Perhaps the most important gear one can have when enjoying a day out on their watercraft is a quality life jacket. Whether you’re a casual user who takes your jet ski out from time to time, or a competition professional seeking to squeeze the maximum possible velocity out of your racing rig, a life jacket is an undisputed necessity when on the water for everyone. However, the eagle-eyed among us may have noticed that these watercraft staples have received a small but important update in recent years.
The update comes in the form of a label redesign, which seeks to make the information on the life jacket more easily legible and universally understood. Replacing the old life jacket tag design, which was written in paragraph form in small text, the new Coast Guard-approved tags lean more heavily on symbols and illustrations, with a few basic words, allowing international audiences to better understand. The tag design also minimizes consumer strain, as the most important information is printed in large format, allowing consumers to quickly find the jacket that most adequately suits their needs.
Perhaps the most important update is the prominent display of the jacket’s buoyancy, shown as 50, 70, 100, or 150. The majority of current jackets available in the U.S. have a buoyancy of 70, which is the lowest buoyancy approved by the U.S. Coast Guard. Another prominent symbol featured is a circular arrow, which signals whether or not the jacket can properly turn an unconscious person face up—an important feature, especially for those participating in higher-risk water activities. Lastly, the new design features a list of water sports for which the life jacket is not suitable, an imperative thing to know for those seeking to use these jackets for watersports and high-speed boating.
Check out the full breakdown in this article from the BoatUS Foundation to make sure you’re fully up to date on what these new updates mean for you!
