Who invented the life jacket?
The life jacket was invented in 1854 by British explorer and captain John Ross Ward, at the request of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Known as the "Cork Life Jacket", it takes the form of a belt made of pieces of cork sewn together inside. The main purpose of the British life jacket was to ensure the individual buoyancy of its inventor's crews. The invention of this belt marked the beginning of a new era in maritime conquest. One in which technical progress was harnessed to ensure the safety of men at sea.
The invention of the first life jackets
The first draft of this accessory to see the light of day in Europe was conceived in 18th-century France. An emergency doctor from Paris developed a cork garment which his teams wore during rescue missions on the Seine.
However, this invention was not adopted by English sailors of the time, for the simple reason that the safety of sailors was not a priority: the Royal Navy routinely resorted to forced recruitment of its sailors. The Royal Navy captured enemy sailors on the high seas and then recruited them into its ranks! Providing these prisoners with personal flotation devices, or PFDs, increases the risk of escape from ships. It was therefore preferable for the Royal Navy not to provide them.
It wasn't until Captain John Ross Ward that the first life-saving system was marketed by a national institution, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, in response to the all-too-frequent loss of life at sea. The system quickly became so popular that, in 1852, the U.S. Congress made it compulsory for all steamboat passengers. Since then, the development of this invention has gone hand in hand with that of the diving suit and the life-saving channel, indispensable tools while waiting for ships to be refloated.
Gradually, several types of equipment were produced by the British Royal Navy, always with the aim of saving the lives of as many sailors as possible, and meeting ever greater technological challenges. Captain Stoner is probably the most famous innovation of the period. This explorer created a complete kit, very similar to the lifejacket accessories we know today! His kit consisted of a cork vest, helmet, signaling device and paddles. These same products can now also be found on our nautisports.com site, along with Plastimo anti-burn masks and adhesive reflective strips, again from Plastimo.
The inflatable vest revolution: French know-how
In 1915, France began to make its mark on the marine equipment market with the introduction of a completely different type of vest. The Parisian textile company Barclay Tailor began production of the Perrin brassière, an inflatable bra with automatic release on contact with water, similar in function to today's automatic lifejackets. It is considered the forerunner of UML release systems. The product contains kapok, a very light, waterproof fiber, unlike cork, which is now obsolete. Applied to lifejackets, kapok offers sailors great buoyancy: the material is almost four times more resistant than cork.
From life jacket to automatic lifejacket
This Perrin "for water" bra is a far cry from the 4Water brand featured on our nautisport.com website. The ultra-strong 165N Procean 4Water Automatic with adaptable release mode is a perfect example of the evolution that Barclay Tailor's bra has undergone. According to the dealer, the Perrin armband is "an absolute necessity and guarantee for civilians and military personnel called upon to face the dangers of the seas".
With a monopoly on the inflatable bra market, the company began exporting its equipment to the British, French and Russian navies. By the end of the 1960s, France was outperforming all the competition! Innovations continued to accompany those of the diving suit throughout the 1930s, thanks in particular to the research work of Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau and one of his inventor friends, Emile Gagnan.
The evolution of materials and manufacturing techniques led to the automatic vests we know today. And because a safety accessory must remain reliable, it is now possible to check the conformity of a lifejacket. Not least thanks to the integration of current UML Pro Sensor systems, with their viewing window, and the new standards in force.
The latest innovations made in France
In 2019, Pascal Lemaur, a young teacher from Blois, is working with his students to design a connected piece of equipment. The object is presented at the Foire de Paris during the Lepine competition. The innovation of this connected vest consists in facilitating the rescue of shipwrecked people thanks to its light system, sound system and GPS beacon. It is powered by a solar-charged battery. When a person goes overboard, an alert and the person's location are automatically sent by SMS to the person in charge of the vessel, and to the emergency services as appropriate.
Students and teacher win gold medal in this year's competition! Pascal Lemaur, inventor and patent holder of this innovation, now aims to set up a local manufacturing company in the Blois region. What remains to be done is to apply this technology to vests with inflatable systems, in order to target an experienced public.
Today, the institution for which the famous Captain J. Ross Ward worked, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, collaborates with leading brands in on-board rescue equipment. One of the key collaborations for 2021 is with the French group Survitec, with whom it has developed a number of cutting-edge models through its Crewsaver brand. This production is dedicated to search and rescue teams, as well as the people they help.
