Kayaking 3

Let us continue about kayaking. Today, I'll explain about PFD (Personal Floating Device). Before that, let us clear the confusion about life jacket or PFD or whatever the hell the thing is call by you common people. According to Lalizas (Lalizas Hellas SA, one of the leaders in manufacturing marine and safety equipment), 'buoyancy aid' is a garment or device with an inherently buoyant material that helps the wearer to remain afloat when in the water and 'life jacket' is a garment or a device that, when used in the water, will provide a specific amount of buoyancy so as to position and maintain an incapacitated wearer with his airways clear of the water, and increase the likelihood of his rescue.


Okay, let's go through the types of PFD

• Off-shore Jacket (Type I PFD)

Type I PFDs provide the most buoyancy, are designed for offshore and rough water conditions. They come in two sizes, adult and child. The child size is designed with at least 11 pounds of buoyancy while the adult size has at least 22. The main functional feature of the Type I PFD is that it is designed to float unconscious victims in the face-up position.

• Near-Shore Buoyant Test (Type II PFD)

Type II PFDs are intended for use in inland waters where there is a reasonable chance of a speedy rescue. These are your typical orange life jackets that are in the shape of a “U.” They fit over a person’s neck and come down on each side of the chest. Type II PFDs will usually turn some unconscious victims to a face-up position. These PFDs provide between 7 to 15.5 pounds of buoyancy, depending on infant to adult sizes.

• Flotation Aid (Type III PFD)

Type III PFDs are designed for inland conditions. These are usually the PFDs worn for specific activities such as fishing vests and kayaking life jackets. They are designed for comfort, continuous wear, and for maximum mobility. As such, they probably won’t turn the wearer to the face-up position in the water. Rather, they tend to float wearers in the vertical position. The definition of Type III PFDs usually contains the word “calm” to describe the water conditions they are meant for. This would be functionally incorrect as most whitewater PFDs, that is those worn by whitewater kayakers and whitewater canoeists, are Type III PFDs.

• Throwable Device (Type IV PFD)

Type IV PFDs are carried on boats as a device that can be thrown to a drowning person. These are either the circular rings found on commercial boats or around swimming pools. On recreational motor boats these take the form of seat cushion style devices. They are not meant to be worn.

• Special Use and Hybrid Devices (Type V PFD)

These are intended for specific activities and must be used in accordance with the specifications on their labels. Some of the features that may be included in these devices is hypothermia protection, inflatable portions, and work vests.

• Inflatable PFDs (Type I-III)

Inflatable PFDs are becoming more popular and prevalent. They are the most comfortable type of life jacket but they do have their downsides. Inflatable PFDs offer no flotation until they are inflated. They are not to be used where impact and high speeds are encountered as this can damage the inflation mechanism and in these conditions the person wearing the PFD may be knocked unconscious before they are able to deploy the inflation feature. These are also not recommended for use by children. Inflatable PFDs are great for use in recreational kayaking and kayak fishing. They come in Type I, Type II, and Type III PFD specifications and are intended for use following the same guidelines.

That's all. For the next blog, I'll probably write about my kayaking session.