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Life Jackets & Safety

The gear that gets you home

Life jackets, inflatable PFDs, whistles, personal locator beacons, engine cut-off lanyards and first aid. A life jacket counts only if it is U.S. Coast Guard approved, beacons must be registered with NOAA, and we read the Coast Guard's own accident statistics before we tell you what matters.

Start here

A 7-step path for beginners

  1. Woman in an orange foam life jacket riding in the bow of a small open boat leaving a harbor lined with white houses and moored boats
    01

    Pick a life jacket

    Inflatable or foam, USCG approval, and rearm kits.

    Read
  2. Close view of a boat helm with a white steering wheel and a chrome throttle lever beside it, water blurred beyond the console
    02

    Wear the kill switch

    Who the federal ECOS rule covers.

    Read
  3. A single small fishing boat crossing open blue water far below a distant line of coastal cliffs
    03

    Carry a beacon

    PLB or EPIRB, and NOAA registration.

    Read
  4. Red and white ring buoy with a coil of blue line hanging on a metal post at the water's edge, gray sea and a distant town under clouds
    04

    Check the required list

    What the Coast Guard requires aboard, by boat length.

    Read
  5. Smiling young man in a salmon-colored jacket sitting on the edge of a sailboat at sea, a navy inflatable life jacket worn flat around his neck and chest
    05

    Rearm an inflatable

    Matching the kit to the jacket, and when to rearm.

    Read
  6. Child in a yellow foam life jacket seen from behind, looking out over sunlit blue water from a boat toward distant mountains
    06

    Fit a child

    Weight bands, crotch straps and the under-13 rule.

    Read
  7. Black handheld marine radio with a long antenna propped at the windshield of a boat's console beside a dark gear bag, blue water outside
    07

    Carry a VHF

    Channel 16, DSC and the MMSI, from FCC pages.

    Read

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