LIFE JACKETS

hey guys im new and this is my first new thread. anyway what do you all think of riding without a life jacket? do you think pros that ride without them set bad examples? i think its just as bad as when skateboarders, bmx, rollerbladers, skate without helmets. or it could be compared to driving without a seat belt. its your lifeline. also what im curious about is why has life jackets only become an issue in big wave surfing when in fact surfers drown all the time from clunking thier heads on thier board. i worked at a surf shop for two years and we would hear quite a few stories from all around. it would suck though for duck diving. me personally in my head i see it both ways. ive never been knocked out while wakeboarding so a lifejacket hasnt bee an issue yet. i wear one but think it looks ten times cooler to not wear one. also i heard that you cant be in wakeboard magazine if you dont wear a lifejacket. how come skateboard magazines and bmx dont have this rule about helmets. its just as bad if not ten times worse cuz your dealing with alot more people.

I'd rather be alive and look 10 x less "cool" than look "cool" and die. I broke my back last season and was unable to move any of my limbs for about an hour. Had I not been wearing a CGA vest, I'd be dead right now. There was a pro that died on Lake Lavon (one of my local lakes) not wearing a vest, I forget his name as it was 5-6 years ago.

I don't know what it is about wakeboarders and always wanting to look cool. Be it spending 10k on a stereo that's likely to get wet or riding in non approved vests or none at all and risking their lives. I've always just been thankful for having the chances to own a boat and go out and ride, screw what you look like doing it.

Between breaking my back last year, breaking my leg and blowing out my knee this year, and fearing a head/ear injury, I'll likely spend next season in an approved vest, knee brace, and a helmet. I look like an accident, but I'll do it with a smile on my face and live to ride another day.

great comment, stansfield, and lake lavon isnt too far away from here.

i never see anyone without a lifevest on lake lewisville, its just part of the idea... you wakeboard, you wear a life vest.

ok so what do you guys think in comparison to other sports then? trust me i always wear a life jacket and have never ridden without one. on a decent sized wave you are surfing at wakeboard speeds. just as easy to get knocked out. it just confuses me why surfers havent caught onto this or when something happens they just act like it never did. same with skaters or bmx. hospitals have those kids in all the time with head injuries

If anybody thinks that riding without a vest is ok they should read about Corey Kraut. He wasn't wearing a vest, got knocked out on a crash and nobody could find him.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/169305.html

guess nobody has any answers to other sports?

Matt, skating and riding BMX without a helmet is nothing like wakeboarding without a vest. When skating and riding BMX, you can get knocked out and still breathe!

If your under 18 and on my boat you wear a vest, end of.
If your over 18 then its your choice. I always wear a vest but some choose not to.

I was reading a newspaper article on a drowning, and the paramedic quoted in the paper said it best.

Paraphrased...

"In my twenty years of water rescue, I've never once pulled someone from a lake or river who had drowned that was wearing a life vest."

speaking of lifevests, theres some guy that rides up and down this finger of lake lewisville in a big cabin cruiser with all his kids sitting on the bow with their legs dangling. while they have lifevests on, i dont imagine thats too safe. anyone elses opinion?

When surfing bigger waves a life jacket wouldn't allow you to go under water far enough to get out of trouble. The vest would keep you at the surface where the wave would work you.

i wear a vest its not CGA but is a vest, as long as i keep my hands underneath me the vest keeps my head above water, if i put my hands over my head i go about 8-12 inches under water and stay there. then if my board stays on my feet that helps me float too.

"When surfing bigger waves a life jacket wouldn't allow you to go under water far enough to get out of trouble. The vest would keep you at the surface where the wave would work you."


Not saying you should wear one when surfing big or small waves. But I agree you would get worked. But you would eventually come to the surface too. Just kinda ride out the punishment while relaxing until you pop up.

I guess the tow in surfers wear them because of the extreme "for surfing" speeds they hit. At those speeds the water itself could knock you out. Making it that much more likely you could gert knocked out.

As far as wakebording, I think it's pretty lame not to wear one. Plus it's illegal and opens the boat operator up to a possible lawsuit.