[jessejames]

I bought a NRS Chinook fishing life jacket. It looks like a fishing vest with zip pockets, D-rings and zinger attachments. The flotation padding starts up pretty high on the back so using it when in a high back seat still works. I have started wearing it ALL the time. I use it in my float tube the pram the pontoon and will start wearing it when I am wading. I have never been the most graceful wader and now that I am in my golden years:thumb:it is worse.
This is a comfortable jacket rated as a class 3 with 16# flotation.
It has many adjustments for sizing and fits really well.
This has given me more opportunities to fish alone. My wife worries about me fishing alone not because I will drown and die but she wont be able to find the body:rofl::rofl: With this purchase and a promise to wear it she is more willing to let me go alone and frankly I am more confident when I am wearing it.
I have had other PFD's but they were bulky or uncomforable and covered up a vest so fishing was not as convenient when wearing them.
This is a vest I will wear. (honest honey:hmmm
Blessings
jesse

 

[Old Man]

I just went to that web site and saw what they looked like. That thing could keep your boat a float should it spring a leak.

 

[Philster]

I went the same route when my "odyssey of illness" started with vertigo 6 or so years ago. Happened steelhead fishing, fell in, and basically couldn't figure out which way was up. Scary shit man. I got a new patagonia on closeout a couple months ago for Madison River Fly Fishing for about $40. Still bulky, has smaller pockets than yours. I really like the look of the pockets on yours. But the price was pretty good.

 

[cmann886]

I picked up an NRS Chinook XXL for 38.99 on line at NOC---as far as fit goes it is great. The adjustment is simply remarkable. However, the pockets are so small I would not recommend it if you plan on taking a fly box that is half the size of a match box.

 

[7919]

Wise decision. I am not so much the wading type. River crossings in the winter that are sketchy, are sketchy!

In the summer I dont worry about falling in wading as much, since there is less risk of hypothermia. Nice to see a review of a good useable fishing pfd. Hopefully designs will keep improving and they will become more common.

 

[Mumbles]

Jesse, safety is cool. Those NRS PFD/vests are cool. I have a similar non NRS version myself. Safety is cool. That statement is worth opening and closing arguments!

 

[10139]

A mid 1980s Stearns co2 inflatable fishing vest is the best PFD for me. The main reason is that I always wear it. I misplaced it for a year or so and found that I didn't wear the bulky types they just got tossed under the boat seats. I was bummed when I lost it because the new ones are about $200. I won't lose it again.

 

[Mike Wilson]

I have been looking for a vest... may need to pick one up. Be nice to give the wife a chance to recover my body so they can cremate my remains and throw the ashes back in the water. :clown: :beathead:

 

[fishbadger]

I have that Chinook vest too. I mainly wear it when rowing. Not quite enough storage for me to wear when I'm out wandering around, but it's not bad,

fb

 

[IveofIone]

That big sigh you hear in the background is the insurance company exhaling. They have seen Jesse wade! :rofl:

Ive

 

[generic]

Wise decision. I am not so much the wading type. River crossings in the winter that are sketchy, are sketchy!

Can you say Spokane River? Holy Crap! What is that in there?

Thanks for the info Jesse.

 

[Alex MacDonald]

It's probably a good idea to actually wear one-which I usually don't. Always wore an auto-inflatable on the sailboats I raced or crewed, though; you wouldn't believe how fast that boom can come around on you in an accidental jibe. On a small one-design, it'll just knock you out. On a big boat, you're toast before you hit the water.

My issue with a vest in Summer is the heat, but I probably should look into one of these, though!

 

[jessejames]

I have whitewater rafted and I know the importance of a good PFD. But I never wore one while in the pontoon or float tube. I made a decision that I was going to research and then buy a PFD that I WOULD WEAR. A life jacket wont do you any good if it is in the storage of the boat or bungeed down on the back of your 'toon.
This is a jacket I can and will wear year around. Will I wear it when I am wet wading in shallow water in July no I probably wont. But when on the lakes and rivers I am going to be in it.
It may not be as comfy or convenient but I made the choice to wear it for safety for me and for the well being of my family.
For me this was the best PFD on the market.
Blessings
jesse

 

[Steve Call]

I looked it up on the NRS website and the Chinook looks good, but like Alex noted kind of heavy for wading in the summer. I recently picked up a compact inflatable to wear in my WaterMaster. In researching I saw they make inflatable waist PFDs which might offer some protection when wet wading in rivers in the summer and have the advantage of being lighter and cooler on those hot summer days. I don't think they'd offer practical safety in a boat, but I'm thinking would probably provide enough bouyancy to help get you to the bank of a river if you slipped while wading. Has anyone had any experience with them?

 

[tediousthumper]

Ed I agree that safety is cool! But paying over 35 bucks for a life vest isn't cool. Now don't get me wrong it's worth every penny even of they were a K right. But I think more people would buy them and wear them if they were more reasonably priced. Like me for instance I got a mesh vest from Cabellas. I wear it some, but find it bulky. I would love to get another that's more fitting but the prices keep me away.

 

[shaker jake]

On Monday, a buddy fishing in the middle of Lone Lake, accidentally [B]swamped[/B] his aluminum pram. It took about 5 seconds, and he was in the drink. I saw the commotion and raced over to him. My boat is bigger. He could not climb into my boat. Too weak and too wet. He was wearing lots of clothes and was very waterlogged. Fortunately he was wearing an inflatable vest. I put a rope around him and towed him to shore. It took forever. He would not have been able to get to shore on his own. Water was 50 degrees.

Things turned out all right, but it most likely would have had a different ending had he not been wearing his vest, and been alone on the lake, as I had been the first two hours of that morning!

 

[Philster]

On Monday, a buddy fishing in the middle of Lone Lake, accidentally [B]swamped[/B] his aluminum pram. It took about 5 seconds, and he was in the drink. I saw the commotion and raced over to him. My boat is bigger. He could not climb into my boat.

Climbing into a boat is one of the most difficult things on the planet to do under ideal circumstances. I look like an Orca taking a bow at the watershow down at seaworld trying to climb into a 22 foot Panga! Plus in a pram to 12 footer the attempt can kill both of you :ray1:

 

[Freestone]

But paying over 35 bucks for a life vest isn't cool.

What is your life worth? If someone held a gun to my head and said, give me $35 dollars or I will kill you, I'd pay it - and a hell of a lot more! I value my life so for me, a PFD that I will wear is worth it no matter how much it costs. I've seen people pay $100 for a pair of jeans or shoes but balk at the price of a PFD. You can get a ton of PFD's under $35, but many are ones that people would not want to wear. Like anything, good quality, comfortable PFD's are not cheap to design and manufacture and there is lot more government regulation and liability in the price than in a pair of jeans or sneakers.

 

[Philster]

What is your life worth? If someone held a gun to my head and said, give me $35 dollars or I will kill you, I'd pay it - and a hell of a lot more! I value my life so for me, a PFD that I will wear is worth it no matter how much it costs. I've seen people pay $100 for a pair of jeans or shoes but balk at the price of a PFD. You can get a ton of PFD's under $35, but many are ones that people would not want to wear. Like anything, good quality, comfortable PFD's are not cheap to design and manufacture and there is lot more government regulation and liability in the price than in a pair of jeans or sneakers.

Coolness is one of our last forms of population control, don't mess it up for the rest of us! Let them get hopped up on energy drinks, and take a seylor they got at BIG 5 down the rogue! If they haven't heard the message from pre-school till now... :hmmm:

 

[dryflylarry]

I couldn't believe my eyes when fishing a lake last summer with my friend. We each have Fish Cats float tubes. He bent over to pick a bug off the water or something. He bent forward and to the side and that baby "flipped"! We were in the middle of the lake (30' deep) and there he was stuck under his float tube yelling for help but hanging on to the tube. It was funny and scary at the same time, thinking how what if he wasn't able to hang on to the tube and his waders filled, and ...... geesus. And to top it off, we were in Idaho wading across a river and we were to the point of "no return" if ya know what I mean... no PFD..... never again for these two old men!