IDO’er makes local paper headlines

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Thanks, $300 seems a bit steep for me.
I doubt he has one my size anyway

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Al, they make 2XL’s and I keep one on board.

I thought the same thing you did when I first looked at these PFD’s (price). Then I thought about the Type III’s that are on the back of my boat seats. They aren’t worth a nickel if a person is tossed from the boat. Try getting into a boat from the water sometime. I did it a couple weeks ago in waist deep water. I made it but man am I out of shape. I’m not saying a PFD will allow someone to get back in the boat easily, but it’s easier to get back to the motor to climb in assuming it’s not running. ‘Course if it’s running we might have other problems than getting into the boat!

Wearing a comfortable PFD is the first step in boating safety. Ask anyone that’s worn the Float Tech’s, they all say the same thing at the end of the night. “I forgot I was wearing it” and if they are forgotten, they will be there when needed.

The $279. to $299. is for the complete hooded jacket with zippered sleeves that make the jacket into a vest along with the actual PFD bladder. The badder can be purchased as a stand alone item at a lower cost.

It doesn’t matter what PFD a person has, it will seldom be of benefit stuck on the back of a chair while your in the water.

Could someone help me down from this soap box please?

Its better to be safe then sorry, don’t take chances, usually when it happens its in over your head, so be safe at the beginning, there ya go BrianK.

We really need to get you a soapbox with a wheelchair ramp so you can get up and down yourself. Empowerment for the elderly and infirm, I say!

In thinking about this PFD thing, we were fishing Lake St Croix the other day, during the day, in heavy boat traffic. We got hit with the wake from a close speeding cabin cruiser and let’s just say that it was scary. The pontoon deck was at about 45º or so for a second or two and I lost a cigarette lighter that slid off the deck into the water.

We were fishing canary point, which for those of you not in the know, is a shallow spot right along a cliff that goes from about 6′ to about 70′ in about 20′, and there’s an extremely heavy current from the shallows into the deeps. Kinda like an underwater waterfall.

Putting all that together, if we’d gotten nailed by a wake like that without seeing it coming, it would be so damned easy to fall in, and with a current that strong rolling off an edge that deep, I don’t know what the chances of survival would be without a PFD ON YOU and not stacked up behind the cooler.

This is making me rethink some things…

I am curious what happens if the CO2 goes off? Do you send it back to them to….

Nevermind. took the extra 5 seconds to find a rearming kit on their site. Carry on.

If I woke up in the morning and knew for a fact I wouldn’t end up in the water that day, I would have a pfd on the back of my boat seat…

There is some maintenance that goes along with a Type V. Twice a year I test them for leaks. One time I use the “blow tube” to inflate them. Actually I use an air compressor to fill them up. Then leave them sit over night. I haven’t had one leak yet.

The second time I test them is when I change out the “pill”. Most folks would just change out the pill, but I pull the cord because it’s more fun.

‘course what I do isn’t what everyone else (or most people) would do.

I am looking at buying two of the flo techs, and I was wondering about the jacket itself.
Are the jackets waterproof, can you use them as cold weather gear?

Ah…no. I wouldn’t use them as cold weather gear in MN…maybe San Diego! LOL!

They are wind proof and water proof, but I wouldn’t use them as a main rain jacket, although I have. Consider them more as a wind breaker style jacket.

The nylon jacket shell is perfect for the coolness of early morning and taking the jacket off the bladder makes it perfect for the warm afternoons.

Fishing at night we start with the bladder and move into the jackets after dark when it starts getting damp on the ride home.