Off for the annual trip to look at the holiday windows...but gee, I'm looking a little zaftig here in this picture that TQ took on Christmas Eve Day. Maybe I should stay away from that infamous candy store window!
Naaaah...seriously, TQ took this photo after my 2nd try at inflating my new life jacket during our Christmas Eve Day paddle. Surprise, surprise, it works a lot better when you read the manual & set it up right! And man, when this thing inflates off the canister, it REALLY inflates - I think I'd stopped at halfway when I'd manually inflated for the pictures. I did a self-rescue with the vest inflated - it definitely makes things trickier having to work around this suddenly great big enormous chest, but it's totally doable and on the plus side, it's a lot easier to drain your boat well to begin with. I did paddle with it blown up for a while, and that's fine, the airbag is all in front of your chest or on your back so it's not it the way at all (I was even able to roll with it blown up) but I did have to loosen the straps to breathe comfortably!
5 comments:
Hokie smokes!
At first, I thought you'd had a wardrobe malfunction.
Stay safe out there.
Yawza!
More like a wardrobe function, actually!
Unfortunately we did have a camera malfunction, so the successful inflation was not captured on video, but the picture shows the results pretty well.
One reason I think everyone who has an inflatable PFD, whether it is a hybrid or not, should try them out is to get used to how they are when they are inflated. They can be really restrictive of your movement, at least the ones that us sailors use.
Also, the auto-inflating ones, can be pretty scary if you've never worn one and had it auto-inflate...
Mae West!
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