Best Life Jackets

With so much choice and a wealth of information available, choosing the right life jacket for your requirements can be a tricky task. In this blog post, we'll look at the best life jackets for 2024 - whether you're new to sailing and looking for an entry level life jacket, or an experienced sailor looking for one of the best life jackets on the market, we'll reveal our favourites below.

What makes a good life jacket?

Before we start our list, we're going to shine a light on the features that make up a good life jacket.

1. Buoyancy:
A life jacket should provide enough buoyancy to keep the wearer afloat and prevent drowning. The level of buoyancy required will depend on the intended use of the life jacket, the weight of the wearer, and the conditions in which it will be used. We've written a life jacket buoyancy guide for more information on this.

2. Comfort:
A life jacket should be comfortable to wear, with adjustable straps and a snug fit that allows for freedom of movement. It should not be too bulky or restrictive, as this can impede movement and increase the risk of fatigue or panic.

3. Visibility:
Visibility: A good life jacket should be highly visible, with bright colours or reflective strips that make it easy to spot in the water. This is especially important for rescue situations, where every second counts. Many life jackets also feature life jacket lights and attachment points for personal locator beacons, to further improve visibility and aid recovery whilst in the water.

4. Durability:
A life jacket should be made from high-quality materials that are durable and resistant to wear and tear. It should be able to withstand exposure to sun, saltwater, and other harsh elements.

Best Life Jackets 2024

1. Spinlock Deckvest 6D Life Jacket 2024

The best all-round adult life jacket has to be Spinlock Deckvest 6D Automatic Life Jacket. Suitable for everyone - from experienced sailors to weekend adventurers, 6D is lightweight, feature-rich and built to last. The automatic life jacket has a slim, low profile design that provides superb manoeuvrability.

The life jacket is also available with Spinlock's revolutionary Harness Release System, which directly evolves from the brands' development work in partnership with the Volvo Ocean Race. HRS is a soft loop attachment point for a safety line which can be released in an emergency to free a person from their safety line. The life jacket comes with two buoyancy options, a 170N model and a 275N model.

2. Crewsaver ErgoFit+ 190N Automatic Life Jacket with Harness, Light & Hood

Crewsaver Ergofit+ 190N Life Jacket introduces an industry first halo hood system, which works with the shape of the inflated bladder to significantly reduce the risk of water inhalation, as well as heat loss. This is achieved through the combination of an improved bladder and sprayhood compatibility with a new double-halo hood construction. As a result, the spray hood is self-supporting once deployed and creates a spacious cavity above the wearer's face.

The Crewsaver life jacket is designed to rotate the casualty in less than three seconds, whilst increasing the distance between the waterline and airway - even when wearing heavy clothing.

3. Seago Seaguard 165N Life Jacket

If you're looking for an excellent life jacket at a low price, then look no further than Seago Seaguard 165N Life Jacket. A great value buy, the versatile, lightweight life jacket has a round neck design with abrasion resistant cover. Seago also recently brought out the Seaguard Wipe Clean Life Jacket - which is the same life jacket, just with a wipe clean cover, so any dirt can simply be wiped off.

4. Spinlock Deckvest VITO Offshore Hammar Life Jacket

The second of three Spinlock Life Jackets in this list, Spinlock Deckvest VITO Offshore Life Jacket is the result of over three million cumulative miles worth of testing in tough, ocean racing conditions in the Volvo Ocean Race. The hammar life jacket has increased protection in high impact areas and a new style structured sprayhood to reduce the risk of secondary drowning.

Deckvest VITO comes with two built-in life jacket lights - the DAME Award Winning Lume On LED Life Jacket Light and Spinlock's SOLAS approved Pylon life Jacket Light. Like the Deckvest 6D Life Jacket featured earlier in this list, Deckvest VITO is also available with Spinlock's revolutionary harness release system. The life jacket comes with two buoyancy options, a 170N model and a 275N model.

5. Crewsaver 2024 Crewfit 165N Sport Life Jacket

Fifth on our list is one of the most instantly-recognisable life jackets on the market. Crewsaver Crewfit 165N Sport is the leading brands' most compact life jacket and is one of the lightest life jackets available on the market. Crewfit features Fusion 3D technology which provides a comfortable and bespoke fit, whilst EXOLOK technology provides a clear indication if the life jacket cylinder moves, becomes unscrewed or is tampered with. The life jacket has a wide range of options; with four colour choices, harness and non harness versions and automatic and manual life jacket inflation options.

6. Seago Active 190N Life Jacket

Next on our list is a life jacket built to provide you with complete freedom of movement. Seago Active 190N Life Jacket features a 3D contour design that reduces the surface area in contact with your body, making the life jacket almost unnoticeable for both men and women.

Other features of the Seago Life Jacket include S-Design lung technology which ensures wash is channelled away from the face, helping to prevent secondary drowning, and cylinder safe technology which prevents the cylinder from unscrewing itself and failing to inflate the life jacket.

7. Spinlock Deckvest LITE 170N Automatic Life Jacket 2024

Last on our best life jackets 2024 list is another life jacket from Spinlock. The British (designed and manufactured) brands' Spinlock Deckvest LITE Life Jacket is, compact, ultra-lightweight and perfect for sailing, watersports, fishing, angling, ribs, powerboats, kayaking and more.

The automatic life jacket uses a durable honeycomb ripstop fabric and features a single crotch strap with recessed clip with reduces risk of snagging. If you're looking for a life jacket with harness, Spinlock Deckvest LITE+ Life Jacket is exactly the same as the Deckvest LITE, just with a harness attachment point.

Allow us to introduce ourselves..

If you're looking to purchase a new life jacket, our expert team would love to help. We're boat owners ourselves, so know just how paramount it is to purchase the correct life jacket for your requirements - why not contact us today?

If you want to come and see our life jackets for sale for yourself, why not visit one of our two stores? We have a 6,000 square ft Rochester store which is one of the largest chandleries in the UK, and an additional outlet store located within Gillingham Marina - visit us today!

We've written the ultimate life jacket guide if you wish to find out more about life jackets - we supply life jackets for the whole family, including kids life jackets, and of course dog life jackets, so your four legged friends don't miss out on the fun.