Why didn’t his PFD inflate?

[MichAngler]

At the 19:00 minute mark he drops his phone in the lake and jumps in after it and his Mustang PFD did not deploy

Now he didn’t go that deep but the water was over his head and you would think it should have deployed

Some things I noticed
He did some strange editing as he was wearing it for most of this portion yet the scene just before he wasn’t wearing it
Next note the way he jumps in – like he’s doing a cannonball
He wasn’t able to climb back in from that side and clearly had to go to the back of the boat

[bnt55]

My inflatable has a green indicator that I check to make sure it is operational, maybe his is out of juice from leak or better yet maybe it was a manual not an auto inflate

[LateralLine]

It had Yamaha on it and Yamaha knows to only do what's necessary at that moment. Smart PFD it's called!

It was actually a 20 year old PFD just for looks!

[MichAngler]

My inflatable has a green indicator that I check to make sure it is operational, maybe his is out of juice from leak or better yet maybe it was a manual not an auto inflate

Usually a manual one has a nice big handle to pull I didn’t see a pull tab at all

[JR19]

My inflatable has a green indicator that I check to make sure it is operational, maybe his is out of juice from leak or better yet maybe it was a manual not an auto inflate

Most likely one of those two scenarios. I would doubt he buys a manual inflate but its possible. I would lean more towards a malfunction.

[posmallie]

A few years ago I pulled my inflatable out of the compartment and threw it on the floor of the boat while getting ready. The CO2 cartridge came flying out of it. Over the years, it had loosened up and on that day it fell out. I now make sure to check it every few trips. Perhaps he had not checked his in a while.

[pabasshawk]

It's a hydrostatic activation that goes off with water pressure. Guess you need enough pressure to activate and rise your body to the surface for recovery.

[Jeff Hahn]

This is a good illustration of why I’ll never wear and inflatable. Even though the odds of it failing to inflate are low, I won’t roll those dice. It only has to fail once to cost you your life.

[billspence]

Because it wasn't working right.

[78Staff]

I actually made the comment on that video asking the very same, but never got a reply.

Typically the Mustang HIT's are the best available, and they do require a certain amount of pressure to deploy, which IIRC is 4ft below surface. So it's either that he didn't get quite far enough down, or there was some sort of malfunction. Or it's a "prop" vest used for making videos even, who knows. But I sure wish he would have responded.

[crawdadking]

This is a good illustration of why I’ll never wear and inflatable. Even though the odds of it failing to inflate are low, I won’t roll those dice. It only has to fail once to cost you your life.

Agree

[jejb]

I actually made the comment on that video asking the very same, but never got a reply.

Typically the Mustang HIT's are the best available, and they do require a certain amount of pressure to deploy, which IIRC is 4ft below surface. So it's either that he didn't get quite far enough down, or there was some sort of malfunction. Or it's a "prop" vest used for making videos even, who knows. But I sure wish he would have responded.

I believe it's 4 inches.
https://mustangsurvival.com/products...atic-md3184-02

When I jumped off a dock with an expired HIT on (just testing it), it inflated immediately. I was very impressed, especially with out it kept my face out of the water.

[BassinPaPaw]

This is a good illustration of why I’ll never wear and inflatable. Even though the odds of it failing to inflate are low, I won’t roll those dice. It only has to fail once to cost you your life.

Do you wear your standard PFD the whole day your fishing?

[TroyBoy30]

the important thing is did he get the phone

[cwilt]

I think he realized the vest didn't work and took it off to prevent negative advertisements. But I am sure the BBC crowd will get it all figured out.

[Jeff Hahn]

Do you wear your standard PFD the whole day your fishing?

No. Only when the outboard is running. There may be a time that I’ll need to wear it all day, but not yet.

[barbarian]

He definitely did a double take when it seems like he noticed it wasn't inflated and takes it off pretty quickly. And he talked about watching his phone flutter down as he went under water to grab it so he was completely submerged at some point. My guess is either the cartridge was way out of date or loose or the vest was a video prop from the beginning. Or lastly which I am not ruling out is that whole scenario was a set up. He started the video wearing the vest and then he had taken it off. Then it was back on for the phone dive. I wouldn't be shocked if it was a set up and he took the cartridge out so it wouldn't go off. No idea and it doesn't really matter to me. I've checked one in a pool and it worked and I use both type now days. If it was for views, it worked. Either way it was good entertainment.

[Mark Perry]

AI

[crawdadking]

Do you wear your standard PFD the whole day your fishing?

I do from before I get in the boat until I'm back in the parking lot. I'm old and know I can't swim like I used to

[Mark Perry]

I do from before I get in the boat until I'm back in the parking lot. I'm old and know I can't swim like I used to

Not gonna happen here in summertime.