tonystott wrote:
Unfortunately the Palm does not meet PFD1 standards here in Australia, which is 150N. This is a requirement for crossing most river bars in the country.
Can you link to a photo of a 150N PFD1 deployed?
I ask because, depending on what country you are in, there can be confusion between the terms Life Jacket, Personal Floatation Device, Buoyancy Aid.
In the UK, 150N flotation would only be required for a Life Jacket. These must be designed so that an unconscious person would be turned face up in the water. Which is fine, but they are generally so bulky when inflated that they would seriously obstruct an active swimmer trying to re-board their boat.
A UK Buoyancy Aid, like the Palm one, is aimed at the "active swimmer" scenario rather than the "unconscious casualty." They will commonly have 50-70N flotation, and have less bulk, so as not to get in the way. They also often have pockets so that emergency items like knife, whistle, radio can stay with the wearer if they get separated from the boat.
They are different devices for different scenarios. I suppose a compromise would be to use an auto-inflate life jacket which would turn you face up, but had an option to partially deflate manually, reducing the bulk and flotation, but making it easier to re-board your boat. But I haven't heard of anything like that on the market.
Mary