Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

my toon rated for 11 passengers. I know I should carry 11 vest. I have like 8 water ski vest they are about $35. + each. so need 4 more, I can get the cheap hook over the head 1 belt type or buy 4 more 3-4 belt water ski vest. what is the opinion on the forums ?

Buy good PFD's for yourself and family, Get a package of cheap orange to round out your capacity. Remember to advise guest with children they need the proper fitting vest for a child. In Ok failure to provide adequate devices is a huge fine. And don't forget a throwable.

The number of vests onboard at anytime must match the number and size of the passengers. For example, if you have one adult and 7 small kids onboard, you better make sure you have 7 kid size vests. If you have 8 adult vests you'd still be in violation if you got stopped.

I opted for good vests. I had the bulky orange "standards" in my cart and put them back for good ones. Didnt see a reason to skimp on safety when it came to the people on the boat.

Good answer. My wife picked up a couple of vests at a yard sale that were in new condition. Usually not hard to find.

Also if they are New, unwrap them from the package. Check the label for Coast Guard Approved. Have everyone put one on and size it to fit them. You won't have time to do all that in an emergency.

Our tritoon is rated for 14 souls, I have absolutely no intention of having that many on board. Thus I'm not planning on carrying that many vest, we normally carry 7 including a couple for the grands. Should the need arise we have 4 more that are easily grabbed.

Proper fit is more important than some folks realize and I witnessed a near disaster with cheap, ill fitting vests. When people are on my boat, their safety is my responsibility, so I want do it right. Remember that basic USCG approved vests, only provide around 15-20 lbs. of flotation. Having a PFD that rises up around your ears is No Bueno. Yes, I get people to try them on so that we know which size fits. Storage space is plentiful, so I always have spares on board.

I don't foresee it, but IF a situation arises that causes us to actually need life vests, they darned well better work well! The last thing I want are people struggling in the water. Same reason I carry two larger fire extinguishers, instead of just meeting the USCG minimum.

Because we do a lot of tubing, I invested in higher quality water sports vests in multiple sizes. I use Connelly and O'Brien for folks going on the tube, but I also carry lower cost vests from O'Rageous for non-partcipants. IMHO, there are some things to spend the extra money on even when it hurts and seems like a waste. Go into the water and test it out - then decide what you want your passengers to have.

Marc

I've got proper fitting jackets for the "regular" passengers and the generic horse collar for everyone else. Plus various sizes of floatation for the little ones.

zoom650 wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 28, 2019 1:51 pm

Plus various sizes of floatation for the little ones.

Me too. And I keep a few cinder blocks on board too for the misbehavin' kids. Throw one overboard and suddenly the rest start to behave! LOL

teecro wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 27, 2019 3:50 am

Our tritoon is rated for 14 souls, I have absolutely no intention of having that many on board. Thus I'm not planning on carrying that many vest, we normally carry 7 including a couple for the grands. Should the need arise we have 4 more that are easily grabbed.

Nabbing a 40 % discount coupon on top of clearance pricing caused me to reevaluate the number and size of vest we carry. Upped the runabout to 6 as that's absolutely the max I'd have on board and the tritoon to 9 jackets...

well I'm up to 15 vest last counting, size's from toddler to xlg. got my 2 adult son's in on supplying the toon. they actually use it more than I do. I got so many vest on board now if the boat sprang a leak I think it would still float...and also 2 throw cushions. good thing there is lot's of storage area's on a pontoon.

Don't forget the throw-able floating device some states require!! No cheap life saving vests for me.

Just saw that this was already mentioned!!

Titanic rules: Enough for half.

LocoCoco wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:19 am

Titanic rules: Enough for half.

I'm thinking...if you can't swim should you really be out on the water?

I kid, I kid....however I too am looking for life vests and agree that a proper fitting vest would be better for the occupants that will be routinely out on the water with me. For the rare occasion I have others with me I will probably use the basic horseshoe just to be compliant.