good idea I reckon. My old man has a pacemaker in his chest, been trying to get him out in the surf but he is worried about hitting it..... impact vest would help....
The Bertish brothers always wear an impact vest when SUPing big waves. Sometimes even two. It makes a huge difference when suffering a hold down - you pop up much quicker.
We also use them instead of PFD's for our ocean racing, our rules allow it. Most popular ones are the Mystic, O'neill and Ion.
I've got the mystic impact vest that I use for kite surfing, would be great for SUPing as lots of freedom and range of motion for the arms and very comfortable too.
I mainly use mine incase I get spanked (too old now, takes too long to recover from injury) and couldn't see why that theory couldn't be applied to big wave surfing (not chope style...)
I wear an Oneill Revenge Vest just to give a bit more floatation and warmth. Also a bit of padding around the ribs can come in handy. I have started wearing it all the time.
Ive got an Oneill vest similar to the one above. Theres never anyone out where and when I surf, so if theres any size in the waves I wear it. Very very comfy and warm and no restriction in movement.
