Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On 1 Jan 2007 16:59:21 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:

info that might be useful to members of fishing clubs, etc, elsewhere
in the country:

Interesting.

I wonder how they are "properly fitted".

The only real way to tell if a child's vest is properly fitted is to
put the child in a pool with the life jacket and see if the child will
float face up instead of face down or even upside down.

Has to do with the child's center of gravity. Not all children of a
certain age or weight have the same center of gravity.

Now, ask me how I know this?

Well, ok - I'll tell you anyway. I went through six different vests,
all of the appropriate size and fit until I found one that would allow
my niece to float upright over a sustained period of time, head out of
the water in a dead float.


Here's a link to a State of Oregon Marine Board site that has at least
a basic drawing of a properly fitted life jacket.

http://www.marinebd.osmb.state.or.us/

I can almost certainly guarantee they will be fitting these by sight
and feel and not subjecting the kids to a dunking. :-)

Even when the oddball COG's of kids at various stages of development
are taken into account, it would seem likely that the child is better
off with a jacket that is properly sized, etc, than with a randomly
selected jacket intended for an adult.