DonO, I wear one pretty much exclusively when I'm either on my float tube or pontoon boat. It's a "horse collar" type that uses both CO2 cartridges with a "pull tab" to inflate it and also has a tube for oral inflation. It's lightweight, small, compact, and doesn't get in the way while I'm fishing. It fits nicely underneath my fishing vest. When I take clients out, I have them use the waist band CO2 cartridge inflatables. I like those better because they're small, out of the way and also act as a waist belt. Then only drawback I can see using the "waist band" type is that if someone is unconscious, the inflation devise is not around the neck to keep the head above water. They also make an actual fishing vest that's also a PFD. I've talked with a NM Fish & Game Warden and he absolutely loves it. He said it has a lot of pockets and will hold all his large fly boxes he takes with him.
Rodney... NREMT - Paramedic Life is too short, go fishing... ----- Original Message ----- From: "DonO" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 8:50 AM Subject: [VFB] PFD's > An article about a flyfisherman that drowned caught my attention. They were > striper fishing and got caught up so they didn't notice the weather moving > in. The transom of their boat got a wave over it that killed the battery > and bilge pump (?), and by the time they got the motor started, they were > near the rocks. In their attempts to get away from the rocks, they took a > wave over the transom and it killed the motor (again, ?). The boat sank and > both ended up in the water. One had a PFD (Personal Floatation Device) and > was saved four hours later. One was not wearing one and drowned. > > I've been searching for the perfect PFD for all occasions, and it's hard to > narrow it down to one. I have many, but I'm thinking of an inflatable for > fishing 'unencumbered'. Has anyone had good/bad experiences with > inflatables? > > DonO >
