Lifejackets have come a long way! They are no longer the big bulky bring orange life preservers from the past. Now they are sleek, comfortable and dare I say a little stylish.

Today, May 15th is Red Cross National Lifejacket Day in Canada and Mustang Survival is proud to partner with the Red Cross in
spreading their important boating safety message.

You even have a chance to win a family pack of lifejackets! Enter the contest on the Canadian Red Cross website today!

Our friends over at the Oregon State Marine Board have started their own Podcast! They caught our attention by doing a video of a give away of Mustang Survival life jackets to kids that participated in their Jr. Boater Program at the Central Oregon Sportsmen’s Show.

Boating season will be here soon and this is a great time to give your Inflatable PFD a check up. If you are lucky enough to get to enjoy the water year round you can do this too!

Mustang Survival recommend you do some preventative maintenance to be sure your inflatable is in full working order. Use the oral inflation tube (behind the cover) to blow up the PFD to capacity and leave it sitting out over night. When you get up in the morning the inflated cell should be just as firm. If not, it might be time to get a new one.

If you are using an automatically inflating PFD that uses a bobbin (a small dissolving tablet) you should probably replace the bobbin at the end of every season to prevent an inadvertent inflation. They are very inexpensive and have a shelf life of around 3 years. Full maintenance details are included in your Owner’s Manual.

When you own an inflatable PFD you should check it between outings to make sure that it is in good working condition when you take it on a trip. Just take a few seconds to check the green indicator in the safety inspection window, ensure the PFD is free of rips, tears or holes, and that the Velcro™ or SecureZip™ closures are fully closed.

If the unexpected happens and you end up in the water with an inflated PFD, rest assured, it is completely reusable. Once you have let it dry and removed the air from it, you’ll need a re-arm kit, which are available from most marine stores. For a manual version you’ll only need a CO2 cylinder, for an automatic version you’ll also need a new bobbin, or new hydrostatic inflator. It is a simple process and the kits include everything you need. Instructions on how to re-arm your PFD are included in your manual, with the re-arm kit, and there instructional videos available on our website.

In their February issue, MotorBoating Magazine recognized the Mustang Survival Rescue Stick with their award for Best Safety Gear. The award was presented to Chris, our Regional Sales Manager for the east coast at the Miami International Boat Show last month. In this video you can see all the award winning products and some video showing the Rescue Stick in action. Thanks MotorBoating!

After the Ice Rescue training at Lifesaving Resources I headed to the warmer climate of Florida for the Miami International Boat Show. It was great to see some of the amazing new boats out there and to dream about finding myself on one cruising the Keys. After waking up from my daydream it was down to business, checking out the countless displays and meeting with some of my contacts in the boating media.

One person that I was pleasantly surprised to meet while I was there is Bruce Wright Recreational Boating Safety Specialist with the US Coast Guard. Bruce travels for many months of the year with this amazing trailer he’s built to show people how comfortable lifejackets are now and gives them an opportunity to try different ones on to see which one is right for them. It was great to check it out first hand.

One of the coolest parts of the trailer is a simulator for kids. They get to put on a lifejacket and sit on seats that actually show them how a boat moves in the water while they can see what would be happening on a big screen in front of them. Its really quite cool.

If you are ever at an event where Bruce has the trailer its really worth checking out. Not only is it fun, it will educate you about being comfortable and safe on the water too!