Safety Gear for Water Hunting

[romanf]

What sort of safety gear do you guys wear when detecting in neck deep water? Do you have inflatable vests, etc?

 

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You may find it hard to believe but a lot of us wear weight belts to hold us down!
Ironic isn't it? Mask and snorkel are on the top of the list and thought about an inflatable vest myself but if it's not an emergency CO2 quick fill type you may not have enough time to blow it up. I recall a few times I was in some real hot water. Tried to cross deep water from shore to sandbar and found myself struggling to stay above water. Like a ships captain I was going down with my machine and scoop clutched in my grip. I remember thinking no way will I leave my gear behind. They'd pry it from my hands I guess.
In a situation like that a co2 vest would have came in handy. Not a bad idea.
Be safe and plan ahead!

Sent from my iPhone using TreasureNet

 

[CASPER-2]

You may find it hard to believe but a lot of us wear weight belts to hold us down!
Ironic isn't it? Mask and snorkel are on the top of the list and thought about an inflatable vest myself but if it's not an emergency CO2 quick fill type you may not have enough time to blow it up. I recall a few times I was in some real hot water. Tried to cross deep water from shore to sandbar and found myself struggling to stay above water. Like a ships captain I was going down with my machine and scoop clutched in my grip. I remember thinking no way will I leave my gear behind. They'd pry it from my hands I guess.
In a situation like that a co2 vest would have came in handy. Not a bad idea.
Be safe and plan ahead!

Sent from my iPhone using TreasureNet

I got caught like that too - tried swimming with machine and scoop was not working to well - just flipped on my back - floated and just kept kicking till I could touch bottom - was tuckered out - but just could not live with dropping my gear

 

[OBN]

I started wearing because the water Is a killer here in OCMD. Anytime I go out past knee deep I wear, helps me bob the waves also.

I also started wear them in the Bay since I hunt a lot of places there are drop offs. I was hunting in the bay several years ago and we came in to a beach by boat at LT....needless to say we were in near shore about 4 hours and when it came time to get back to the boat the water level had came up another 2 feet plus. If I did not have my PFD It would have been a struggle. With it on I just paddled back to the boat with all my equipment, sifter, scoop, detector, and treasure. One is a Bass Pro Regular Life Jack the other is a Sterns Manual Inflate Fishing vest, I inflate with a airtube and never use the co2 cartridge

 

[gamiller]

OBN you said " I inflate with an airtube and never use the co2 cartridge'' Maybe stupid question but why is that?

 

[OBN]

With the airtube I can inflate with more or less as needed. Like wearing the jacket uninflated, water gets ruff or I decide to go deep I will just blow it up more (full) or less (low) as I feel needed. If I am digging in the deep and having a hard time digging I can deflate. I like the adjustability and security of having.

 

[gamiller]

OBN thanks sometimes I miss the obvious.

 

[Sleepy]

As an old scuba diver I'll mention also that the CO2 cartridge is for an extreme life saving emergency. When the cord is pulled it inflates completely with no control. The cartridge leaves a residue inside the bladder also. On the new vests it may not be an issue but years ago there was some argument as to whether the integrity of the bladder was affected afterward. Like OBN was saying too, the manual inflation tube is used to control how much buoyancy you need. Any amount of air can be let in or out.

 

[romanf]

Anybody want to rate which brand and model vest is best? I noticed on one website that it said that when wet the vest would not inflate...could not believe that!? I am a big guy, 6'2 and 230 pounds. Seems like a lot of the vests advertised don't say which are made for big folks. Thanks for your help!

 

[penzfan]

I use a bungee cord/carabiner combo on my MD's and rope/carabiner combo on my scoop with both clipped to my belt to keep from losing either if I get in some rough water. It's also great for dragging the scoop to grid your path on sand and for letting go of the MD to drink, pick the thru the scoop or just give the old arm a breather. Works for me.

 

[Sandman]

Like OBN I use manual inflatable and since I am now stuck inland I have taken to wearing a CO2 PDF. but I am going back to the manual one. Love that neck deep water with no weights but ankle weights.