How effective are life jackets in rapidly flowing deep flood waters?
I am surely not a swimmer, but after the recent tragic flooding in Texas, it got me and my roommate wondering...
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They'll still keep you afloat, but the bigger danger is being hit by objects being moved by said water.
Also getting caught in debris and being pulled under harder than the life jacket lifts you up.
Life jacket still better than no jacket!
Indeed. I was in a thread on Reddit about exactly this subject, and it was truly bizarre how adamant a lot of people were about how you should not having a life jacket. They were pointing out all these things - you could get trapped inside your house, it doesn't save you from being hit by debris, it doesn't protect you against diseases that are in the water.
Yeah, those are all bad things. Don't jump into floodwaters for fun! Stay out of the flood water if you can at all possibly manage it. But if I'm in a place where I might end up falling into floodwaters anyway, it's far far better to have a life vest on than to not have it on.
As someone who works on ships, it's truly baffling how many "but what if...!? Life jacket bad!" you see in the intertubes.
I have one of these auto-inflaters and I always wear it on deck. Yes, the color will make me more visible to sharks and a myriad of other theoretical hazards, but I still would prefer not to drown.
One important note: if you for some reason need to wear BOTH an inflatable life jacket and a climbing harness (which I sometimes need to do), make sure to put on the climbing harness first. The harness will not give way to an inflating life jacket, but your chest and ability to breathe will.
Life jackets truly are the seat belts of the sea. “My uncle only survived the blaze from the crash because he was ejected from the car!”
Vaccine people. Same thing. They will happily start a case and put it against something with 12 more digits of probability behind it and feel like they have specialized knowledge. Dunning kreuger as well.
Even if that turned out to be the case (very unlikely) you can always take your life jacket off if at some point you find it's causing a problem. Just a squeeze on each clip and it's off
But the life jackets help a fuckton when you encounter submerged of floating debris by helping you not g3t trapped and pinned by debris.
Most my experience is from kayaking creeks and rivers after large rain storms. Its as close as you can get to real flood conditions, in my opinion. The biggest danger is under tows amd getting pinned by the current against or under a downed tree. The life jacket is going to keep you above most under water obstacles that you would find your self pinned against without a jacket.
The biggest thing to remember if you are worried about being caught in a flood or have little experience swimming in waters with strong currents is: YOU ARE NOT STRONGER THAN THE CURRENT. You always want to let the current take you and focus all your energy on angling towards one bank or the other. Dont try and swim against the current battling to get to shore. You will get too tired to make it and will be helpless once your muscles are shot. Keep on ypur back and your head above water as much as you can and ride it out till the current calms down or the bank is close enough for you to touch ground.
Its scary as fuck being trapped under water but the only way out is to stay calm and not panic. Life jackets help in every scenario.
And you hitting submerged objects that aren't flowing. I remember cutting my hand on a rock while going through rapids with a life jacket on. You need to practice keeping your feet downstream when in whitewater conditions.