I am the first one to say that when you are in imminent danger you should put
on your PFD

Do you suppose most of the folks who fall overboard had enough warning that
they could have put on a PFD?

Except for suicides, 100% of the people who drown on a given day had no
intention of doing so. If they had even 10 seconds warning, most would either
change their activity, don a PFD, or both.

Accidents are tough to foresee.

Maybe the answer to wear *some* type of PFD, (even one of the belt packs), even
if not CG approved and have an approved PFD at ready hand. There's no easy
answer to this that will please everybody, which is why the topic goes round
and round, year after year.