Wearing A Coat Over Life Jacket?

[KenHo]

Archimedes principle. Buoyancy, the thing that makes you float, is caused by displacing water. You are pushed up by a force equal to the weight of the water displaced. A balloon floats because it displaces a weight of water much greater than its own weight. An anchor sinks because it weighs more than the weight of water it displaces, the steel is more dense than the water. Foam in your boat does nothing unless your boat is taking on water. The foam actually makes your boat sit lower in the water and displace more water because of its weight.

So no..... It doesn't matter what you wear over your life jacket from a flotation standpoint.

Hope this helps some of you understand the physics.

Scon, with all due respect, and just between you and me, discretion is likely called for when introducing scientific facts into any discussion on BBC concerning life jackets and especially buoyancy. If I recall correctly the last member to do so, both the member and his words vanished. Now this could have been just a coincidence but,.......

[Bandwagon]

When I rode as a marshal with Skeet Reese last Apr I started the day wearing my regular lifevest under my jacket and he told me the lifevest needed to be on the outside. Don't know if that was a BASS rule or a USCG rule or if it's even a rule at all but I changed up and wore it on the outside of my jacket for the rest of the day.

That was so there would be no questions if someone challenged Skeet on it.

[rchavis]

Well it's summer time. Somebody video a test for us. I don't do the whole go pro thing or I would. I can see the wanting to shed a big jacket but would like to know which would be better. I currently just wear a regular vest over everything. It's tight but on a cold day it's good insulation and the snug fit keeps heat in better.

I dont think it safe to wear a coat over the vest ....lucky minds has adjust so i can do that . Other wise i would have to buy two vest one for the summer and one for the winter time .
Before i got old and big and was skinny as a string bean and my buddy was big i did have that problem ?

[kkdlik]

Last year, in Portland OR, on the Willamette river, the Coast Guard stopped my boat for a general inspection. I was wearing my vest on the outside. My brother in law was wearing his on the outside. My sister had put on a second, larger coat over her vest. The officers asked about her PFD. She unzipped her coat and they approved of her wearing it under the coat. They were just happy to see that we were all wearing them.

[billnorman1]

Welcome to BBC Keith. I've worn mine both ways. I think an inflatable could possibly be compromised if it was used under a coat, might keep you from using your arms.
This was a pretty old original post, but quite appropriate in these cold days. I always wear mine on the outside. I recently fell overboard right at the launch ramp in 42 degree water. I was making it to shore with no issues when I just went ahead and pulled the inflation cord. I had been kicking it around, in and out of the hatch, wearing it and storing it for 10 years. I just wanted to see if it worked. It did.

[BroWhoop]

Ford - Chevy! It will float you. Every situation is different as far as the safety aspect.

[Ben Danbleume]

Wear it on the outside always! There could be a time however rare that you are in the water and get trapped/ entangled into something with the PFD and you would need to remove it. Hard to remove it if you have it underneath a jacket.

Pretty hard to tangle it in anything if it was under a coat. On the other hand I have had a co angler hang his life jacket up on a dock and get pulled out of the boat.

[brushsjigs]

Yes as long as its not an inflatable.

[LTZ25]

I wear a PFD on the outside and never take it off until I'm back on the dock . I know of a guy at Watts Bar that fell in at the dock and drown in 10 feet of water a few years back . A few years ago I went in the water in December and had an auto inflate fail to inflate and first question I got from mustang was did I have vest on under my jacket , answer was hell no .

[RazorCat]

Outside of clothing

[eh2000]

I would wear the life jacket over any other clothes, but I also prefer an inflatable PFD like this one. I wore it over my Carhart jacket a few weeks ago and it was fine.

I can see the wisdom of saying you can shed clothes in the water, but I doubt it is very likely for most people. I know everyone is different, but I've done a lot of overwater survival training and usually people panic pretty fast in the water at 70 degrees. Lower the temperatures to 40-50 degrees, render your fingers inoperable soon after getting in, and I think you are going to have what you have like you have it when you go in the water.

I wouldn't go out of my way to tell someone how to wear their gear at the dock though, not that big of a deal.

[billnorman1]

I would wear the life jacket over any other clothes, but I also prefer an inflatable PFD like this one. I wore it over my Carhart jacket a few weeks ago and it was fine.
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I wouldn't go out of my way to tell someone how to wear their gear at the dock though, not that big of a deal.

Well. I've been over 4 or 5 times in frigid water. Twice at the dock. If you're young and can swim like a fish fully clothed in a coat and a cotton hoodie and shoes or boots then you might not need one at the dock.