Look at getting my first impact vest that fits with my waist harness.

Any particular brands and model that stand out to get?

Impact vest, or lifejacket/floaty impact vest?
if purely impact vest then i would be searching for a hard type that'll fit better with a waist harness, if you want the floaty type then its going to be a compromise between having it cover the surface area to to give you the protection, and not having it turn you into tommy turtle whilst hooked in.


i'm a waist harness wearer as well, and i haven't been able to find anything to date that i'm truly happy to wear whilst sailing. Things go better for the seat harness people i suspect. its particularly annoying in WA (i think its Australia wide?) since we are technically required to wear a pfd pretty much everywhere once over 400m from shore.



i currently use a forward whip (latest model) pfd when i absolutely have to. its probably the closest ive been to happy. I see vakobi have a new much higher slim pfd that might be better

Subsonic said..
Impact vest, or lifejacket/floaty impact vest?
if purely impact vest then i would be searching for a hard type that'll fit better with a waist harness, if you want the floaty type then its going to be a compromise between having it cover the surface area to to give you the protection, and not having it turn you into tommy turtle whilst hooked in.


i'm a waist harness wearer as well, and i haven't been able to find anything to date that i'm truly happy to wear whilst sailing. Things go better for the seat harness people i suspect. its particularly annoying in WA (i think its Australia wide?) since we are technically required to wear a pfd pretty much everywhere once over 400m from shore.



i currently use a forward whip (latest model) pfd when i absolutely have to. its probably the closest ive been to happy. I see vakobi have a new much higher slim pfd that might be better

I'm am after more on the flotation side of things, we all end up in the water at some time

Maybe not the floatiest but I am very impressed with the longevity of my NP
about 5 seasons now and only needs replacing the little Velcro tab that stops the zip moving. Rest is fine

I have the Ion Vector too, and it works fine with a waist harness. They are a bit small in their size, so I had to go one size larger than usual in order to breath normally. It is comfortable to wear and feels like it gives some protection, but I have never hit anything hard enough to tell. It gives some extra floatation when waterstarting, which is nice in the winter when one doesn't want to put the head under water.

Mark _australia said..
Maybe not the floatiest but I am very impressed with the longevity of my NP
about 5 seasons now and only needs replacing the little Velcro tab that stops the zip moving. Rest is fine

Agree with Mark, NP about 7 years old now good as new. There a shook cut out so should be fine with a high hook. Wish their board bags lasted as well!