Maintaining your lifejacket : the right reflexes

To maintain your lifejacket, there are a few simple steps you can take after each use. They will extend the life of your equipment and prevent premature wear. UV rays, sea salt corrosion, sailing shocks... the durability of a lifejacket can be reduced if it is not properly maintained. Knowing how a lifejacket works, and ensuring regular maintenance, is essential to maintaining buoyancy and flawless operation.

Lifejackets: born to last ?

A lifejacket is a safety device whose essential function is to protect a person who has fallen overboard, by making it easier for them to float. This essential piece of equipment is now being resold by boating specialists such as Nautisports.com, and is available for delivery for sea outings more than 6 miles from a safe shelter. There are many different types of lifejacket, such as the hammar model or manual release versions, which must meet certain mandatory standards such as performance, expressed in Newtons. These lifejackets are very often fitted with harnesses to link them to the boat during navigation.

Even though lifejackets are built to last, they need to be maintained to ensure their long life and good working order. It would be a shame to have to part with a Spinlock Deckvest 6D 170N lifejacket for lack of care.

There's no real obligation to maintain inflatable lifejackets, but contact with water, ultra-violet rays, sea salt and various rubs or shocks can cause them to deteriorate. We therefore strongly recommend that you take certain precautions to keep your inflatable lifejacket in good condition and ensure its durability.

The right way to care for your lifejacket :

Rinse your lifejacket after each use. This simple but vital tip involves soaking a sponge in fresh water and applying it to the outer protective cover and harness of the inflatable lifejacket. A light jet rinse can save time, but watch out for the pro sensor system with cellulose pellets.
Removing mildew from your lifejacket. Most of the mold on your inflatable lifejacket is due to moisture, so it's vital to clean it off. To do this, it's a good idea to take a specific anti-mould product and rub the spots.
Dry your lifejacket. The ideal thing to do after your nautical activity is to air-dry your lifejacket, as it contains a cellulose pellet that must be dried.

This simple cleaning procedure is suitable for all types of lifejacket. Whether you're cleaning an inflatable lifejacket, a hammar or hammar hydrostatic lifejacket, a manual harness lifejacket or an automatic release lifejacket, these steps are essential to maintaining your equipment and ensuring its reliability.

It's imperative that these gestures become automatic after each use, whether offshore or inshore. What's more, they can be carried out immediately after you've finished sailing. And to find out how to care for all your equipment, you can consult our textile care advice page.

However, for each vest it is important to check the expiration date prohibiting the wearing of the accessory. For some models, you'll need to check the expiry date of the release system, as well as the cartridge of your vfi rescue equipment.

In addition to these maintenance tips, we also recommend that you have your lifejacket professionally serviced in a workshop every 2 to 3 years.

What to do after each sea trip

Reviewing and testing your lifejacket

Depending on your model and frequency of use, it may be important to know how to test your lifejacket. Regular evaluation of your safety equipment will help to check its reliability. Testing your inflatable vest will also help you check the condition of the cartridge. A color code indicates the cartridge's operational status:

GREEN = OK
RED = CARTRIDGE LOOSE OR NEEDS REPLACING

Even if your lifejacket has little or no use, it's a good idea to have it serviced every 2 to 3 years. There is no legal obligation to have a self-inflating lifejacket serviced, but all manufacturers recommend it.

Doing your own maintenance and testing requires a certain amount of knowledge. Especially as these operations vary according to the category of your lifejacket. It's a good idea to consult the user manual before getting started, or even to call in a certified professional to service your lifejacket.

Finally, whether it's a matter of testing your lifejacket or replacing a cartridge, and even if the operation is fairly straightforward, we suggest you carry it out in a quiet, dry place. Checking the condition of a lifejacket while underway is more complicated.

Never neglect the maintenance of your safety equipment. Your lifejacket can save your life.