A group dedicated to the best practices and standards using Rescue Water Craft for occupational use. Commonly referred to as Personal Water Craft (PWC) for recreational enthusiasts, RWC's are now enjoyed in public service for water safety worldwide. If you have any questions regarding RWC use or application we look forward to hearing from you! Welcome aboard.
Did you know that using an inflatable type of a lifejacket is not permitted for RWC use?
Buoyancy factor is a strong consideration for use:
Our standard of use is a buoyancy factor of 22 lbs. or a 'swiftwater type' lifejacket. The only difference in a Swiftwater type or what we refer to in the USA as a Type V PFD (Personal flotation device) is that we remove the O ring or the live bait/swim tether attachment point off the center webbing strap. Since we are not shore based responders we consider that feature on the lifejacket to be a catch point and can create problems from our operational needs. But if you return to shore based operations its easy to replace the O ring and put the lifejacket back into a swim standard of use.
The buoyancy factor is one measure of use for our operational standards for PFD's as we will load additional fixed safety gear onto our lifejacket, but its also the feature of keeping our airway higher above the water line in case we lose our RWC, or if we for some reason are in the water with a survivor, the added buoyancy is a bit of a support feature, but not all encompassing.
Incidentally the Types of descriptions and icons definining PFD's in the USA will be changing in 2017 per USCG rule.
Rescue Water Craft (RWC)
3 members
Description
A group dedicated to the best practices and standards using Rescue Water Craft for occupational use. Commonly referred to as Personal Water Craft (PWC) for recreational enthusiasts, RWC's are now enjoyed in public service for water safety worldwide. If you have any questions regarding RWC use or application we look forward to hearing from you! Welcome aboard.
Lifejacket Use for Rescue Water Craft
by Shawn Alladio
Jan 2, 2016
Did you know that using an inflatable type of a lifejacket is not permitted for RWC use?
Buoyancy factor is a strong consideration for use:
Our standard of use is a buoyancy factor of 22 lbs. or a 'swiftwater type' lifejacket. The only difference in a Swiftwater type or what we refer to in the USA as a Type V PFD (Personal flotation device) is that we remove the O ring or the live bait/swim tether attachment point off the center webbing strap. Since we are not shore based responders we consider that feature on the lifejacket to be a catch point and can create problems from our operational needs. But if you return to shore based operations its easy to replace the O ring and put the lifejacket back into a swim standard of use.
The buoyancy factor is one measure of use for our operational standards for PFD's as we will load additional fixed safety gear onto our lifejacket, but its also the feature of keeping our airway higher above the water line in case we lose our RWC, or if we for some reason are in the water with a survivor, the added buoyancy is a bit of a support feature, but not all encompassing.
Incidentally the Types of descriptions and icons definining PFD's in the USA will be changing in 2017 per USCG rule.