With over 3.5 million people in the US alone participating in sailing each year, that’s a lot of opportunity for all kinds of unintended swimming, or unplanned early dismounting from our boats. And one of the most important things any sailor or boater can own is an inflatable PFD. But how to pick the best lifejacket?

All of the best inflatable lifejackets for boaters conform to a set of minimum ISO standards and are USCG approved, but how do you know which one is actually the best for your personal use and body type?

Well, I and a few of my professional sailing colleagues went ahead and threw ourselves into a sea survival day of inflatable lifejacket and PFD testing. Not all inflatable lifejackets are the same, just as not all body shapes are the same.

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Editors choices: At a glance

Spinlock 6D Deckveset – Best offshore lifejacket
Crewsaver Crewfit+ 180N pro – Best costal lifejacket
Baltic Athena Auto Inflatable Lifejacket – Best women’s specific lifejacket
Seago Seaguard 165N – Best budget friendly lifejacket

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Best Coastal Lifejackets

The best inflatable lifejackets for boaters and sailors who sail coastal waters and ride in ribs, tenders and dinghies

Spinlock Deckvest Lite Coastal Inflatable Lifejacket PFD

Best coastal on test for everyday wear and general purpose water activity

Specifications: Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 170N | Material: Nylon | Colour: Black Graphite, Pacific Blue, Flow Green, New Bleach White, New Seagrass Green and New Mercury Red

Reasons to Buy: Smart looking lifejacket with a slimline feel | Very few details to get caught or snag | Really easy to repack | Fits smaller adult body types | High visibility bladder
Reasons to Avoid: Might feel a little restrictive on some people with the over-the-head method of donning | Might not suit larger bodies

Verdict: This no frills but stylish lifejacket performs well both off and on the water. It is great for everyday wear and is unobtrusive and easy to forget you’re wearing it.

Read the full Spinlock Deckvest review

 

Crewsaver Crewfit+ 180N pro inflatable lifejacket PFD

Best premium coastal lifejacket

Specifications:  Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 180N | Colour: Black 

Reasons to Buy: Smart black lifejacket that will blend in with any outfit | Minimal, understated style | Sprayhood and light as standard | Well designed wide bladder | Easy to adjust
Reasons to Avoid: Unpacking and repacking take a longer as rearming the firing mechanism is really fiddly | If you fly regularly with this lifejacket, the CO2 bottle seal will be an annoyance

Verdict: This is an excellent lifejacket, leading the way with coastal lifejackets that will take you offshore and into the night with its well positioned strobe light and nicely designed sprayhood.

The thoughtful design is apparent throughout, but perhaps was taken one step too far with the CO2 bottle anti-unscrew seal feature making it a poor choice for frequent flyers but an excellent choice for people who worry about their CO2 bottles coming unscrewed.

Read the full Crewsaver Crewfit+ review

Baltic Athena Auto Inflatable Lifejacket

Best women’s lifejacket

Specifications: Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 165N | Colour: White or black

Reasons to Buy: Cut for women and fits really well over foul weather clothes and light weight layers | Comfortable and easy to move around in | Easy to fasten in all conditions | Easy to repack and check the firing mechanism
Reasons to Avoid: Bladder might be a bit tight around the neck when inflated wearing a large foul weather jacket collar and this can be uncomfortable

Verdict: This is an excellent choice of lifejacket for women who do a host of boating activities. High praise from all who tried this lifejacket in the dry.

And I must praise Baltic for going out of their way to make a lifejacket tailored for women’s bodies. So often a women’s shape is not considered, which can lead to uncomfortable lifejackets.

Read the full Baltic Athena review

Helly Hansen Sail Safe inflatable lifejacket PFD

Specifications: Size: STD | Buoyancy: 150N | Colour: Navy and alert red |

Reasons to Buy: Lightweight and easy to stow | No frills design | Neat stowage for the crotch strap on the back of the life jacket straps
Reasons to Avoid: Performance was adequate in all areas but didn’t excel in any particular area.

Verdict: The Helly Hansen Sail Safe lifejacket is a lightweight coastal lifejacket with the ubiquitous HH branding. You get good performance all over but for the (relatively high) price it does feel that you are paying for a name and higher specified lifejackets are available at a lower price.

Read the full Helly Hansen Sailsafe review

Seago Seaguard 165N Inflatable Lifejacket

Best budget lifejacket

Specifications: Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 165N | Colour: Navy/grey

Reasons to Buy: Excellent value for money | Cross over bladder design works well | Room in the casing to add a sprayhood and light
Reasons to Avoid: There are a few little snaggy areas where the straps or toggles could be tucked away better

Verdict: We were very pleased with the performance of this lifejacket. Some would argue that it doesn’t look super stylish, but it doesn’t offend either. Where it excels is as a lifejacket in the water, and that’s where it really counts.

Read the full Seago Seaguard review

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Best Ocean and Offshore Lifejackets

The best inflatable lifejackets  and PFDs for boaters and sailors

Spinlock Deckvest 6D 170N Automatic Inflatable lifejacket / PFD

Highly Commended Best all round

Specifications | Buoyancy: 170N or 275N | Colour: Black, pacific blue, tropic white, citrus yellow, black with HRS, pacific blue with HRS, tropic white with HRS and citrus yellow with HRS | Features: 170N autoinflation, harness release system, crotch strap, sprayhood, lumeon bladder illumination, automatic strobe light, adjustable body height

Reasons to buy: Form-fitting sculpted design and bright colour make this a stylish lifejacket | Excellent elevated lighting and reflective visibility | Good snug fit holding the user high in the water and good sprayhood
Reasons to avoid: The bladder is a darker orange and may not be as visible as some of the brighter bladders available | Extra sculpting can make the lifejacket feel a bit stiff to wear and makes it heavy

Verdict: This is an outstanding lifejacket with great performance across the score board. The standout features are the lighting, both elevated and lume-on, lighting the entire bladder. The essentials are labelled and easy to find and this feels like a lifejacket that has really been designed with the user in mind. Every query has been answered. If I was challenged to find a way to improve this, I’m really not sure I could.

Read the full Spinlock Deckvest 6D review

 

TeamO Backtow inflatable lifejacket PFD with unique harness system

Highest scoring on test

Specifications: | Bouyancy: 170N or 275N | Colour: Black and Orange, Grey and Orange, Blue and Yellow | Features: Unique BackTow Technology, Integrated Deck Safety Harness, Compatible with MOB1 AIS, and PLB 3 Locator beacons, Sprayhood, Whistle, Double adjusters

Reasons to Buy: Smart sculpted design | Excellent sprayhood | Innovative design with backtow harness
Reasons to Avoid: If you deploy the backtow, you’re going to need to know how to put that back together or take it to a service centre

Verdict: A truly excellent lifejacket with innovation at its heart and the user practicality forefront.  The complexity of the backtow element means that rearming it in a hurry, unless you’re a dab hand already and have practiced shoreside, might leave you reaching for the spare lifejacket and sending this one off for someone else to do it for you.

Read the full TeamO Backtow review

Mustang Atlas 190 inflatable lifejacket

Raises the bar in bladder design

Specifications: Buoyancy: 180N | Colour: Black, Red/Black | Features: Pro Sensor auto inflation, crotch strap, pram style sprayhood, automatic strobe light, smart bladder design

Reasons to Buy: Very comfortable | Innovative bladder design | High freeboard | Understated casing design
Reasons to Avoid: Conservative outer styling might not appeal to those who like to make a statement

Verdict: From the outside the casing looks pretty standard and dare I say it a bit bland. It doesn’t shout look at me, which I suspect will have as many nods of approval as there will be shrugs of where’s the pizzazz?

Where the lifejacket really shines though is when it is deployed as an inflated bladder. The shape is really unlike all other lifejackets currently available. The bladder at the front is more pointed or conical, with additional wave baffles built into it. This acts doubly to make waves pass around you and those that hit directly are baffled by the webs. There’s an additional little “pillow” to raise your head further still and this gives a feeling of really being raised out of the water

Spinlock Vito 275N Hammar automatic inflatable lifejacket

Specifications: Buoyancy: 275N | Features: Pylon Lifejacket Light™, Lume-On™, Toggle attachment point for optional Chest Pack (DW-PCC)

Reasons to Buy: One of the best sprayhoods I’ve tested | Low profile lifejacket casing | Hammar trigger means you can use this in wild sailing conditions without accidental triggering
Reasons to Avoid: Hammar trigger means re-arming this is a faff | Quite rigid construction | Might not fit smaller people as adjustment will go only as small as a size 8 European female

Verdict: This is used by a variety of professional teams, including Volvo ocean racers. The Hammar trigger mechanism is a matter for you to decide if it’s right for you. They do sell the Vito with the pro sensor trigger too.

The over the head donning is a love it or loathe it style and whilst it can feel very secure and the harness loop is excellent, passing this over your head, large collar and other foulies in a rush can feel a bit claustrophobic.

The back is low cut though and the sprayhood is stowed in a back panel keeping the bulk away from the collar area. It is an excellent lifejacket and has scored highly in our early test scores. The full test review is coming soon,

Buy Spinlock Vito 170N Hammar from thewetworks.co.uk

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How to choose the best inflatable lifejacket or PFD?

From their basic ISO rated start point, all inflatable lifejackets take on their own characteristics and design elements. The positioning of the CO2 inflation bottle, the shape of the bladder, the position of the crotch strap and the way it is attached, the location of the whistle, the position of the oral inflation tube and the location of the lifting strop. Some of our PFD’s and lifejackets on test also have sprayhoods and water activated strobe lights.

I comprehensively put these inflatable lifejackets through sea survival drills and shoreside scrutiny. To learn more about what the team tested and how we did it, go to the bottom of this buyers guide to see our crew doing their thing, getting hands on with all of these PFDs..

Each inflatable lifejacket has its own review page. If you want a more in-depth PFD review, simply click through to read more.

Lifejackets group test – what we scored our lifejackets on

Adjust speed ease difficulty

Our testers checked how easy and quickly our lifejackets were able to change from full foulies, then down to a t-shirt then back again. The double adjuster was a popular method and was scored highly by our testers.

Fastening buckle ease with gloves

The ease with which we can fasten and unfasten the various buckles, including with gloves or cold hands. Seabelt style buckles were generally scored very highly.

Comfort men women body size

The cut and design of lifejackets varies a lot. From high cut waistcoat styles that suited the men or wider shouldered and taller people and the longer in the body cut lifejackets tended to suit a slimmer person with a waist for the lifejacket to cinch into.

Practicality bulk snagging

Some lifejackets have been well thought through. What do we do with the long surplus piece of webbing? what about all the flappy strappy bits? Are they neatly stowed? Lifejackets that had better stowage of surplus dangly bits were scored highly.

Manual inflated view and fitment

We tried all of the lifejackets shoreside, manually inflated and looked for the essential gear, whether it fell readily to hand and how the lifejacket fitted around the body in its fully inflated lifejaclet mode. A couple of the lifejackets had top up tubes that were a bit of a stretch to reach and some were difficult to locate the whistle or lifting strop.

Ease of checking and repacking

Some of our lifejackets just slipped back into their casing without a fuss, others didn’t want to go back in without a bit of a wrestle. The velcro closure lifejackets are the easiest and the tightly packed ones with all the bells and whistles required a little more consideration to careful tucking and folding. Most had easy access to check the arming mechanism within a few brief seconds.

Sprayhood

Where a lifejacket was fitted with a sprayhood we scored it. Some sprayhood were considerably better designed than others. Of the coastal lifejackets on test the Crewsaver was outstanding.

Personal Beacon stowage

The offshore lifejackets should reasonably be expected to have adequate stowage provision for a personal locator beacon or AIS.  Some were much better equipped than others. The Ocean Safety Sport Pro ADV has a pocket built in, the Spinlock Deckvest 6D has an optional side pouch which is excellent.

In water testing

We tested every lifejacket in the pool and ran each one through basic personal sea survival drills, from manual inflation, auto inflation, swimming, rafting and climbing into a liferaft, we looked at the performance of all our best lifejackets for boaters in general use.

Our lifejacket testing team were:

Alex :  Professional Skipper of traditional sailing vessels (Charlestown Harbour)

Paula : Chief at Charlestown Harbour

Toni : Ex RNLI lifeaboatman, Ex Brixham fisherman, Professional skipper and owner of traditional sailing and fishing vessels

Phil : Ex Lifeboatman, Ex Brixham fisherman, Ex Navy Chief Engineer, Principle sea survival skills training officer, Professional Skipper and University HE lecturer.

Anna :  Clipper Sailing Crew and experienced offshore sailor/racer

James : Retired GP and experienced offshore sailor/racer

Mike : Outward bound sailing instructor, poolside safety and drills at Western Maritime Training

Toby : Experienced sailor and dinghy racer, Group Digital editor at Future Marine Group

Fox : Professional sailing skipper, experienced offshore sailor/racer, Senior HE University lecturer, Tech Ed at Future Marine Group

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Our lifejacket testing was held over several days.

Our dry testing day was hosted by Charlestown Harbour.

We tested all of our lifejackets for the ease of adjustment from wearing it over bulky clothes to t-shirts and then back to bulky clothes.

We looked at how easy or difficult our lifejackets were to fasten and unfasten and then try that again with cold hands or with gloves on.

We looked at the fitment of crotch straps and for any loose or dangling straps or toggles that might get snagged by accident when worn in a marine environment.

We manually inflated all of our lifejackets and assessed their onboard equipment and location. Some lifejackets have the minimum or lifting strop, whistle and top up tube, others have spray hoods fitted and lights. We assessed how easy those items were to find and use when wearing the lifejacket inflated.

Where suitable, we looked at where a personal locator beacon or personal ais beacon would fit on or within the lifejacket casing or bladder.

We packed away our lifejackets and assessed how easy or difficult they were to stow back into their casings. While we were doing this, we also looked at how easy it would be to rearm a lifejacket if it had been triggered.

Our Pool testing day was held in Plymouth Life Centre Diving Pool and organised by Western Maritime Training.

In the pool we had a liferaft set in place for us to run through standard sea survival drills and practice. Western Maritime Training kindly set the pool up for us as per standard STCW personal survival techniques training days.

We highly recommend that anyone who spends time heading out of sight of land for leisure or pleasure should consider doing this course.

While we were in the pool area, we assessed the manual trigger mechanism and auto inflate mechanism of lifejackets. How hard is it to pull the trigger to activate the gas canister or when auto inflating, did the lifejacket turn us over quickly?

We assessed the comfort of the lifejacket when inflated and how easy or difficult they are to readjust whilst in the water. such as tightening crotch straps or cinching in waistbands.

Where lifejackets were fitted with a sprayhood, we looked at how easy it was to locate and pull over the bladder, checking its effectiveness/practicality.

We formed a human safety circle and assessed what practical grab holds our lifejackets had, then we climbed into a liferaft, also checking for practical use and ability to physically handle a person giving them assistance to enter the liferaft.

After testing

We hung up our inflated lifejackets to dry and confirmed that all remained fully inflated for well over 48hours. In fact all of our test lifejackets remained inflated for two weeks, by which time only one of them had slightly started to soften.

What’s the scores?

Each lifejacket was independently scored by members of the testing team.

We took those scores and averaged them for each criteria.

We added up the individual element scores and converted this to a percentage rating.

Throughout the process all notes were taken from our testers and those comments can be seen in each review and within our buyers guide.

 

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Note: all of our lifejackets tested conform to either  ISO 12402-3 (coastal/non harness) or iSO 12401 (harness versions), and this means that they all meet the basic safety standards you would expect from a lifejacket.

In order to conduct unbiased testing, our test team were given full freedom to test and evaluate the lifejackets presented to them on the tests days. Their opinions are made in a professional capacity and skippers and end users of the products and are a result of direct hands on experience. This does not override any official safety rating or certification.
legal disclaimer is available here

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