this message is brought to you by our good friends at allstate insurance. hi, i’m captain steve from boattest.com, and today i want to talk to you about lifejackets, or pfds – personal flotation devices. the u.s. coast guard enforces minimum requirements for you to have on your boat, but it’s important to know that we’re talking about minimums here. smart mariners will always have more than the minimum, just in case you have more people coming on at the spur of the moment. you just never know, and it’s nice to be prepared. okay, so let’s get started. at the top of the list, lifejackets,
or personal flotation devices, pfds. there are five different types of pfds, logically numbered 1 through 5. this right here is a type 2 and the most popular one. of course, the best one is the one that gets worn, and that’s especially true for kids. if you’re not happy with that basic type 2, there’s all kinds of alternatives, my favorite being the inflatable right there. to keep the kids happy, they can have their favorite cartoon characters on their life vest, and you’ve also got inflatable jackets. with so many choices, there’s really no excuse for you to not wear a pfd at all times.
pfds come in different sizes, so it’s important that you have the right size for the right fit. you should also bring extra, because you never know when you’re going to have additional friends join you on your boat. type 1 pfds are your heavy duty offshore jackets. we already talked about the type 2. type 3 are your ski vests, and type 4 are your throwable devices. these are used by putting your arms through the straps and hugging it while you’re in the water, and because they’re throwable, you need to keep these handy at all times. it’s a coast guard requirement
that you have these onboard. to use it, as soon as you have a man overboard, you send it out to him. type 5? those are your inflatables. now here’s a captain steve safety tip: you know those new lifejackets that came with your boat, all wrapped up in plastic? they need to be readily accessible, and wrapped in plastic is not accessible. it just takes extra time. so take the plastic off. allstate knows the importance of boating safety. i found out that they handed out more than 7500 children’s lifejackets last year
during their safety weekends. they also know it’s important to be prepared, and the right boater’s insurance policy can help. for boattest.com, i’m captain steve. we’ll see you out on the water.
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