Buying LIfe Vests

[Lenox Park]

What is a good rule of thumb for life vest sizes on the boat? Costco has great vests for good prices and I need to get enough for the boat, which is 10 people.

Our family is myself, wife, 5 year old boy and infant. So, excluding those sizes, what other sizes do most people get to cover most situations on the boat?

Thanks!

For example, I was thinking 3 or 4 Mens jackets sizes M, L and XL. Maybe 3 or 4 womens jackets sizes S, M and L. Then 3 or so Youth jackets.

Sound about right?

They are all neoprene jackets.

Edited February 27, 2008 by Lenox Park

[mibarefooter]

I have a mix of Med and Large. I have tried to get all neoprene jackets as I feel that they are much more comfortable.

[hyperlitenerd]

Growing up having a boat with have 3 (3 boys)life jackets in just about every size. But since you are just starting out, think about who would be coming out on the boat, and get a life jacket to fit them. Then chances are when you bring other people out, you'll have one that fits. When we go on a big trip, we meet up a week or so ahead of time, and make sure everyone has a vest, and if they don't have one that fits, get one.

[jjackkrash]

To start, we got a bag of coast guard approved jackets and a throwable to stay legal and stuffed them under the passenger's side dash, and one of pretty much each size NEOs for guests who want to ski. The trick is when you have multiple under-12s who need to wear jackets at all times and who are the same size. Then you just need to hit costco on the way out to the lake.

[wienrdog]

Be sure to get vests that fit everyone in your family. After that, a good mix of sizes & the bag of approved vests & an extra one for small children.

I don't remember seeing mens/women's vests at Costco before this year, just the various child, youth, S, M, L, XL, XXL. Last year the Costco vests ran on the small side. The neo vest sizes typically fit a reasonably large range of people.

We typically boat with my young nephews or friends with children, so bought 1 < 30lbs, 2 30-50 lbs, 2 50-90 lbs, 1 small Neo, 2 med Neo, 2 large Neo, 1 XL Neo, 2 XXL expandable for the few Voice Activated Ballast friends who get on the boat.

I don't generally keep all of them on the boat at all times, but make sure I have enough of the right size for everyone on the boat before each trip. We typically empty the boat to allow everything to dry after each trip. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to load/unload the boat each time.

[lakewaterjunky]

This may not matter, but thought I’d share an experience we had last summer regarding life jackets.

As always, we welcome anyone aboard that wants to join us for a day of fun on the water.

On our boat we have vests to cover all age groups right down to the youngest of people, but that didn’t matter once last season.

One day my wife invited some people she works with and one of them was a... lets just say she was a large woman.

Between her size and the extra attributes of being a female, we didn’t have a life vest on board that was even close to fitting this nice woman. My wife and I knew she was embarrassed and we felt so bad over the fact she had to be in front of other people seeing this happen. (She wanted to take a ride on the tube btw) Some may think that this lady just shouldn’t have let herself go like that, but this woman had her feelings hurt and it made us feel terrible for letting it happen, when all it would have took is a few more life jackets big enough to accommodate larger guests.

Now my wife and I do not cast any stones about weight, as both of us could loose a few pounds (maybe I should just say me), but neither of us had ever planned on the possibility of needing such a big life jacket. So from now on, for safety reasons and the consideration of future guests, we are going to be much better equipped to share the fun this season with who ever should join us.

[crescentbar]

This may not matter, but thought I’d share an experience we had last summer regarding life jackets.

As always, we welcome anyone aboard that wants to join us for a day of fun on the water.

On our boat we have vests to cover all age groups right down to the youngest of people, but that didn’t matter once last season.

One day my wife invited some people she works with and one of them was a... lets just say she was a large woman.

Between her size and the extra attributes of being a female, we didn’t have a life vest on board that was even close to fitting this nice woman. My wife and I knew she was embarrassed and we felt so bad over the fact she had to be in front of other people seeing this happen. (She wanted to take a ride on the tube btw) Some may think that this lady just shouldn’t have let herself go like that, but this woman had her feelings hurt and it made us feel terrible for letting it happen, when all it would have took is a few more life jackets big enough to accommodate larger guests.

Now my wife and I do not cast any stones about weight, as both of us could loose a few pounds (maybe I should just say me), but neither of us had ever planned on the possibility of needing such a big life jacket. So from now on, for safety reasons and the consideration of future guests, we are going to be much better equipped to share the fun this season with who ever should join us.

somewhere along the line we picked up a XXXL mens jacket. I can't remember what the exact chest size is but it's pretty big. They do make them just not sure if ours ever gets used. At least we'll be legal.

[RobSMalibu]

XXXL is usally fits a chest size between 46-52 I believe ......I fit in that catagory so we usally have a problem fitting the little people that like to go out with us.

This may not matter, but thought I’d share an experience we had last summer regarding life jackets.

As always, we welcome anyone aboard that wants to join us for a day of fun on the water.

On our boat we have vests to cover all age groups right down to the youngest of people, but that didn’t matter once last season.

One day my wife invited some people she works with and one of them was a... lets just say she was a large woman.

Between her size and the extra attributes of being a female, we didn’t have a life vest on board that was even close to fitting this nice woman. My wife and I knew she was embarrassed and we felt so bad over the fact she had to be in front of other people seeing this happen. (She wanted to take a ride on the tube btw) Some may think that this lady just shouldn’t have let herself go like that, but this woman had her feelings hurt and it made us feel terrible for letting it happen, when all it would have took is a few more life jackets big enough to accommodate larger guests.

Now my wife and I do not cast any stones about weight, as both of us could loose a few pounds (maybe I should just say me), but neither of us had ever planned on the possibility of needing such a big life jacket. So from now on, for safety reasons and the consideration of future guests, we are going to be much better equipped to share the fun this season with who ever should join us.

somewhere along the line we picked up a XXXL mens jacket. I can't remember what the exact chest size is but it's pretty big. They do make them just not sure if ours ever gets used. At least we'll be legal.

[radioman]

This may not matter, but thought I’d share an experience we had last summer regarding life jackets.

As always, we welcome anyone aboard that wants to join us for a day of fun on the water.

On our boat we have vests to cover all age groups right down to the youngest of people, but that didn’t matter once last season.

One day my wife invited some people she works with and one of them was a... lets just say she was a large woman.

Between her size and the extra attributes of being a female, we didn’t have a life vest on board that was even close to fitting this nice woman. My wife and I knew she was embarrassed and we felt so bad over the fact she had to be in front of other people seeing this happen. (She wanted to take a ride on the tube btw) Some may think that this lady just shouldn’t have let herself go like that, but this woman had her feelings hurt and it made us feel terrible for letting it happen, when all it would have took is a few more life jackets big enough to accommodate larger guests.

Now my wife and I do not cast any stones about weight, as both of us could loose a few pounds (maybe I should just say me), but neither of us had ever planned on the possibility of needing such a big life jacket. So from now on, for safety reasons and the consideration of future guests, we are going to be much better equipped to share the fun this season with who ever should join us.

[radioman]

you could hook two of the same style and brand together.

[Helinut]

I did find that the Costco jackets ran on the small side. The XXL wouldn't fit me but a XL Obrien fit perfectly. We bought a mix of them last year since it was our first boat. We'll be going back to Costco this year for a few more in the 12 and under sizes. Awesome prices for neo jackets.

[Malibudude]

Most people that we have on our boat are Crew members whom have their own vests... We have some old Costco vests that are on board just in case someone needs one.