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[Wiseguy]

Hey gents. With the upcoming lake season coming up. Waiting for my lakes to ice off. I'm in the market for a new PFD. What's a good inflatable life vest to buy? Brands/Quality/Price? Thanx.

[clarki]

Steveston Marine had a skookum sale price at the Outdoors Show back in March week: $119 for the Mustang manual inflate. I picked one up but have yet to wear it on the water 

I tried on both the Mustang manual and auto inflate. The auto inflate was made for fisherman and was very comfortable but it cost $50 more and you need to re-charge the mechanism every 5 yrs at a cost of $80

The manual inflate was mite less comfortable for a fly fish angler who moves his casting arm in an overhead motion. But it was a lot cheaper over the long/short term so I opted to overlook the mild comfort annoyance.

[Wiseguy]

Manual inflate? How does that work? Thanx

[typhoon]

Manual inflate? How does that work? Thanx

Are you being a wiseguy You pull the cord and the vest inflates. With auto the vest inflates when it gets wet.

[Old Blue]

Try on some of the kayak PFD's....I love mine, very comfortable, no need to replace cartridges or be concerned about pulling cords

[Wiseguy]

Are you being a wiseguy You pull the cord and the vest inflates. With auto the vest inflates when it gets wet.

Did not know that. I though they all had pull cords.

[GordJ]

One of my pet causes is the inflatables. I believe that if I fall out of my boat there  is a decent chance of hitting my head on something on my way to the water. There are two scenarios, the first being, buy the auto inflate because you may prove me wrong and if that happens give me a call to gloat about how much money you saved. If you do hit your head just pat yourself on the back when you come to. Secondly, it is really easy to put one on inside out, this moves the cord to the other side of the jacket and if you hit your head or even if you are panicked it may be the hardest problem you never solved when you can't find the cord. I try to remember to have everyone locate the pull cord when they put on the inflatables in my boat so they know where it is and if it is on correctly. Buy the autos.
Just one of my ocd symptoms.

[RainbowMan]

It’s not just the head impact. When falling in ice cold water, that first gasp could be ur last one. So, batter have something to automatically inflate and keep you floating until help arrives. When comes to safety equipment, never cheap out!

[coyote spooner]

Not all automatic inflatables are created equal.  Mustang’s Hydostatic inflation system is the best.  Most , if not all others, use a dissolving pill system.  So if you get it really wet or leave it in a wet locker, etc..it can inflate without warning.  Mustangs’s only inflate when submerged. 

[Wiseguy]

Some very good points. Think I'm going to stick to my old reliable Green Mustang Floater Vest when fishing on the boat. Thanx guys for all the good info. One point I would like to make about that is, go swimming with it on to make sure it is adjusted properly to your body. If its too lose it will ride up on you when in the water.