Do I Need A Life Jacket Or Buoyancy Aid For Kayaking?

Kayaking is a great way to stay active and enjoy the outdoors. Kayaking not only benefits your physical health, but also your mental health too as spending time in nature has been shown to have numerous mental health benefits, including reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. 

By wearing the correct safety equipment, you'll be able to enjoy paddle boarding to its fullest, as you'll know that should the worst happen, you'll be as safe as possible.

Before we discuss whether you need a life jacket or buoyancy aid for kayaking, we'll start by looking at the difference between a life jacket and a buoyancy aid:

Life Jackets:
Life jackets are designed to turn over a casualty in the water and keep their airways clear, even if they are unconscious. Life jackets come in a range of inflation options, with the most popular, automatic and manual life jackets; as well as various buoyancy levels, ranging from 150 newtons junior life jackets, to adult life jackets with up to 300 newtons of buoyancy.

After a life jacket has been set off, a life jacket re-arming kit is required to re-arm the life jacket before it can be used again.

Buoyancy Aids:
In contrast, buoyancy aids rely on closed cell polyethylene foam to assist a user in the water, so do not need to be re-armed after each use. Buoyancy aids will not turn an unconscious casualty over in the water, but are designed to help the wearer maintain a horizontal position in the water. All adult buoyancy aids are rated to ISO 12402-5, which is the standard for 50N floatation devices.

Life Jacket Or Buoyancy Aid For Kayaking

We highly recommend wearing a buoyancy aid when kayaking as buoyancy aids are far less restrictive than life jackets, so provide you with far greater freedom of movement. In addition, should you fall into the water, there will be no need to purchase a re-arming kit as buoyancy aids use closed cell polyethylene foam to 'aid' you in the water. Furthermore, many buoyancy aids contain handy features not found on life jackets, such as pockets where you can store any valuables.

Best Kayak Buoyancy Aid

The best kayak buoyancy aid is Crewsaver Pro CZ 50N Buoyancy Aid, owing to its unique body shaping foam which adapts to the profile of the wearer, providing superior unrestricted comfort and performance. Crewsaver have added a breathable airflow mesh to the internal back panel, reducing heat build up and increasing comfort. The buoyancy aid is also available in a 'size zip' variation.

Another buoyancy aid we highly recommend is Gill Pursuit Buoyancy Aid. Thanks to a lightweight, minimum bulk design and self draining front pocket, Pursuit is not only great for kayaking, but makes for a superb SUP buoyancy aid too. The buoyancy aid is available in three colours including (our personal favourite) a striking yellow, which is highly visible.

Life Jacket For Kayaking

The only scenario in which we would recommend a life jacket over a buoyancy aid is if you are kayaking solo in open water and help may not be close to hand. If you are going to purchase a life jacket, a manual life jacket will be most suitable as it will only inflate should you manually pull a toggle. In comparison, an automatic life jacket will inflate as soon as you fall into the water, even if you are not in immediate danger, so will then require re-arming. 

Best Kayak Life Jacket

Our recommendation is Seago Active 190 Life Jacket as it is designed to offer complete freedom of movement with its 3D contour fit that makes the Seago life jacket almost unnoticeable for both men and women.

Conclusion:

A buoyancy aid is far more suitable than a life jacket for kayaking, except in extreme cases. If you aren't sure, we have an expert team here to help! Call us on 01634 295 233, email [email protected], or visit us in-store. We've two locations, a 6,000 square ft Rochester store which is one of the largest chandlery stores in the United Kingdom, and an additional outlet store located within Gillingham Marina.

We sell life jackets and buoyancy aids for the whole family - including dog life jackets, ensuring no one misses out on the fun! Furthermore, if you wish to learn more about life jackets, we've written the ultimate life jacket guide, which covers everything from buoyancy, to life jacket sizing and everything in-between.