacket with a gas hence aiding in buoyancy.

Inflatable life jacket

These life jackets work automatically however, they also have tubes which can be blown air into manually by the wearer and thus helps in inflation the life jacket.

What does 150N Mean on Life Jacket?

Well, 150N means that the life jacket provides a buoyancy or floatation of 150 Newtons which is equivalent to 33 pounds. N stands for Newtons and it gives buoyancy range of that given life jacket. Therefore, it is advisable that when going for offshore where rough weather is likely to be encountered, a 150N life jacket is preferred. This helps in keeping the wearer afloat.

Are Puddle Jumper Life Jacket?

No. Well, puddle jumper is a combination of a life jacket, swim aid and swim vest and often designed for small children weighing between 30 to 50 pounds.

Puddle jumper

As mentioned earlier, life jackets come in sizes ranging from infants to adults and therefore puddle jumper is quite different from a life jacket. Puddle jumpers have the ability to keep both chest and arms afloat and thus aiding in buoyancy.

Which Standards for Life Jacket Should You Look For?

Life jacket like any other equipment in the market should meet the internationally approved standards for it to be safe to use. Therefore, while choosing a life jacket to ensure that it has ISO and CE certified. International Standards (ISO)- This is an international body that ensures stands of a life jacket and if it is ISO certified you will see a mark labeled ISO on the life jacket. European Standards (CE) – this is a body for European Free Trade association and if the life jacket is certified with the body, you will see it marked ‘CE’.

What does USCG Approved Type III Mean?

USCG means United States Coast Guard. Therefore, it is important to note that when a lifeguard is CE or ISO certified it does not mean that it is USCG approved. USCG Type III means that personal floatation aids or floatation aids which are falling under type III meet the standards for the United States Coast Guard requirements.

How Many Life Jacket Sizes are in the Market?

Life jackets come in different sizes that range from those of infants to adults. In the market, you will be able to get life jackets labeled XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL.

Can You Determine Life Jacket Buoyancy?

Yes, you can. To determine the buoyancy of your life jacket while in water, it is recommended that you relax your body while letting your head to tilt backward. Ensure that the chin is above water and allowing you to breathe freely.

Offshore work vest

It is approximated that 80% of the body is composed of water and thus has no weight in water. Fat is about 15% and thus for instance, if a person weighs 125 pounds, the weight in water is 125 pounds x 80% giving 100 pounds. Therefore, fat is composed of 125 pounds x 15% giving 18.75 pounds of fat. Now, this means that the average eight of the person weighing 125 pounds will be 125 pounds minus 100 pounds minus 18.75 giving roughly 6 pounds. Thus, it is important to note that the person weighing 125 pounds weighs 6 pounds while on water. Therefore, this person can use type three floatation devices that provide floatation of around 15.5 pounds.

Is the Difference between Buoyancy Vest and Life Jacket?

Yes. A buoyancy vest is often used to help one swim in the case of capsizing while a life jacket has the ability to keep one afloat without the need to swim. Whereas buoyancy vest is used to aid the person to swim meaning that the person is conscious, a life jacket can be used to keep an unconscious person afloat with the face-up position.

What is SOLAS Life Jacket?

SOLAS means Safety of Life at Sea. These life jackets often meet high standards of safety and are therefore approved for all vessels.

SOLAS Life Jacket

They often assist the wearer to turn to the back even if he or she is unconscious and face up. These life jackets are mainly produced by our factory JIAXING RONGSHENG LIFE SAVING EQUIPMENT.

Is there a Difference between Offshore Work vest and Inflatable Life Jacket?

Yes. Offshore work vests are often typed I personal floatation devices used by persons working on or near water. They can in either foam type or inflatable type.

 Offshore work vest

Inflatable life jackets are often fitted with cartridges of carbon dioxide that inflates the life jacket when it is exposed to water.

 Inflatable life jacket

What other Marine Safety Equipment Can I Find at Grand Ocean Marine?

Well, Grand Ocean Marine will be your reliable supplier of offshore marine cables and marine safety equipment. At Grand Ocean Marine, you will be able to get marine cables such as marine power cable, marine VFD cable, marine control cables among others. On the other hand, you will also get marine safety equipments such as life jackets, inflatable life raft, immersion suit, fire extinguisher, among other safety equipments.

How does Grand Ocean Marine Ensure Quality of Life Jackets?

Well, quality is paramount and all the equipment at Grand Ocean Marine meet the international standards and thus find their market worldwide. At Grand Ocean Marine, life jackets are CE certified. Meaning that all the life jackets have a mark of quality and safety ‘CE’ and thus meets European Trade Association Standards. On the other hand, life jackets at Grand Ocean Marine are also CCS certified and thus meet the quality required for it to be in the market.

Which Certificates does Grand Ocean Marine have for Life Jackets?

At Grand Ocean Marine, several certificates are available for different types of equipment we are supplying to our esteemed customers. Life jacket as one of the marine safety equipment has CE or EC certificate as well as a CCS certificate. This implies that all the life jackets at Grand Ocean Marine have CE and CCS mark of quality and safety.

What Types of Life Jackets do Grand Ocean Marine have?

At Grand Ocean Marine you will be able to get all types of life jackets. For instance, our life jackets you will get in the following categories; i) Type I: Offshore Life Jackets ii) Type II: Near-shore Vests iii) Type III: Flotation Aids iv) Type IV: Throwable Devices v) Type V: Special-use Devices

How does Grand Ocean Marine Test Safety of Life Jackets?

Grand Ocean Marine test safety of life jacket by our own factory Dongtai Xingdun Marine or third-party company as your request and this ensures that all the life jackets that are in the market are safe to use. Your safety is our concern and therefore be assured that all the life jackets you buy from Grand Ocean Marine are tested before they are supplied.