Last Updated on July 27, 2022 by Cristina
The importance of staying safe every time, whether you are facing imminent danger or not, cannot be overemphasized. Humans are so safety conscious that we have safety precautions for almost everything we do, and rightly so. And no one can dispute the fact that adhering to these safety measures have drastically reduced our mortality rate.
Let’s talk about the importance of Personal Flotation Devices (PFD) when we go venturing on waters. According to the annual report of Recreational Boating Statistics by the United States Coasts Guards (USCG), 84.5% of about 3000 drowning victims were not wearing their life jackets.
However, this article is not about the death rates of those that didn’t use their life jackets. Instead, it is about the best inflatable life jackets in 2019. It just seems perfect to emphasize the importance of safety. So, this article contains a little guide to choosing your own auto inflatable life jackets for yourself, along with a list of the best of these life jackets.
Table of Contents
Choosing an Auto Inflatable Life Jacket
The great thing about auto inflatable life jackets is that you don’t have to be conscious before they inflate to keep you afloat. This makes them an innovative and useful safety jacket when venturing out into waters. So, here are some things you should consider before buying yourself a PFD.
Buoyancy Rating
This is a really important factor to consider because of the higher the buoyancy rating, the more weight it is able to support in water. So, if you fall on the big side, you would need a PFD with a higher buoyancy rating.
Comfort
Life Jackets are supposed to keep us alive, not kill us with discomfort. If you feel you wouldn’t be comfortable wearing a particular style of lifejacket, by all means, go for one you would wear conveniently.
Size
The lifejacket comes in different sizes. Carefully select your size.
Material
For those that are getting a fishing life vest, it is really important that you consider the build material of your life vest. Waterproof Inflatable Life vests are often made of nylon, neoprene, and foam. The foam itself could be PVC or polyethylene.
Hypothermia protection
This is actually more pertinent to fishing life jackets than it is to auto inflatable life jackets. However, it is still worth mentioning.
If you are going to be doing anything on cold waters, hypothermia is not something you want to mess with. Because of this, it only makes sense to wear a life jacket that has remarkable hypothermia protection.
Pocket spaces
If you would love to carry a lot of tools and other stuff on you, then there are life jackets that have different pockets in varying sizes for your use.
Top Auto Inflatable Life Jackets
Really, there are many great life jackets in the market today. All of them have their various areas where they would best function, they have strengths and some little shortcomings. As a matter of fact, these shortcomings can be overlooked.
However, the listed auto inflatable life jackets mentioned here are regarded by many to be the best.
Absolute Outdoor Onyx A/M-24 Automatic
Onyx is one of the most reliable brands when it comes to the manufacture of products for recreational activities on water. So, it is not surprising that their life jacket makes the list.
The A/M-24 automatic life jacket first makes itself popular because of its durability. The build fabric is neoprene which is strong and resistant to puncture and leak to a very large extent. The lightness of this life jacket makes you forget you even wore it.
Even the warm weather couldn’t make you feel any form of discomfort when wearing this life jacket. It is a type V jacket but it affords you the comfort that is on par with a type III.
The greatest feature of this jacket is that it can either be automatically or manually inflated. In fact, it is even convertible to only inflate manually of it so please you.
Pros
- Lightweight
- Very comfortable even in warm weather
- Fits almost anyone
Cons
- Might not be so good for non-swimmers
Mustang Survival Corp M.I.T. 100
Another prominent and reliable brand that is known for the high quality of the product that they manufacture is Mustang Survival. The durability, unique engineering and the aesthetics of this life jacket testify to that fact.
The first great thing about this life vest is that it features an innovative Membrane Inflatable Technology which greatly reduces its weight. As a result, the life vest comes out as a really light and flexible one. All it takes for this auto inflatable life jacket to jump to life is a few seconds within which the CO2 gas fills the vest.
To bolster its durability, the vest features a 500 denier cordura outer shell which protects the vest from wear, puncture, and leakages. Its buoyancy rating of 26lb and it can be easily repacked after use.
Pros
- Comfortable in all weather conditions
- Comes in different colors
- Warranty of a whole year
Cons
- Not really reliable in high-speed water activities like whitewater kayaking
- Minimum age requirement is 16years
NRS Chinook Fishing PFD
As the name suggests, Chinook PFD is a fishing life vest and a really great one at that. Not only would you get your money’s worth for a long time because of its durability, but you would also enjoy wearing this comfortable vest.
The vest has foam paddings to make sure that it fits any wearer as perfectly as possible. As a matter of fact, it is a one-size-fits-all kind of vest as it comes with eight different adjustment points. It has a good enough buoyancy rating of 16.5 pounds, with a rear that is designed to have your back well ventilated.
One thing that tells fishing vests apart is the many storage spaces it has. Chinook PFD is not short of sizeable pocket spaces for you to keep your stuff as conveniently as possible. The vest holds just about anything; it has a loop to hold a rod holder and another for your strobe, and it even has a lash tab to hold your knife.
Pros
- Comes in different colors
- Great for fishing
Cons
- Not really reliable in high-speed water activities like whitewater kayaking
Floattop Adult Automatic Inflatable PFD
This particular life jacket has a really high rating when it comes to effectiveness. What else could one expect from an auto inflatable life jacket that is endowed with a massive 33 pounds buoyancy weight? It sits comfortably on the user without hindering movement in any way at all.
You can use this life vest for all kinds of water activities, such as kayaking, fishing, canoeing, and even water gliding. Considering the fact that it is a really cheap life vest, the facts that it is lightweight and durable making it more than worth its price.
Furthermore, this life vest features a CO2 cylinder and a Halkey Roberts salt tabled-based inflator. The maximum belt length for it is 130 inches and a chest diameter that falls within 32 to 52 inches.
Pros
- Low profile vest
- One size fits all
Cons
- The rope is longer than necessary
- Not really comfortable for wearing over a long time
- It isn’t USCG certified
Onyx A-24 In-Sight Automatic Inflatable Life Jacket
This is yet another masterpiece from the prominent brand, Onyx. It has the characteristic comfortability, durability and lightness and lightness of all other life vests made by Onyx.
Talking about durability, it features 400 denier ripstop nylon which adequately protects it from puncture, leakages, and wears. It fits the user comfortably and comes off easily. When you are done, you wouldn’t have any issues repacking it for future use.
It comes fully filled with 4 grams of CO2 that is quickly deployed automatically at the slightest hint of danger. It is intuitively designed to reflect light to enhance visibility in case of rescue operations.
Pros
- Cheap
- Really durable
- Reflects light to increase visibility during rescue operations
- Cheap replacement cylinder
Cons
- It doesn’t inflate quickly in cold water.
- Imperfect design
My Pick
Of course, all the mentioned life vests are really good and worth buying. However, the Absolute Outdoor Onyx A/M-24 Automatic still seems to be the best of them all. There are some situations where you may want to inflate your life vest on purpose, this life vest has you covered as you can manually inflate it.
Durability is also one of the strengths of this life vest and the comfort it affords its users is remarkable.
Conclusion
Safety should be the first thing on our minds when we are heading out for activities on water. That is where the auto inflatable life jackets come in handy, and thanks to them, they have helped save a lot of lives.
