Life Jackets out of date

[Camo]

My brother was out fishing in his boat in the Pumicestone Passage last weekend when the water police pulled up beside him and did a safty gear check. They checked all his safty gear and found that he had everything necessary, however they stated that his life jackets were out of date. I've never heard of this before. I know that flares and epirbs have a limited life, but I didn't know life jackets did. Has anyone else heard of this. Some of my life jackets are 10 years old, but some of them have never been out of the plastic bags they came in. How the hell do life jackets go off.

Camo

[TonyM]

Never heard of this either Camo. If so a few of mine are pretty old.... still in good condition but don't think I've ever seen a "use by" label on a pfd

[speedy]

do they have reflctive tape on them and what colour are they and are they marked as PFD . but other than that wouldn't think they would go out of date never heard of it

[SWFISHER]

I believe if they don't have the reflective tape on them, they will be what you call ou of date

[Morlers]

Are they the self inflatable type? If so,then maybe the gas canister is out of date.



Morlers

[2iar]

Just taking a stab here...

It might be somethimg to do with meeting a particular standard (in the Australian Standard sense of the word). It's quite possible that the PFD meets the required safety standard, but if it isn't stamped/marked as meeting the current legislated standard because the PFD pre-dates that standard, it could be interpreted that it's "out-of-date".

The last time I got inspected I came up clean, despite the fact that my 6yo was sitting there in a kids' 20yo Canadian PFD that I knew didn't have the (Australian) standard marked on it (don't get me wrong, there's nothing at all wrong with or unsafe about the PFD, it just isn't marked as meeting Aus standards). I remember thinking that technically, if they were being overly picky, they could have pinged me for it.

Like I say, it's a just a guess on my part...

Let us know if you find out for sure...

Mike

[Bugs]

Is "out of date" the correct wording given? as unless these were inflatable then as long as the jacket was the correct type (PFD1 or PFD2 generally) and fit for each occupant on board then you would have to question what the problem was. If these were inflatable then they must be inspected by an accredited service centre at an interval of 12 months or other such duration a specified by the manuafacturer.

A PFD1 is a PFD1 (required for inshore and offshore waters) and has no specified official inspection due by date and as being labelled as such should have some reference to the following standards.

AS 2259, and AS 1512, AS 1499 or AS 2260 as appropriate[ch894] or
b) SOLAS (for a SOLAS Lifejacket)[ch894] or
c) National Standard for Commercial Vessels Part C Section 7A (for a Coastal
Lifejacket)[ch894] or
d) one of the following recognised standards for PFDs, provided it is marked
and labelled in English in accordance with the requirements for labelling and
marking contained in AS 2259, AS 1512, AS 1499 or AS 2260 as
appropriate:
i. Australian / New Zealand Standards (AS 1512, AS 1499, AS
2260 and NZS 5823 [open waters lifejackets only]).
ii. CEN (European) Standards (EN 396).
iii. ISO Standards (ISO 12402).
iv. Canadian General Standards (CAN/CGSB65.11M88,
PFDs
for adults and CAN/CGSB65.15M88,
PFDs for children).
v. Underwriters Laboratories Standards (UL 1180).

So if labelled as a PDF1 (or PDF2) and meets any of the above standards then can't see what their problem was?

[Camo]

I've only been out in his boat a couple of times. I remember that they were yellow and I didn't see any reflective tape on them. I would say that they predate the latest national standards. Like all his gear they were old but well looked after. I couldn't tell you if they were properly labelled. Probably not. As for the wording he told me the coppers told him, "they're out of date." He was on his fifth stubbie when I spoke to him so he wasn't very clear. He was too busy pissing and moaning about getting fined. I'm going to go through my boat on the weekend and throw out any really old Personal Floatation Devices, that I can find.

cheers,

camo

[StevenM]

out of date what???

if you were in the pasage u should need pfd1?? so why the reflective bits??

[StevenM]

that was supposed to be should not

sorry