Bringing my own live aboard inflatable life vest ?

[Glenndini]

What type of parachute do you take when flying to your LOB?

 

[lamarpaulski]

Queequeg’s beta test model.

 

[outofofficebrb]

What type of parachute do you take when flying to your LOB?

All jokes aside, the likelihood of needing to evacuate a boat and surviving it are much more likely on both counts vs. an airplane disaster and being able to survive that if you need to bail mid-air.

 

[Stoo]

Serious question - if you’re so worried about a liveaboard’s life jacket offerings that you’ve bought your own, why are you even going on the boat in the first place?

Kinda what I was thinking. I guess you can never be too safe, but that does seem a little "extreme". Kinda like boarding your flight wearing a parachute.

 

[Wookie]

Kinda what I was thinking. I guess you can never be too save, but that does seem a little "extreme". Kinda like boarding your flight wearing a parachute.

Do you consider an aggressor boat in Galapagos and a number of siren fleet liveaboards and a Blackbeard’s to be dangerous? Because in the past 5 years all have gone down. I would consider all reputable. Well, except the whole sinking thing.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Kinda what I was thinking. I guess you can never be too safe, but that does seem a little "extreme". Kinda like boarding your flight wearing a parachute.

@Marie13

In addition to what @Wookie has mentioned and in general, stuff happening, another thing to think about are the safety standards being very different in various countries. In theory, there are inspections and guidelines to abide by in each country, but in execution, what those standards are and if they are enforced or maintained outside of the days they are inspected is another matter. Southeast Asia is a good example. Look at the number of ferries that have sunken and how many people have perished because they had too many people on board or did not have enough life jackets or did not have them in the correct or logical places. There are a variety of reasons.

While one could argue that you should ensure there is the proper safety equipment and be as proactive as you can in doing research, contacting the op, and requesting this info, you really won't know until you get there. You could say that people bringing PLBs and emergency SAR aids are being extreme but I think these are all low hanging fruit opportunities for something that is quite plausible.

Again, circling back to the likelihood of needing to abandon a ship vs. having to abandon a jet. The former is much more likely than the latter. Should the opportunity present itself, what you do or bring with you on a boat is much more likely to aid in your survival than a parachute on a plane. Jumping out mid-air is not a likely scenario so while I understand the sentiment of the comparison, it just isn't analogous in my opinion.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Do you consider an aggressor boat in Galapagos and a number of siren fleet liveaboards and a Blackbeard’s to be dangerous? Because in the past 5 years all have gone down. I would consider all reputable. Well, except the whole sinking thing.

Did any passenger have any difficulty getting a life vest? If so, then hell yes I would bring my own. You might know better than I, but how common an issue is that on “reputable” LOB vessels?

 

[Stoo]

Do you consider an aggressor boat in Galapagos and a number of siren fleet liveaboards and a Blackbeard’s to be dangerous? Because in the past 5 years all have gone down. I would consider all reputable. Well, except the whole sinking thing.

My point was more that the boat has lifejackets already. When I am on a liveaboard, I make note of where the lifejackets live (and generally, they're in my cabin and a couple of other places on board) so bringing another one seems unnecessary.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Did any passenger have any difficulty getting a life vest? If so, then hell yes I would bring my own. You might know better than I, but how common an issue is that on “reputable” LOB vessels?

For the record, I am not in the camp that brings my own PFD onto a liveaboard or day boat. My guess (and hope!) is that no one had an issue. However, based on the OP's experience on where they have seen PFDs store and located, that is what warranted the idea to them to begin with. If that helps the OP sleep better at night, I say go for it. However, I suppose you could say I wouldn't know until it became a problem and this is a problem that I would want to prevent or never find out. That is easily mitigated by bringing your own PFD. It is a personal risk assessment. For what it's worth, if someone chooses to bring their own PFD on the boat, it's fine by me. I don't pass any judgement on them, or anyone that travels with a CO detector, PLB, etc.

Someone won't need it until they need it. The next question is, where do we draw the line when it comes to "just in case" items?

 

[Wookie]

We always kept them in a box on the sundeck, as the USCoast Guard requires, so in the event of a sinking, they float free. This is the complaint of the OP. So, I guess if you can’t find your way to the sundeck/muster station in the dark, having one in your cabin makes sense.