Yeah I went the automatic inflating pfd route and I thought I was brilliant while all the other suckers were wearing a bulky pfd....mine was nice and compact.... I had it stored in my front hatch one day after it had rained I heard a boom!....I was thinking what the hell was that? A couple of days later, I open the hatch an it looked like I have a air mattress in there....that wasn't the worst part...you should have seen my face when I found out how much it was to re-arm it!!! FUCK!!! I bit the bullet and bought the re-arming kit...I could swear that the instructions said clearly that you had to be in 2 feet of water for so...many seconds for it to inflate....??? It was in 2 inches of water....So a couple of months later....I get home after a trip and I'm rinsing down my kayak and water starts to build in the front......with my PFD.....Boom! This time I knew what that sound was......I said are you FKN kidding me? open up the hatch and there it goes again...Mo $$$$$ for nothing....
So I didn't rearm it the second time, and now it sits in my garage. I would save the automatic pfd for when you go on a boat. That's what it's designed for anyway.
__________________
There's nothing colder than yesterday's hotdog.
|