Life Jackets Worn…Nobody Mourns

The “Life Jackets Worn…Nobody Mourns” is an award-winning campaign that was created to help reduce water-related fatalities on our nation’s waterways. Water-related fatality statistics show that 88% of those who drown are men and 86% of those who drown were not wearing a life jacket. Falls from boats, docks, and shore are another major contributing factor to drowning.

They’ve created a variety of resources, including videos, shareable safety memes, and water safety tips available on their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pleasewearit. These campaign materials are also available for you to download on their website as well: http://www.PleaseWearIt.com.

I’ve participated in several of their Facebook contests – the most recent was for an inflatable life jacket. I have yet to win a main prize, but won a free campaign tshirt! Which I’m pretty excited about.

This campaign is being promoted by the US Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the non-profit Corps of Engineers Natural Resources and Education Foundation (The Corps Foundation) with the support of grants from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, managed by the U.S. Coast Guard. With your help, we can save lives by getting more people to wear life jackets!

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Excellent campaign. We are working with my 2 year old grandson this year to wear his life jacket when we are on the pontoon. He at first hated it and screamed bloody murder trying to get it off. Eventually he got used to it and now he just accepts wearing it and forgets he even has it on as he continues to wear it off the boat until someone takes it off.

I admit when on the pontoon I don’t wear one unless rough water catches us on the lake. But I do wear one in the fishing boat.

One of the things I’ve noticed lately and really truly appreciate is the life jacket loaner programs I’ve seen at many boat launches. it really is one of the easiest and most beneficial pieces of equipment and those programs help make sure that everyone on the water has access to safety equipment.

Harbor Bar across from Red Wing on the Mississippi is part of the loaner program.

Great post Sharon!

I have mounted a hook in the upper helm of the Carver with a Float Tech on it. Anyone that goes outside the cabin wears it. BK’s law.

PS I’ve heard there’s an online retailer that is selling Float Techs for $100. plus shipping(?). I can’t buy them at wholesale for that. Might be a place to check out.

Make sure they have your correct size.

Landfall

Nice job Sharon

PFD’s are MANDATORY while aboard B-man’s boats. If someone has a problem with it, they can fish with somebody else.

Hearing about someone drowning over something so preventable is terrible. It will never happen on my boat.

All of my fishing buddies have inflatables, and I carry two on the boat.

Went out after work last night on Lake Michigan. Had a few of my crew guys come with.

It wasn’t hard to talk all of them into wearing a PFD (especially since it was 1-3′ seas when we started lol)

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Awesome, B-Man and glad to captured a photo! Looks like a fun trip!

I posted this on my Instagram as well, and my friend Jill – who has been borrowing life vests as needed – has now decided it’s high time she buys one for herself! I’m glad my post may have had an impact. In addition to just bragging about winning a free tshirt LOL

Great post Sharon! Nice to see other folks are concerned about safety as well. Was up in Wisconsin last week and went to some new lakes to see what all the fuss was about, saw a “loaner board” at the landings and was very impressed with the idea, first time I ever saw something like that. For the last five years I have been wearing a A/M device at all times in the boat, and even the pooch wears one as well, just like a kid, didn’t like the idea at first, but now he knows if he gets in the boat, life jacket goes on. So now when he see’s me throwing his jacket in the truck, he gets all excited, knowing “we’s going fishing”.

I have started wearing one at all times in the boat this year as well… inflatable one. I do admit I unbuckle it and get a little air under it from time to time but buckle it back up before I take my hands off it. Also started to wear the kill switch teather. That has been more of a pain then the life jacket. Warrior tiller and often times take my nad off motor when making a long run. Twice have killed the motor while on plane and running 32MPH. First time I will admit was just about an all out panic. Long way from the dock on the river and the boat would just crank and not fire. Finally remembered that thing around my wrist and was good to go. At least I know it works. Before I go out again i will be buying a longer teather for it.

“Also started to wear the kill switch tether. ”

Me too. There was one morning when I couldn’t get the darned Merc to start no matter how much swearing I did. After about 10 minutes I realized the previous day I had pulled the tether hard enough to flip the kill switch. Duh!

SR

Welcome to the club Steve!

Welcome to the club Steve!

Winner Winner! I won another free t-shirt from the Please Wear It campaign!

They recently had a Freebie Friday contest on their Instagram page for a free t-shirt and I won!! This tshirt is different than the one I won in June. Ironically, I won a long-sleeve tshirt in June and a short-sleeve tshirt in Sept.

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Looks great on you….Life jackets are a must especially in soon to be cold water conditions.

Thanks Sharon for the post. I need a new one, so I have not been wearing mine all the time. Will be buying a new one tomorrow. Thanks

Have worn a life jacket since I started fishing almost 50 years now. Love fishing, but never learned to swim. I did scuba dive for about 4 years in the late 70’s, and had no problem with that, but when they came out with the requirement to have a license to get air, that put a damper on that. Also always clip up my kill switch. Just a habit learned from my Bass Tmt days. I really don’t mind wearing the inflatables. My son is a fantastic swimmer, but still wears his inflatable when out with me salmon trolling. We don’t really talk about it, just end up doing it.

I bought inflatables this year. Wife and I love them don’t even know they are on. I actually went into walmart wearing mine got funny looks until I figured it out I fell out of a boat many years ago hit a log in a river ice was still on the river lets just say I wouldn’t be here without the jacket always wore them then you start to get complacent you quit then early this year there was another post on here about life vests I decided i did not want my wife or mom wondering what happened. Thanks Sharon!

Sharon,

It’s totally refreshing to see a bright young lady participate in this forum. Your input is very much appreciated. This post is excellent as serves to remind everyone the importance of a life jacket. I have 3 inflatables along with 2 vest type in the boat. I wear mine all the time and the trip always starts with the speech….I have one on, I have 2 legal ones in the boat and 2 inflatables that are only legal if you wear them, it’s your choice however I am not jumping in to save you! I am going to put your saying on the windshield trim of my boat, it’s perfect! Guys who use inflatables make sure to check the expiration date of the button and CO2. Regarding the kill switch, I never connected it, a total pain yet I knew it was an important safety feature. I decided to install a FELL wireless kill switch, easy to install and one cannot start the engine without engaging it first. Works great as you can move around the boat, however get 50 feet away and the engine kills. I tested this at the dock, started the motor and walked back to the truck, definitely works.

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David Anderson wrote:

. I tested this at the dock, started the motor and walked back to the truck, definitely works.

Is there a spare in the boat so someone can use the boat to get you? I’ll assume you wear the trolling motor remote on you as well as the fell switch.

…I know it’s all worst case scenarios but it seems like a dead boat with you out of it. I know- most throttles have a spare kill switch. Maybe there’s an override on the fell?

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>David Anderson wrote:</div>
. I tested this at the dock, started the motor and walked back to the truck, definitely works.

Is there a spare in the boat so someone can use the boat to get you? I’ll assume you wear the trolling motor remote on you as well as the fell switch.

…I know it’s all worst case scenarios but it seems like a dead boat with you out of it. I know- most throttles have a spare kill switch. Maybe there’s an override on the fell?

Very interested!

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Is there a spare in the boat so someone can use the boat to get you? I’ll assume you wear the trolling motor remote on you as well as the fell switch.

…I know it’s all worst case scenarios but it seems like a dead boat with you out of it. I know- most throttles have a spare kill switch. Maybe there’s an override on the fell?

Yes, it’s a nice feature if your in the water and your buddies are 100 feet away, or worse, your battery in the FOB goes dead. If you click on the picture it states on the left side of the main device….Override, Press and hold for 10 seconds. This will override the system and allow for the motor to start. The base unit has red, yellow, and Green LED’s. I have a Ranger 620FS with the keypad start. The sequence is punch the code into the keypad to turn everything on. Next hit the button on the FOB and the base unit will beep to acknowledge and the green LED’s light up, meaning good to go, you can easily press the base front or you FOB to immediately kill the engine. I tried the method listed on the base, push the button and hold for 10 – 12 seconds till it beeps. I believe the Yellow (Caution) LED’s light and your engine will start. Easy to hook up, you need about a 2 1/16 hole saw and about 6 – 8 inches of clearance behind the base as it has an antenna to receive the signal. As well there is a connector that attaches to the back of the base, it has power (+ and _) then a common, and 2 wires depending on if you kill switch is normally open, meaning upon being activated the switch closes to kill the engine, or normally close, meaning upon being activated the switch opens to kill the engine. On the end of this connector that screws onto the back of the base, is a plug that once the connector is removed from the base, is inserted into the connector that overrides the system and brings the system back to how it was prior to the installation. This is a backup to if anything goes bad with either the FOB or base unit. Had this happen at my dealer, rather than deal with the FOB they unscrewed my connector, inserted the plug to start the engine, never rehooked it up. Took the boat out, but my routine didn’t work, I could not get the base to acknowledge and get the green to display yet engine started. Got home and new battery in the FOB didn’t work. looked underneath and noticed the connector was off. Unscrewed the plug and screwed the connector in the base and Voila! The plug is attached to the end of the cable via a plastic holder so it you can’t lose it and freely hangs there when not used. Very well thought out system.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Is there a spare in the boat so someone can use the boat to get you? I’ll assume you wear the trolling motor remote on you as well as the fell switch.

Sorry but I have 2 methods of having the FOB on me. It has a lanyard system that the FOB fits into and you wear around your neck, or you can get a wrist holder, put the FOB in the plastic holder then wear as a wrist watch. I tend to like the lanyard better, easier to deal with as I tuck it under my inflatable vest, out of the way. My trolling remote is not used as I tend to run that through my depth finder at the console. I do have a Panther Martin remote steering for the kicker that’s on a lanyard but they do not interfere with each other. Also what is nice about this system is you can walk around the boat while the motor is running without having to disconnect the kill switch cord, a big plus.

Good info David. Thanks for taking the time.

David,

Where did you install the MOB in your 620 (and what year is your boat)? Thanks.

thalweg87 wrote:

David,

Where did you install the MOB in your 620 (and what year is your boat)? Thanks.

My 620 is a 2015. The install needs to be a minimum distance from a depth finder in order to not induce interference as well clearance behind the base for the antenna, which sticks straight out the back about 6 inches. The 2015 console has 2 keypads, one on each side of the steering wheel. There was a space between the bottom right side of the steering wheel and the right side keypad. I was somewhat nervous as I drilled using the hole saw, the console is quite thick in that location with about a 1/2 inch or so plywood backing. The base unit went through the hole then had a big nut to secure it to the panel yet the treads were about the same length as the thickness of the panel. I ended up using a Dremel tool with a carbide bit and cut the last 1/4 inch or so at the back of the hole until I could get the nut in place, not the most fun I’ve ever had but it mounted beautifully, looks like the factory did it and it is solid. I will try and post a picture tomorrow. Like I said, you have to be wearing the FOB and must engage it before the engine starts. Once engaged you don’t have to repeat the process throughout the day, just start your motor as normal, the kill switch is always connected once activated and the green LED is on.

Winner Winner! I won another freebie from the Please Wear It campaign’s Freebie Friday contest! This time it’s a full-size beach towel! 😎👍🏻🏖

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Our little guy doesn’t mind his life jacket.

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