Impact/floatation vest

[scalhoun2005]

Considering the Dakine Surface vest. Anyone using it? Does it provide enough floatation? I want to start wearing something incase my treading water skills aren't up to par if I ever encountered a bad situation.. haha

I'm open to recommendations.

[Foothillkiter]

I picked up a surface vest from I think it was live to kite. So far I like it alot. Very comfortable and stays put, no ride up. Seems like it has just the right amount of flotation. Had another model and it didn't have enough float or offer much impact protection. Good luck.

[scalhoun2005]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to go ahead and get one ordered on Monday. Anyone know of any local shops that carry this vest? I'd buy local if it was possible.

[Sonny]

I would recommend mystic d3o, super comfy.

[kitet]

I have it and I like it. I use it for Crissy and for when I know I will be kiting further away from shore. I have another impact vest from LF which doesn't provide much flotation but is more low profile and more comfortable. I use the LF vest as my regular vest and for when I'm at 3rd.

[tomerp]

I would recommend mystic d3o, super comfy.

what about the combo with harness? any good?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mystic-Impact-S ... %26ps%3D54

[rvv]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to go ahead and get one ordered on Monday. Anyone know of any local shops that carry this vest? I'd buy local if it was possible.

We have them in stock at KGB Kiteboarding and a couple other choices for you to try out as well.

[Sonny]

I would recommend mystic d3o, super comfy.

what about the combo with harness? any good?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mystic-Impact-S ... %26ps%3D54

It's designed for kiteboarding and it's made to wear under the waist harness and obviously it's a non issue for the seat harness. I have owned many impact vest prior and every one I hated and only wore it once. Mystic impact vest is so comfortable after few minutes you forget that you are wearing it.

[litewavedave]

The Litewave vest has a built in harness/hook pad and a way to attach to your harness that keeps it from riding up. It is the only vest with this feature.

[Yoda]

Considering the Dakine Surface vest. Anyone using it? Does it provide enough floatation? I want to start wearing something incase my treading water skills aren't up to par if I ever encountered a bad situation.. haha

I'm open to recommendations.

There's a big difference between an impact verses a floatation vest. Since your post implies that you want something that will allow you to float safely in "a bad situation" then the type of vest you want is something focused on floating, not impact like the Mystic D3O vest or LW's vest. It's not to say that some impact vests will not add additional float, but they're not designed for safety applications. Note: A vest that is designed for flotation needs will also aid in impact protect too, but will be way more restrictive.

The Dakine model that you're looking at is perfect for your specified needs. I would also recommend checking out the Liquid Force Profile vest that's built to CG standards and has some very well thought out features. My buddy had the Dakine model that you're looking at, but once he tried on the LF Profile he switched immediately. I personally use LF's Lux vest which is positioned between their Profile float vest and their Comp impact vest. The Lux is a perfect happy medium by design and has been the closest vest I've found to offering the best of both worlds... sufficient floatation but with less restriction and bulk.

Here's a list of recommendations...
http://liquidforcekites.com/product/imp ... s/profile/
http://liquidforcekites.com/product/imp ... ts/luxury/
http://www.mysticboarding.com/products/ ... p?pid=1539
http://www.mysticboarding.com/products/ ... p?pid=1537
http://stores.wetsuit.com/-strse-6/neop ... Detail.bok
http://www.prolimit.com/impact-floating ... ard-waist/
http://www.prolimit.com/impact-floating ... ort-waist/
http://www.ion-essentials.com/content/p ... ster_vest/
http://www.npxwetsuits.com/index.php?op ... Itemid=111

I'm assuming that you're wearing a waist harness. If so, there are unfortunately not a lot of options for float specific vests that are designed around this harness type. Dakine, LF, ProLimit, ProMotion, NPX, Ion and Mystic's float vests are only few that I've found that work well with a waist harnesses. If you're using a seat harness or a boardshort harness then just get a wakeboard vest. Remember with any vest, fit is key, so try on as many as you can before you buy. The snugger the fit the better it will perform and it will make body dragging somewhat easier. If you're trying on vests made of neoprene then size down because it will loosen once it's wet. Good luck on you're search. ;)