Mustang Survival issues PFD alert

Thanks for that....but my Mustang PFD is older and I know mine works.... I went overboard one night....and it inflated......long story.

Greetings,
Thank you for the heads up Mr. ASD. Do you know if the Canadian made products are for sale in the USA? Meaning: should an American boater be concerned they may have purchased one of these devices?
I do not have ANY of the pfd's on board but I intend to buy 2 or 3 in the future which begs the question....automatic or manual inflation. I have heard pro's and con's for both systems. Apologies if this highjacks the thread.

RT Firefly said:

I intend to buy 2 or 3 in the future which begs the question....automatic or manual inflation. I have heard pro's and con's for both systems. Apologies if this highjacks the thread.

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Good question. I have 10 PFDs on-board and never wear any. That does nag at me and I wonder if I'd wear an inflatable on a regular basis. I wouldn't mind hearing about the experiences of others on the forum.

The thread went off topic pretty quickly.

I remember reading about a Mustang PFD recall in the BoatUS magazine a while back so it would pay to check if you have one of these.

When I decided to purchase two inflatable PFDs for my wife and myself I did some research. Some inflatables are class III whether being worn or not, but others must be worn to meet the class III requirement. To me, that made a big difference because I can store the inflatables where they can be accessed quickly to meet the requirements and put the standard PHDs away and just pull them out when there are guests on the boat.

I forget what brand I ended up with but they are not Mustang. I didn't buy the auto inflating ones, I bought the ones with just the pull cord.

From the get go both the auto and self inflatable PFDs from any manufacturer have a percentage of failures. When that failure rate gets to high of a percentage then the recall is issued. Just an FYI

For most work , or play around the water I just stick to old school floatation. My choice.

Just be aware IMO.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Thank you for the heads up Mr. ASD. Do you know if the Canadian made products are for sale in the USA? Meaning: should an American boater be concerned they may have purchased one of these devices?

I do not have ANY of the pfd's on board but I intend to buy 2 or 3 in the future which begs the question....automatic or manual inflation. I have heard pro's and con's for both systems. Apologies if this highjacks the thread.

Click to expand...

I have been wearing an inflatable for two years now as part of the job requirement...occasionally wore them for the last 5 years or so because they ARE way more comfortable and practical than any other jacket.

As far as manual or auto...the way I see it is I am part fish...but my gills don't work so good when semi/unconscious.... I've had the autos inflate after 18 months or so because the bobbin softens up from age/humidity and the jacket goes off automatically...and about a month ago I was working offshore and the pull tab got caught under a cleat and poof...thought I was in a car wreck with an airbag!!!

I bought 2 nice Revere autos from Defenders spring sale last year...$79 each with the big tether rings in the harness. I will still have a pair of type I offshore jackets handy for abandon ship...but while scurrying around preparing to abandon ship o operating in heavy weather...I'll be wearing my auto inflatable.

RTF-- We bought our Mustang HIT (hydrostatic) auto /manual vests in 2007 and they are made in Canada.

Lurker-- We have been using auto/manual vests since the early 90s. First Sospenders and now Mustang. Once on we totally forget we're wearing them. Greatest things since sliced bread. Just remember to ALWAYS wear them outside your clothes. Don't have one on and then put a coat on over it.

Also they MUST be worn to meet USCG requirements. Unlike Type I, II, etc, it's not enough to simply have them on board. They must be on your person to satisfy the USCG PFD requirement. My wife was reprimanded during a CG boarding a few years ago when she went out to open the boarding gate for the CG crew and forgot to put hers on.

Marin said:

.......Also they MUST be worn to meet USCG requirements. Unlike Type I, II, etc, it's not enough to simply have them on board. They must be on your person to satisfy the USCG PFD requirement. My wife was reprimanded during a CG boarding a few years ago when she went out to open the boarding gate for the CG crew and forgot to put hers on.

Click to expand...

Please read my post #5 on the subject of the requirement of them to be worn to count. I checked with the USCG and the various manufacturers in researching this.

As for the USCG reprimanding your wife, I understand not wanting to rile up a boarding party, but that was way out of line.

At the time of this boarding the auto- inflating PFDs were all Class V and were required to be worn to satisfy the USCG requirement. The boarding party even left us a printed sheet spelling this out as they said they encountered a lot of people who were unaware of the requirement.. Since then the requirements have apparently changed as auto-inflate vests are now available-- I just discovered-- in Classes I, II, III, and V.