Are Your Life Jackets OK?

From  Richard Hulme  Sea Safety Volunteer with the RNLI Pwllheli

2 life jacket clinics have recently been held, one at PSC and one at SCYC.

A good number of jackets were checked out and a staggering 80 to 90 % were defect in one way or another. Read more .............

The common fault was with auto inflate devices being out of date. This is easy to fix as they unscrew and a new part can be fitted.

20% had corroded CO2 bottles, this is a problem as they can damage the bladder of the jacket so they don't hold air when they are needed. Again a replacement is easy to purchase and fit.

We found a significant number of Mark 3 firing heads which were the subject of a recall a few years ago. They are made of a green / gray plastic and have the number 3 clearly stamped on them. These Jackets need sending back to the manufacture for replacement ( at your own cost ) 

Lots of jackets didn't have cruch straps and these do need to be fitted so both you and the jacket float correctly in the water. If not fitted the jacket floats well but you don't!! 

Finally we found 10% of good life jackets wouldn't work because the bottles were lose. 

If they are not screwed in tightly the firing pin doesn't pierce the bottle and the life jacket doesn't inflate.

Remember "Life jackets are useless unless worn" but could also be useless unless checked on a regular basis.

Call 07771986725 if you want your life jackets checking, Free, by an RNLI volunteer.