Lol. I read it. Just thought I would hammer home the point. The manual ones are stupid. There's no point in a vest that requires you to work it. Just bite the bullet, buy a Mustang and some extra co2 carts in case of an 'accidental discharge'.

Or die with an uninflated manual one on. It's his choice.

Mine inflated the one time while on...several times in a damp boat...then after being told it had to be worn at all times.. I said;; time to go back to a regular PFD.. Ain't worth the extra cost plus the rearming kits..

Gone fishn - through the years this forum has revealed many things that have happened to our members and people they know. You should look at a PFD as a life insurance policy for you and people who depend on you. I recommend you go with auto inflate, and you should at least look at a vest with HIT technology. These vests are inflated by hydrostatic pressure (submersion in 4" or more of water)and will not inflate due to rain, humidity, or splashing. They also have a manual pull handle. Yes, they are the most expensive but they are also lightweight and comfortable and you won't mind wearing them all the time on the water. And the inflation cylinder is good for 5 years, which makes for a pretty low annual investment.

My Dad being in the Navy before and being used to the old "Mae West" bought me an auto inflate which I appreciated his concern. It had the pull string and blow tube.

It deployed in the rod locker and then I got rained on and experienced the sudden poof there it is.

I'm thinking I will stay with the Sterns XL. Its idiot proof and I don't have to worry if I put the bobbin on right or if Inspector number 9 did her job. LOL.

In cold weather I keep it on up on the front deck. Warm water I wear it at the console only.

No that's not what I said.

I am looking for opinions & have not ruled out the automatic or I wouldn't have asked the question.

When I said Let's stay away from the "if you get knocked out falling overboard" part of the argument, - the next sentence I asks - Has anyone had issues with the auto's deploying? I thought most would understand I was asking more about the issues with the autos vs the manuals. I guess I could have frames the question better.

I see there is very little support for the manual even with activation issues with the automatics.

I was either going manual or jumping right up to the Hydrostatic.

I have had 2 auto inflates. The first one was one of the first ones released to the public and it would deploy due to just getting wet. The second one is HIT (hydrostatic) which must immersed in 4" of water to activate, zero problems. I highly recommend it. Just replace charging kit when required and forget it. It must be worn at all times to meet requirements.

Mine deployed one hot afternoon in the bottom of the boat...I thought someone was shooting at me!!! I required a recharge kit and a change of drawers...I'd rather wear these, but keep a couple of conventional jackets in the boat to keep the WARDEN happy.

LOL, same here. IMPORTANT: I forgot to mention. If you select auto inflatable, MAKE SURE IT HAS A RING TO ATTACH YOUR KILL SWITCH!! I bought mine at Cabelas and it doe NOT have one.

Go for the Mustang HIT. Hydrostatic it must be submerged in 4" of water. Wear your kill switch. Auto is best if something like a collision happened and you were knocked unconscious or senseless. They are more money but worth it. They were on sale at Bass Pro. I don't know if they still are. I picked up a new one.

A lot of people killed by something they did not expect to happen.

Yeah, Manual would only be good in situations where no power boats were on the water. Wouldn't be much good if some yahoo ran you over...

Mine do not have rings but here is what I did:


Makes it really easy to clip on and off.

I have had all of them at one time or another, I now have Mustang that are HIT, they are lighter than the auto inflate ones and wear it all the time when I fish alone. Since it wont go off unless it is submerged in 4" of water I don't have to worry about it going off from moisture. Just wish they would reduce the cost of the re-arm kits some.

Raise an interesting question. What is the 'expected life' of the auto inflatable or is there such a thing? It can't be 'forever' so, sooner or later will have to 're-arm' the PFD.....anyone have any information on any frequency of re-arming these?
Is it like changing the battery in your smoke detector at home? Once a year? I don't recall any information on this with the purchase of mine from Cabela's...

Both the cylinder and activator have "expire" dates printed on them.