West Marine has inflatable PFD's on sale, good prices.

[The Quadfather]

I was reading Matt's story of his fishing injury/accident... he talked about buying a new PFD shortly after.

I was going to mention that for so long I have always worn a Type 1 Jet Ski type vest. It was comfortable but it was bulky, and not designed to be fished in. Just this week I can tell you that West Marine has Inflatable PFD's on sale. I picked up the fully automatic kind for $99.00 they are regularly $150.00. The self-pull string one is going at $79.00

The PFD is EXTREMELY comfortable. You don't even know it's there. Range of motion for fishing/casting is great.
I have never seen a fully automatic one for that price. The new season is here, time to think about putting a few $$'s into your future. :safe: :safe:
For that price though... pay the extra 20 bucks and go with the fully automatic one. Your life is worth more than the 20 bucks of hoping that your not unconscious when you fall in.

[G-Man]

Right on Quad! I also picked up some new vests from Cabelas recently as they were having a great sale on them. Hydrostatic/manual for $99 each, you can't beat that! Just remember you have to be wearing them to count as a flotation device. My suggestion is to have several standard vests in the boat just in case. If you get stopped and aren't wearing your inflatable and can't produce a regular vest, you get to contribute to the City/County/State's general fund.

[The Quadfather]

If you get stopped and aren't wearing your inflatable and can't produce a regular vest, you get to contribute to the City/County/State's general fund.

That's good info. to put out. I did not know that. Maybe i'm a little goofy,, but I am so enamored with my cool vest, and it's ease.. that I wear it ALL the time.

[Toni]

If you get stopped and aren't wearing your inflatable and can't produce a regular vest, you get to contribute to the City/County/State's general fund.

That's good info. to put out. I did not know that. Maybe i'm a little goofy,, but I am so enamored with my cool vest, and it's ease.. that I wear it ALL the time.

For $99.00 plus 9.3% tax I would wear it all the time too. :geek:

[hewesfisher]

We a bought couple of Cabela's Guardian Series 3500 Tournament auto/manual inflatables on sale for $74.99 two year's ago. Combined with the $100 gift card my boss gave me for Christmas, they were a bargain! My wife likes hers so much she forgets she has it on. Can't tell you how many times she's gotten in the truck, still wearing it, after recovering the boat.

Cabela's currently has their Guardian 2500 series auto/manual inflatable on sale for $79.99 in case anyone's interested.

[Matt]

I was unaware that those types of PFDs only count when worn, good info. I wear mine all the time and never notice it is on. Best investment I have made for the boat!! I also wear mine at work (I work on the river) and love it for the range of mobility offered. The sterns ones we are provided at work are bulky and do not fit securely, I really prefer the nice fitment of the inflatable.

On a side note, recharge kits are something like 20$ which is kind of cruddy.... I had my vest inflate on me for no apparent reason about a month ago on a sunny day. My rip cord was tucked up inside the vest to avoid accidental inflation (my teacher at WWU accidentally inflated one and I learned from his mistake, lol) and I have no clue what happened it just blew up in my face and my fishing buddy couldn't stop laughing at me about how stupid I looked, haha. Cost me 20$ to rearm the damn thing, Westmarine would not give me one for free even though it was obviously a malfunction of the mechanism in the vest.

[hewesfisher]

On a side note, recharge kits are something like 20$ which is kind of cruddy.... I had my vest inflate on me for no apparent reason about a month ago on a sunny day. My rip cord was tucked up inside the vest to avoid accidental inflation (my teacher at WWU accidentally inflated one and I learned from his mistake, lol) and I have no clue what happened it just blew up in my face and my fishing buddy couldn't stop laughing at me about how stupid I looked, haha. Cost me 20$ to rearm the damn thing, Westmarine would not give me one for free even though it was obviously a malfunction of the mechanism in the vest.

Made me laugh too!

I have to agree on the rearm kits, ours are about the same. I don't know about the West Marine vest, but the instructions that come with the Cabela's ones recommend replacing the cartridge every year. Also recommends testing the unit in the water so you know how it will perform if you get dunked. Well, that's a $40 swim test if we both did it. I just verify the charge indicator instead and keep spare cartridges handy 'just in case'.