Types of Life Jackets Used for Canoeing

Video Transcript

Next thing we're going to talk about is different kinds of life jackets, or PFD's. They are now called PFD's because they're known as personal flotation devices. So, looking at the rack here, these are your standard rental PFD's that come with most rental kayaks. They have different size PFD's. These are for infants and very small children. If you notice they have a little flap on the back that goes behind the child's head, that's so that the little child always stays upright if they're taking a swim in the water. They also have a strap that goes underneath them between their legs so the life jacket won't come off if it's hard to get them sized correctly. Then they have different jackets for different sizes. These are for small children; they'll fit somebody between six to eight years old. We have large jackets for adults, and we even have life jackets for dogs, goes on the dog just like a bib. Now first thing I want to talk to you about is when you put a life jacket on, how to size it correctly. First thing you grab the correct life jacket for your size, which in my case is a large. When I go to put the life jacket on, this life jacket has several different places that I can adjust the sizing. There are straps on the side; there are adjustable straps that go over the shoulders. All life jackets are going to be different so make sure you understand the life jacket that you have, how it buckles up correctly. In the case on this one, I've actually got a zipper to close it with. So when I put the life jacket on, I put it on like this, and on this jacket there'll be some buckles at the bottom, a zipper here, and I zip this up. So right now when I put the life jacket on, if somebody were to grab the life jacket here, they can lift up and see how this will go up by my ears? If I take a swim in the water, the same thing's going to happen, life jacket will be up here around my ears and it will be hard to swim. So what I want to do is adjust it correctly, there's too much "give" down at the waist. So I can grab these side straps, pull the side straps in tight, and I want to do that evenly on both sides, and I want to make sure on this one there's a bottom strap that it's strapped in correctly. Now I want to do that where the jacket is nice and tight, but I can still breathe. And also here, on this jacket, there are shoulder straps, so I want to tighten those up where the shoulder straps are nice and tight. So right now, the jacket is tight but I can breathe well. So I want to make sure that I don't get it too tight, the way to check that it's tight enough, again, is grab it by the shoulder straps and if it goes up, it's still too loose. Main reason is if you take a swim, you want it to stay down and stay properly fit, otherwise it'll be up around your ears or it might come off and it's hard to swim. So some of these life jackets, if you look, instead of having a zipper like I've got right here, the life jackets have buckles that buckle across. They're the same type of adjustment as what I showed you on the sides of this life jacket. So you just buckle them together and pull them tight. Now one of the things that most kayaker?s want to have with them in their life jacket is a whistle. That way, if there are any problems, they can blow on the whistle to attract attention. So one blast on the whistle means, "pay attention", two blasts or three blasts means "an emergency". So just remember those signals.

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