Kayak Life Jackets – Ultimate FAQ Guide

Welcome to a pretty efficient guide about the kayak life jackets!

Following the kayak life jacket guide can help you check for the qualities to see in a life jacket. It can keep you updated about the uses, advantages, and disadvantages of the life jackets and answer many of your common questions that might arise in your mind when you are planning to buy a life jacket.

The maintenance, the working, and the life jacket’s lifespan are all explained in the following guide.

There is no such expiry date or life limit for kayak life jackets. If you take complete care of your life jacket, it can be in an excellent state for a very long time.

Life jackets do not stop working. However, they might become void if you repair, alter, and amend them many times.

The expiry of a life jacket is that it loses its ability to help you float. The material of the life jacket loses its buoyancy. The life jacket might also get damaged due to regular wear and tear.

If you do not panic and stay calm, you can survive and keep floating with a life jacket for at least three days.

For this time limit to work, your life jacket must be in an excellent state. The holes, ruptures, bruises, and other minor or significant damages can reduce this time. Even a slight puncture might get you in a problematic situation.

Figure 1: A person floating with the life jacket on

If you are a non-expert, we advise you to be careful even while using a life jacket. Following are some of the rules to keep in mind before using a kayak life jacket:

• The coast-guard must approve your life jacket.
• The kayak life jacket must be in excellent and serviceable condition.
• The size of the kayak life jacket must be accurate according to the size of the user. It should neither be too fit nor too loose.
• There should be no bruises, tears, or any other damages on it.
• People outside the enclosed cabin or sitting on an open boat are supposed to wear it as a duty.

Children under the age of 13 are required to wear a kayak life jacket at every condition.

Children, as compared to adults, are not able to take care of themselves. The kayak life jacket must be exactly their size and fit. The life jacket should be coast-guard approved.

Figure 2: Kids must wear life jackets

Children on the deck of the boat or those not in the enclosed cabins should not be allowed to sit without a life jacket.

However, children over the age of 13 years are supposed to wear a life jacket on an open boat, but they are free not to wear it in an enclosed cabin or not on the deck.

No, a life jacket is not always necessary to wear over the clothes. Most of the time, people wear it from above their clothes because it makes them feel comfortable.

Many people do not wear a shirt beneath the life jackets, especially when it’s a hot day, to avoid sweating and heat strokes.

Figure 3: Different ways of carrying different life jackets

According to the law, you must wear life jackets when you are on a boat, if you are on a deck or in an enclosed cabin.

The children under the age of 13 years are very strictly ordered to wear their life jackets whether they are on board or involved in a water sport or traveling on any water body.

For adults, we suggest that they must be wearing an adequately maintained Coast Guard-approved life jacket when they are on board, especially when users are outside the enclosed cabin or when they are on the deck.

Yes, an inflatable life jacket can be worn while kayaking. Life jackets are supposed to keep you safe from the chances of drowning and death in the seawater.

You can wear a life jacket for many different water sports, including kayaking. The inflatable life jackets are very comfortable because of their slim and sleek design.

Their gas cartridge is required to inflate them. Once you have raised the life jackets, they do not obstruct your motion while pedaling.

The inflatable life jackets cover the lesser area of the body, so they can also help keep your body cool during a hot summer day.

Safety is essential for every person on board. Yes, kayak life jackets must be worn by adults while kayaking.

All boats must have coast-guard-approved life jackets in a good state. It must be ensured that everyone on board is wearing a life jacket.

Moreover, life jackets must be ensured, but there should also be some other throwable stuff that can help save a person from drowning in case of emergency.

Make sure that everyone has a life jacket on while kayaking to make safety possible.

Figure 4: Some safety stuff other than life jackets

Yes, a kayak life jacket can be pretty helpful when you are paddle boarding. These jackets’ buoyancy keeps you safe from any expected risk or danger when you are in the water.

The weight of the air trapped in the life jackets has a much lower density than water. It keeps you floating if in case you face any hazard while paddleboarding. It will save you from drowning in the water.

Figure 5: paddleboarding with a life jacket

Kayak life jackets are considered the standard personal floatation devices. They have the following advantages.

Buoyancy:

There are unique life jackets in the market for kayakers. The most crucial thing in a life jacket is its buoyancy. It keeps you floating.

Kayak life jackets have been designed with inherent buoyancy. It means that when you enter the water, these jackets inflate by themselves to give you complete protection against any danger.

All you have to do is wear it properly, and then the jacket provides you with floatation.

Easy to maintain:

The kayak life jackets do not require any high maintenance. If the coat is not in use even for a long time, all they need is a clean and dry storage

place.

It would help if you dried the life jackets in the sunlight. When you have to store them, make sure that they are completely dried and cool. A single drop of water might be the reason for fungus and can destroy your jacket.

Versatility:

The kayak life jackets have a versatile range of use. for many other purposes as well.

They are used for a variety of water sports. They are used for swimming, paddling, fishing, and even water skiing. Once you buy a good quality life jacket, you can enjoy its uses in various places.

Pockets:

One of the best features of kayak life jackets is that they have pockets. Most uses of inflatable floating devices do not offer bags. The Kayak life jackets’ pockets are helpful to keep small stuff like tools, emergency gear, or some fishing equipment.

Yes, there are some disadvantages to wearing kayak life jackets. Here are some of them.

Hot:

The life jackets are to be worn over the whole body. They might be problematic for some people during the hot summer season because they can not let your body breathe on its own.

They can cause some sweating meanwhile you are in the water.

So, there can be pretty warm, and some people might not like it.

Bulk:

Another problem associated with the kayak life jackets is that they have some extra bulk and respective material because they are used to keep you floating over the surface.

So, they can be quite problematic for many swimmers and people who are traveling by water since they are made up of foam that traps air to keep you floating over the surface of the water.

Life jackets can provide about 7 to 12 additional pounds to the body.

The life jackets do not have to support the body’s entire physical weight, but they all but have to add a few extra pounds that are used in the air for the life jacket, which provides density difference and hands keep you afloat on the surface of the water.

Irrespective of your body’s weight, the life jacket keeps you afloat on the surface of the water. So, the floating is because of the density of the air inside the life jacket and not because of the user’s weight.

You can select the best life jacket for kayaking by keeping certain factors in mind,

One of the most important factors is that you should select the exact size of your life jacket. It should be like a glove that is precisely the size of your body. It should not be too much fit and also not too much loose.

It should allow physical movements to your body and should not restrict your body to a particular position.

Your chest size checks the perfect size of a correct life jacket and not by your weight.

For children, however, they might use weight to determine the perfect size of a life jacket.

So, before buying a life jacket, you need to get the exact chest size of your body, and then the recommendations are provided to you that can help you select the correct size.

We mean by the right fit size that you should fit it on your body, and it should not be too tight, and neither should it be too loose. It must make your body feel comfortable and help it move properly.

The most basic principle of the working of life jackets is its buoyancy. The buoyancy of the life jacket keeps the air trapped in the foam with a very low density than that of the water, so it keeps you floating over the surface of more dense water.

Hence, it keeps the user floating over the water’s surface with his head and shoulders above the water. So, it prevents him from drowning.

They have been specially designed to fill the gas in a form that does not absorb water.

Figure 6: working of life jacket

• A life jacket is the lifesaver of many people traveling through the water or enjoying any water sports.
• When there is rough weather or heavy winds, a life jacket can improve your survival chances.
• A life jacket can help you stay afloat and prevents you from drowning in case of any emergency on the boat or during water sports.
• It ensures safety when arranging any water sports competition and various water sports like kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding, swimming, etc.
• It keeps the children safe when they are near water.
• It helps the non-professional or beginners in learning swimming by reducing the fear of drowning from their minds.

Yes, this is possible that a person wearing a kayak life jacket drowns in the water. However, this only happens if there are very rough water conditions and did not check before going on board.

Even if there is even a tiny puncture in the life jacket, it might cause a person’s drowning whether or not he is wearing a life jacket.

Moreover, the rough weather conditions and frigid water or filters can make a person drown even if he is wearing a life jacket. A life jacket only increases the chances of survival, and it does not ensure you that you would not drown if you wear it.

If the wearer panics due to the fear of water or any other reason, he might also get drowned. If the life jacket is manually inflatable, the chances of drowning are high.

Figure 7: A person drowning even with a life jacket on

There is no such thing as an expiry date for a life jacket. However, the manufacturers say that a life jacket’s average lifespan is ten years if you keep it properly.

The bruises, cuts, wear, and tear can reduce the lifespan of a life jacket.

The use of a life jacket in rough water conditions like frigid water can also reduce a coat’s lifespan.

However, if you use your life jacket with complete care and make sure that it dries before you store it in a place, you can use it for ten consecutive years without demanding any repairs.

Most of the time, kayak life jackets are not recommended for people who do not know how to swim.

Modern life jackets have been designed so that they keep you floating on the surface of the water even when you are in callous conditions.

Some people wear life jackets even if they are non-swimmers and are on a board or doing any watersports.

It might also help them in learning how to swim without panicking in the water. It reduces the mental stress of being in water unaided.

Figure 8: swimming with a life jacket

The replacement of kayak lifejacket depends on various factors like the weather conditions or the water conditions. The state of the life jacket is the most significant factor.

If the life jacket has some fungus or has any wear and tear, or even a tiny puncture, it should be immediately replaced with a new one if you think you cannot repair it.

It is not suggested to repair a life jacket most of the time, but you should buy a new one to avoid any emergency or are mishap.

However, if you take great care of your life jacket, you can see that this jacket’s life will be prolonged enough to give you advantages.

A life jacket’s care routine must be appropriately dried and stored in a cool place, and it should not have any mold or fungus. Moreover, the gas cylinder must also be intact.

Figure 9: A life jacket in a bad condition

No buoyancy aid and life jackets are not the same things. However, their function is quite similar to each other.

Buoyancy aids are specifically designed to help you swim. But life jackets are designed to keep the person floating over the surface of the water.

A buoyancy aid is helpful only in swimming, but a kayak life jacket can help in swimming and many other purposes.

A life jacket has to keep you afloat even if you are unconscious, and it makes sure that your face remains on the upside of the water surface so a person from far away can see you clearly and provide you any help. However, aids are there to help you learn to swim without any fear or panic.

Figure 10: Buoyancy Aid and Life Jacket

Kayak life jackets are the most uncomplicated life jackets to maintain. They do not require very high maintenance. Instead, they can be kept in excellent condition even at low maintenance.

They do not demand proper care or any extra time even when they are not in use.

The only thing required by a kayak life jacket is that it must be dried out in the sun when used or before storage.

it would help if you cooled it properly, and the user should make sure that there is not even a single drop of water in the life jacket to avoid molds,

They do not require any high maintenance. Just keep a check on any wear and tear or puncture in the life jacket.

No, not really! A good quality life jacket does not need to be cleaned after every single use.

However, to maintain them in excellent condition and increase their lifespan, it is recommended that you must check your life jackets after every use.

You must check for any wear and tear, bruises, or other punctures in the life jacket.

If you clean it after every use, it will remove any dust or dirt from the water that has entered into the life jacket and prevent the formation of mold that could have reduced the life of the life jackets.

Yes, it is possible to remove a mold from the kayak life jacket.

You can easily remove the mold by soaking the life jacket in the water for near about 36 hours. After 36 hours, you must use a soft brush to wipe off the mold. Remove the mold by doing a little scrubbing with the meeting not to leave any marks.

The mildewed jacket can also be soaked in water containing salts like peroxides for several hours, and then scrubbing them will remove all kinds of molds and mildews that appeared on the jacket.

After that, you hang it to dry completely to avoid reformation of mold.

Figure 11: Alife jacket with molds.

No, it is not true that all the kayak life jackets inflate automatically. There are two types of life jackets:

• Ones are those that inflate automatically.
• Others are those that inflate manually.

The automatically inflating life jackets inflate as soon as they come in contact with the water. There is a particular pill that keeps the life jacket not grown.

As soon as it comes in contact with water, the pill dissolves into the water, and hence the air enters into the life jacket to make it inflated. Therefore, the automatic life jacket increases.

However, the man will have to inflate the manual life jacket by pulling a particular brand from the gas cylinder that then fills with the air inside, and hence it extends. A tremendous triggering pressure is needed for this.

Figure 12: manual inflatable life jacket

Figure 13: automatic inflating life jacket

USCG-approved life jackets are the safest ones. By serviceable conditions, they mean that all life preservers must be in satisfactory condition.

This statement means that the inflatable or kayak life jackets must be free of any tears, rot, punctures, molds, or moisture. All the straps must be present and in the required suitable shape.

A Coast Guard-approved life jacket is worn by a person going for water skis or other water sports. The condition and the durability of the life jacket are approved and determined that whether it is safe or not.

Figure 14: USCG approved life jacket