These Expert-Recommended Adult Life Jackets Will Keep You Safe On the Water

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Life jackets or “personal floatation devices,” if you prefer, are a non-negotiable part of many water sports. It’s the single most important piece of protective gear you have when things go sideways in a kayak or on water skis. In fact, they are required for boating in many parts of the US. Those laws are around for good reason: Just like a seatbelt, you never think that you’ll need a life jacket until the moment when you really need one.

Wearing a life jacket does not have to be a chore, though. Most people hate them because they're borrowing a cheap one that doesn't fit properly. If you go out and buy a great PFD that feels comfortable and brings features to the table, the best life jacket may feel more like a fashion accessory than a mandatory safety measure.

Best Life Jackets for Adults

• Best Overall: NRS Vapor PFD

• Best Budget: Onyx General Purpose Boating Jacket

• Best All-Purpose: Kokatat Proteus Life Vest

• Best Inflatable: Mustang Survival MIT 70 Automatic Inflatable PFD

• Best For Mobility: Astral E-Ronny

→ Looking for kids' life jackets? Check out our story on the Best Kids' Life Jackets For Summer.

What to Consider When Shopping for an Adult Life Jacket

When purchasing a life jacket, safety is the top consideration, but other factors should come into play as well. Keep these parameters in mind and you’ll be set for a happy and safe summer on the water.

How Do You Plan to Use It?

Different life jackets are designed with specific types of activities in mind. Regardless of the sport, they only vary based on a few key factors, including movement, floatation, and accessories. For water skiing, as an example, you need high flotation, as you’ll likely crash into the water at some point, but you won’t need the highest possible mobility. By contrast, you want the thinnest possible jacket while sailing, since you need maximum mobility, and only need emergency flotation.

Kayaking and rafting, which require dynamic movement and demand high flotation, require both, and will reward you for splurging on a smart design that maximizes mobility and minimizes bulk, while keeping high levels of buoyancy. For fishing vests, accessories—like big usable pockets—are king.

Coast Guard Certification

To start, I recommend checking whether your potential new PFD has been approved by the US Coast Guard, which certifies all kinds of flotation devices. Its process is thorough and highly regulated, setting a high standard for quality. All of our recommendations have been approved.

Buoyancy/Floatation

Buoyancy indicates the amount of buoyant force needed to keep you floating in such a way that your chin stays above water. The material in your life jacket, either foam or air (if you’re using an inflatable PFD), displaces a larger quantity of water than your body would alone. This helps your body float to the surface of water more effectively.

The average adult requires 10 to 12 pounds of added buoyancy to keep afloat, but alas, we are not all average people. Heavier people may require more than 12 pounds of buoyancy, and smaller paddlers will want a less buoyant jacket to stay comfortable in the water.

We don’t have an easy weight-to-buoyancy formula to recommend, because floating comfortably ultimately comes down to taste. Your best bet is always to try a jacket out from a friend, or an outfitter if possible, before buying. If that isn’t an option, safety comes first, so more buoyant is better.

Fit

No life jacket ever fits perfectly, but they’re far more comfortable when you’re wearing one that’s the right size. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions: They’re usually divided by chest size. It also helps to look for models with lots of straps, which can help you dial in your fit.

Chafing

Obviously, finding a life jacket that doesn’t chafe is a pretty important part of finding your perfect fit, but we feel it deserves a little extra attention. There is nothing worse than getting stuck out on the water all day wearing a life jacket that literally rubs you the wrong way.

Make sure to note (and return) any life jacket that pinches or rubs against the skin near your armpit. If you plan to wear your life jacket without clothing underneath, make sure the inside of the jacket is lined with a supple, highly breathable material.

This is an area where a test swim can really make a difference: Some lining materials, like mesh, seem like a perfect fit for a life jacket, but will become uncomfortable in the water if you aren’t wearing a shirt.

Storage

Do you love and need pockets to stash all of your water sport accessories? Some vests have them, but some do not. Holding out for lots of pockets can make your life jacket more expensive, so we recommend taking a minute to think about how many pockets you actually need.

Many jackets feature accessory-specific pockets, including spaces for fishing gear or a cup holder. If you are the type of boater that likes to drink while you paddle, it’s really great to have a perfectly designed holster for your water bottle or a can of beer.

How We Evaluated The Best Adult Life Jackets

I selected the best life jackets for adults based on my personal experience testing either the jacket itself or a very similar sibling product from the same manufacturer. After decades of testing and sharing stories with professional kayakers, I’ve accrued a vast knowledge of what a great life jacket looks and, more importantly, feels like.

Vapor PFD

The NRS Vapor delivers all everything you would want from a life jacket—comfort, adjustability, durability—in a refreshingly simple and price-conscious package. What it lacks in bells and whistles, it more than makes up for in efficiency, offering an impressive 16.3 pounds of buoyancy in a 1.85 pound package. Its low weight makes it more comfortable to wear all day, while keeping your chin above water while afloat.

Its hearty six-buckle adjustment system gives you plenty of opportunities to dial in your fit, making it safer and more comfortable. It’s also quite durable, with a 400-denier premium nylon that will last for many seasons. This is a well-rounded PFD that should work for basically any activity where you need a life jacket.

General Purpose Boating Jacket

Please don’t blame this jacket for having the most boring name imaginable—it is a rock-solid piece of equipment and costs less than $30. It offers ample flotation in both the chest and back. While it is extremely thin on bells and whistles, it really nails the simple needs of a life preserving piece of equipment.

The heavy duty oxford polyester outer material and three large, hearty buckles are built to last. The buckles also allow for great adjustability. And though it feels a bit bulky, its large arm holes make it as comfortable as a simple life vest can be.

Proteus Life Vest

The perfect life jacket will keep you afloat when you need it to, and otherwise stay out of your way. The Kokatat Proteus demonstrates the ideal, with a balanced, utilitarian design.

Its three body-mapped panels and large arm holes were developed to allow for maximum movement, so they won’t hold you back from boofing a ledge in your kayak, cranking a slalom turn on a water ski, or casting from the deck of a canoe. The stretch polyester exterior also expands the already-remarkable range of motion, though it doesn’t fare well against brushes with rocks and other abbasions.

It features four low-profile pockets, which can hold plenty of fishing gear without adding meaningful bulk. All told, the Proteus is an ideal companion for any manner of water-based adventures.

MIT 70 Automatic Inflatable PFD

The MIT 70 is the lowest profile Coast Guard-approved front entry inflatable life jacket on the market, and a dream for boaters who hate life jackets getting in the way of their movement. “M.I.T.” is short for “Membrane Inflatable Technology:” When you hit the water, a soluble tablet dissolves to trigger a mechanism that inflates your life jacket with a CO2 canister. Made with a durable 420-denier nylon exterior, it feels like you’re wearing a little bomber jacket for inshore sailing or boating.

Since it’s thin, the jacket has some limitations, though. Its flat profile and lack of substantial back flotation make it a poor choice the ocean (or any large body of water), but the fact that it inflates automatically when you go in the drink and wears like another layer of clothing when you’re dry makes it ideal for close-to-shore boating excursions.

E-Ronny

The E-Ronny has a fabulous buoyancy-to-weight ratio, delivering 16 extra pounds of flotation in a package that weighs in at a scant 1.5 pounds. It’s especially good for activities where you need to be highly mobile: Its slim profile and large arm openings won’t hinder your arm movement, whether it is a tight brace mid-rapid or wild cast into the middle of a river.

The E-Ronny has a unique mesh vent, which spans from your neck to about three quarters of the way down the jacket. This allows the jacket to twist and fold more with your back. In addition to freeing up your torso, it also allows some air underneath the padding, which normally gets very hot in the sun. Breathable and moveable, the E-Ronny is a great fit for adventures on the water.

Descent Rescue Vest

OK, so first we have to address the elephant in the boat—this is a very expensive life jacket. The Stohlquist Descent is a safety jacket, which features a quick-release strap that cinches over the chest, heavy-duty shoulder straps, and ample pockets for rescue equipment. Though the price may elicit sticker shock, both the features and the jacket’s highly durable design are worth the price to a guide or veteran paddler.

I’ve used this jacket as a professional raft guide for the past eight kayaking seasons. I also used the Descent during a full-time swiftwater rescue gig one summer, and on hundreds of private boating trips. No matter what I put it through, it keeps on kicking.

On top of living forever, it remains a delight to paddle in thanks to its highly sophisticated fit system that wraps around my torso and is topped off by curved foam that hugs me like an old friend during scary swims. That perfect fit, coupled with the cinching chest strap, lifts me up as much as possible without too much foam getting in the way of any of my paddle strokes. In the right hands, the jacket is a life-saver in the realest sense.

Lure Angler Men’s PFD

Easy access to your fishing kit is paramount in the world of fishing life jackets, and the pocket system on Old Town Watercraft's Lure Angler life jacket makes it king of the space. The oversized zippered pockets on either side of the user’s stomach can hold plenty of tackle or flies.

You can bury gear like spools—or even a beer—in the two stretchy mesh pockets over the zippered ones. There’s an envelope-style pocket over the chest, which is perfect for a GPS. In addition to the pockets, the vest has multiple attachment points across the shoulders and chest, giving you more gear storage options if you need them.

It’s also surprisingly comfortable, with a mesh back that manages to dump heat even when you’re out in the sun all day. Its supple polyester weave, smartly placed towards the top of the back, minimizes chafing, even when worn bare-chested. This extra layer of breathability, combined with all of the smart accessories, gives the Lure Angler excellent utility without feeling overbearing.

YTV Life Jacket

Asheville, North Carolina-based manufacturer Astral put a ton of smart, subtle design flourishes into its YTV life jacket, creating a perfectly straightforward jacket that doesn’t hinder movement when you need to paddle like hell, but keeps you well protected if you go overboard.

Most of the foam of this vest rests below your chest, at your torso, which allows for a wide range of motion, while keeping the jacket from popping up into your face when you float. The top entry and dual tightening straps, located at the left and right side of the torso create an incredibly precise fit with a simple tug on each side.

The fact that Astral brought the majority of the bulk of the jacket down on the user’s body means that it feels really comfortable and mobile as you paddle in it, but they still added an ample amount of their proprietary foam to deliver an impressive 16.5 pounds of buoyancy.

The Astral YTV offers ideal performance for all forms of rafting, from class I to class V, whether you are going on a guided trip or headed out on your own.

Superlite USCG Vest

O’Neill built an empire on solid wetsuits that fit right, and they brought that same acumen to the Superlite life vest. Everyone can find a tight, athletic fit with six horizontal adjustment points, which makes it ideal for the highly dynamic upper body and shoulder movements necessary for water skiing and wakeboarding.

The nylon and neoprene exterior are supple next to skin, and the foam is evenly distributed throughout the PFD, creating a slim profile. You may forget you have the jacket on when you aren’t in the water. The design can potentially lead to a chafing problem under the armpits while paddling, though, so it’s not a good fit for kayaking.

Shop Men’s Shop Women’s

Q+A With Expert Kayaker Joe Jackson

When should I buy a new life jacket?

There are some clear visible indicators that will let you know it is time to retire an old life jacket and purchase a new one. If any part of the fabric exterior rips, or the zippers that keep the jacket around your body break, you need to replace it. It’s less obvious, but you should also check the jacket for frayed seams, which should also be a red flag.

The foam inside most life jackets will degrade, becoming less buoyant over time, so you should always test your life jackets before a big trip, especially with an older jacket. To test, jump into a deep, safe, body of water wearing your PFD, and see if it naturally buoys you up and keeps your chin above water without swimming.

Can/should a life jacket look cool?

Of course! While it might seem ridiculous to care about fashion with a piece of safety equipment—especially one as traditionally uncool as the life vest—I am a strong believer that the best piece of gear is the one you actually use.

Like many people, I'm more likely to wear things if I think they make me look good. It is fine and appropriate to take how a life jacket looks on you into account when buying. You want to look good in something you plan to recreate inside for years, after all.

Luckily, modern manufacturers tend to put a higher focus on aesthetics. You may not notice it when you rent a life jacket on a lake, but that’s all the more reason to go out and get your own.

How should I care for my life jacket?

It may seem odd in the moment, but you should be diligent about drying your PFD after each use. Bring it inside to dry or set up a clothesline in an indoor space like a garage and get it bone dry before throwing it in a bag, bin, or corner somewhere.

Mildew and unremovable funk can send even the best life jackets to an early grave. Even in a dry heat, you should avoid letting your jacket dry in the sun, as UV rays will degrade both the exterior fabric and any exposed foam far more quickly. At the very least, cover them up with a tarp.

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