Hey this is Emily at Oz Inflatable Kayaks!
And I'm here in this short video
to talk to you about Lifejackets
or otherwise known as "PFD" (personal floatation devices).
So Lifejackets are a great way to stay safe in the water and
the ones that I have chosen are specifically designed to fit well with
our really high-back seats.
So our kayaks are a bit unusual they have a much
higher seat back than your average kayak.
Now that's fantastic because it's like
paddling from a lounge chair but we need to make sure you don't have a vest
that's gonna stop halfway down your back.
A foam vest and give you this sort of
big lump that you're leaning against.
So, I've narrowed it down to two really good
models that work in completely different ways.
My personal favourite is the CrewFit.
This is an inflating Lifejacket so see this toggle here, you pull the toggle
and it erupts!
There's a CO2 canister in there it bursts through the zipper and
it fills up with air and it's got a huge amount of buoyancy so the 165 refers to
Newtons which is the upward buoyancy and this is actually a boating Lifejacket
but the reason I love it is look how streamlined it is.
There is no foam on your back, on your chest getting you nice and hot and sweaty.
I live in the Gold Coast where it's hot.
I like to go kayaking you know on beautiful days and
I love this one.
Keeps me cool and has no bulk.
The other thing I love is
there's no bumps involved like this strap goes around your waist but it's a
flat strap then this strap here goes down your back just to keep that off
your neck so that you're not getting sweaty in your neck but it's a flat strap.
So you can't feel anything on your back when you're sitting in the kayak,
if that makes sense.
It's a wonderful wonderful option if
you're comfortable with (a) pulling a toggle and (b) servicing it
So when I say pulling a toggle
some people, you know, if they if something happens and you end up
in the water they want to know that they're immediately going to be buoyant
and that's not the case with this one you have to pull the toggle to get it to erupt.
The CO2 canister is single-use but we sell spare CO2 canisters.
So on the off chance that something happens
and you need to use it you would just replace
out the CO2 canister.
So the life vest will last you you know very long time it's
purely about replacing that canister.
Now when I say servicing requirement
there's actually instructions on the jacket that you've got to check a few
things this is a mouthpiece here so you can blow it up and leave it for an hour.
Make sure that it's all perfectly sealed.
There's no holes or anything like that
then you check the canister and a couple other things and that's basically it and
it's got a little note on it where you can a little area where you can jot down
the date of that service make sure you're doing it regularly but you want
to do that because obviously it's only as good as the fact that it
seals if that makes sense if it doesn't inflate then you're even big trouble. Okay?
But beautiful at keeping you cool and fairly compact as well so if you're
traveling you don't have a lot of space there's no foam to deal with.
Now the Yak High Back is completely different.
This is a foam PFD
and this is recreational.
It has 60 Newtons of good buoyancy on it.
So it's a lower rating of
buoyancy but it's it's a kayaking specific lifejacket
the difference is see how it stops at the bottom of your shoulder blades and
from there down it's mesh so again your seat can come right up here and it
doesn't interfere with your seat it doesn't give you a lump in your seat
back if that makes sense.
Now for a lot of people that aren't
comfortable with pulling a toggle they love the fact that this is
instantaneously going to work you forth in and you are going to be buoyant.
I've also fine I've got one of these and I find the pockets to be great.
I can stick my action camera in there and rubbish and bits and bobs but it is still foam.
So it's hotter than your CrewFit okay so a personal choice the servicing
requirements are for this one is quite simple though.
You literally just look at it.
If you see something broken you obviously go and get it fixed.
If you see something deteriorating you can repair it or you can you know maybe it's time
for a new one.
You don't need to do that kind of
blowing up and checking of cylinders and whatnot so it's a bit of a simple
servicing requirement. Okay?
So personality-wise it's totally up to you
but they're both excellent PFDs to go with our range of high backed high back
seats in our AdvancedFrame Kayaks.
If you have any questions about choosing
between these PFDs and your kayak.
Please don't hesitate to get in touch.
This is Emily at Oz Inflatable Kayaks.