Need some info. Thinking about buying a inflatable life jacket. Which is better? Mustang or Onyx??

I like the Mustang HIT. No issues with it. They really are good for about 5 years of use before they get worn out.

Wait till you really need it and it does not work. Left me down and under. Not wearing an inflatable ever again. If I have a full time life jacket on I know it will work no if's...... Luck to still be here it was just not my time is all I can say..
We hit a boat wake and the boat did a 360 throwing me out of the boat. All I knew driving the boat and I was under the water. Pulled the rip cord 3 times and it did not deploy. Just luck my partner grabbed the O sh-- handle and stayed in the boat. Lost glasses sun glasses and a shoe and nearly my life on the account of an inflatable that did not deploy. I do not take that risk any longer. If I am in the boat I have a regular like jacket on.
Just my 2 cents

I agree with dobbin. I've heard this to many times. I always wear a standard life jacket when gas motor is running.

I've also switched to a regular jacket after reading multiple episodes like this.

Just bought a Mustang and you guys ruin my day. I guess if I can dog paddle long enough I can manually inflate.

Unless your unconscious.
But, have no fear. At some point your body will float back up! It's why first responders call all drowning victims "Bob"..

There are WAY too many stories by those who have actually needed an inflatable to work and it didn't. To all those that post "had mine for years-no problems" but have never needed it to deploy: y'all actually have no idea if you are actually wearing a life jacket or just a real ugly sweater vest! These things are way to UNDEPENDABLE to depend on. The flip side is those of us who refuse to wear the old fashion standard jacket: an inflatable is better odds than nothing. It MIGHT inflate!

Thanks. I'm having second thoughts now...

Fished a club tourney on Rayburn last month with light rain all day and fog. My partner and I both were wearing Onyx inflatables. Neither one ever deployed despite being wet all day. That being said, I hung them in my garage after the tourney Saturday to dry. On Monday as I was in the garage rearranging some things in my boat one of them decided to self deploy. This came very close to making my bowels also self deploy as it was very loud and completely unexpected as the vest was now 100% dry.

I am now the proud owner of two Mustang Accel 100 mph vests. Good luck finding any at a low price as Mustang is way behind on their production schedule but since I just bought a 2018 Skeeter, I ordered them through the dealer with the logos on them.

I needed one and it deployed as expected. They are most reliable if you maintain them. They have been used successfully for many years. The stories you hear are a small percentage. Even for those failures, the most common is inflating when not expected (not the other way around).

I don't know which one is BETTER? I'm guessing they are similar in quality. I've always figured if the inflatables are good enough for the US Coast Guard and for TPWD, they are probably good enough for me. That being said, I've never heard all this talk about deployment failure. And that does give me pause. I've been wearing an ONYX for a couple years. Recently, I performed an accidental test and it worked as intended. It would be nice to see some real scientific data on this topic. I have no idea where to find it.

Do what you want but I assure you that mine did not deploy and it took me a while to get to the surface of the water. I am lucky to be here today as I was deep in the water. The vest was about 3 months old and in new like condition. The green light or dot was showing. 3 days later it was still laying on the deck of the boat as I walked by I gave the pull cord a yank and guess what it blew up like it should have. Why did it not deploy when I hit the water or when I pulled the cord 3 times while under the water,,,,Who knows but for me and my house never again!!!!!!!

I was under the impression the inflatable jackets are activated by pressure instead of water. Or something like that.

My knees are so bad now that they'll just buckle with the slightest missed step so I wear a inflatable any time i'm on the boat but if i'm up on plane running i have my vest on also , fits right over the inflatable