Buoyancy Aids & Impact Vests
Being safe on the water is the number one priority for all water sport enthusiasts, so buying the right buoyancy aid, impact vest or life jacket is very important. They all have their place for water sports safety, but here are the major differences.
Impact Vests
Impact Vests are thin-padded protection jackets designed to stop you from getting injured, these do not have enough float or buoyancy to be classed as a buoyancy aid and are mostly used for wakeboarding, kitesurfing and foil riders looking for impact protection, we sell windsurf and kitesurf specifically designed versions, so they can fit and be worn with a harness.
Buoyancy Aids
Buoyancy aids will help you float in the water and these are the most popular for water sports like paddleboarding kayaking and sailing, They are less bulky than life jackets and offer you more movement. Theses will need to be a very snug fit, so they can't ride up on your body.
Life Jackets
Life Jackets have the most buoyancy out of all three and these are designed to keep your head above water even if you are knocked out, this is done by the large collar that you will see all life jackets have. They are not as easy to swim in as they are also the most bulky and are worn for sailing on larger boats.
Please remember that impact vests, buoyancy aids and life jackets will all need to be a perfect fit for them to work properly, so why not come down to Boardworx and try some on?
What the difference between buoyancy aid and life jacket ?
A buoyancy aid is a floatation device that is worn by the person taking part in watersports like, windsurfing, kitesurfing and dinghy sailing, and kayaking these are just an aid and will bob you like a cork.
A life jacket has a large collar to support your head to float an unconscious person into a safe position face up, these have the buoyancy in the chest and collar to do this and are generally used on bigger sailing yachts and boats.
Where can I get a Buoyancy aid fitted ?
Here at Boardworx we carry a large range of adults and junior buoyancy aids that you can come into the store and try on for size, our staff can help and advise you on fit. Some of the brands we stock are Yak, Crewsaver, C-Skins and Mystic.
We now have specially designed buoyancy aids for wing foiling from Forward Whip these have the same buoyancy as normal aids but with added features for wing foilers.