CGA vest alternative......

[Nauty]

I had been debating over what kind of vest to get. I wanted something less bulky than my CGA vest, but was a little apprehensive about using a non-approved vest. I've heard some horror stories about people almost drowning in them. Then I had an idea.......

I found a used Nevin Swat comp vest on e-bay. I picked it up for less than half of what it retailed for. Then I took an old standard nylon CGA vest that I had laying around and removed the foam sheets from inside the vest. These foam sheets are about 1/4 inch thick each. There were 3 of them that I removed from the nylon vest.

I then cut the foam sheets down to size so that they would fit the shape of the Nevin vest. I then cut a small slit in the inside lining of the Nevin vest. I inserted the foam sheets through the slit, two on the front side of the vest and one on the rear. I stitched up the slits and violla!

Now I have a comp vest that floats like a CGA vest. The benefit of this creation is that unlike my other CGA vests, this vest has large arm holes, no buckles or straps, side entry, and is form fitting. It is far more comfortable than my other CGA vests, yet it gives the same amount of floatation.

I don't know if I would cut up a brand new vest to try this out, but if you can find one cheap like I did, what do you have to lose?

[Beaver]

sounds like that idea will work..way to go.

[jryoung]

So how is this a GCA vest that looks like a comp vest? Isn't the difference between the two the bouyancy factor, and not the shape (fit not bulk)? Or was your old CGA vest not very shapely, so you just now have a sleeker vests with the same flotation at a CGA?

Were the horror stories you hear relating to non-CGA comp vests or the padded vests that have no flotation. I've never heard of any drowning/near drowning situations of non-CGA comp vests.

[Nauty]

jryoung -

Yes, the difference between a non aprproved and approved is bouyancy and I believe the difference in straps and buckles as well. I am assuming this since I've never seen and appoved vest without at least two straps and buckles?

This really comes down to personal preference. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the point you are making is why not just buy an appoved vest that is a little more stylish and better fitting as opposed to doing what I did? Well, I tried several of the newer CGA vests, such as The Law and JP's Cell Block. While these are both nice vests, I just felt that they didn't feel any less bulky than the standard no frills neoprene vest that I already have. They also had the straps and buckles that I didn't want.

For me, the Nevin vest just felt really good when on. It fit like a glove. For me, it fit and felt much better than the two previously mentioned CGA vests that I tried on. By modifying the Nevin as I did, I managed to get a vest that fits and feels great (less restrictive), yet still offers as good of floatation as the others. I guess the bottom line here is, I managed to get a vest that I like better and feel safe in, and it only cost me $30 as opposed to $140. As I said, it comes down to personal preference. There's nothing wrong with the other CGA vests out there if they suit your needs. For me they did not.

As for the horror stories, last summer, locally, there was a guy wearing a comp vest that was knocked unconcious after a bad spill. The wind was knocked out of him and he started to sink. The boat driver managed to get back to him just in time as he was sinking below the surface of the water. Do a search at Dallaswakeboarding.com and you can probably find the thread from last summer.

So basically, yes, my goal was to find a better fitting "sleeker" vest that would still float me in the event that something happened. I couldn't find what I was looking for when shopping for a vest, so I decided to make my own (sort of). I think I accomplished what I was trying to do. However, it may not be for everybody.