O'Neill Checkmate vs Ronix Bill
 

What is your opinion of these vests? I can't seem to decide which one I should order.

if you're looking for a vest that won't float you the oneill checkmate is the single most comfortable vest on the market hands down.

So I've heard. Is there really anything special about the ronix 'impact' vests?

Not really, O'neill has been making vests for years and years. Ronix team riders don't even wear their vests most of the time except for catalog shoots.

How does the gooru compare to the checkmate?

The gooru will stretch out loads and probably not float as well as the checkmate. I had a billabong modernizm (basically same as the gooru) and i liked it grand for the 3 months or so it hadn't stretched but I'm on the checkmate now and prefer it. Stretchwise, the I wear medium tees and got the modernizm in small. It now fits my dad who wears XXL.

I have both... the Checkmate is 5x better than the Bill. Comfortable as hell, can't even feel that it's on. Impact is fine on it, just like it's supposed to be. The Bill is extremely (and I don't use this word loosely) uncomfortable to wear and just sucks all around. Spend the money on the Checkmate, you won't regret it.