Thread: Life Jackets

This came up from a discussion with a friend of mine about inflateables. I don't know. He said GW told him this.

Originally Posted by old fuzzy

VERY INTERESTING

Originally Posted by REDEYE50

I was told that the DNR or the CC would not consider inflateable life jackets legal unless the person was wearing the jacket. In other words you could not have it in the storage and be legal. Anyone else hear this?

The law states you must have a approved life preserver on board for each person on board....the inflateable does not count as one unless you have it on. So to be legal just be sure you have enough regular ones for everybody on board.....that way you can take your inflatable off if you want to.

So it's not "Approved" unless you are wearing it?

Originally Posted by "G"

The law states you must have a approved life preserver on board for each person on board....the inflateable does not count as one unless you have it on. So to be legal just be sure you have enough regular ones for everybody on board.....that way you can take your inflatable off if you want to.

Thats what it says in the Mississippi Boating laws booklet.....however I just looked in the rules in the Mississippi Outdoors digest and it reads different. But the local GW told me that the inflateable only counted if you had it on and you still needed a regular life preserver on board for each person if you are not wearing the inflateable.

G is spot on. Must be worn to count as a PFD. "approved" has to do with the coast guard certification vs. Game Warden approved.

I usually keep about 5 in the boat plus my inflatable so I won't have a problem.

For me, it comes down to this....If I didn't have an inflatable, I'd be wearing a regular, but would never leave it on while fishing no matter the weather. With an inflatable, I'm more prone to leave it on in cold temps, but would not wear a regular while fishing.

Ya pays ya money, ya takes your chances.

Wannabe...

i actually learned something here