Why did the third man survive? Because unlike the first two, he wore a life jacket. So, say what you may regarding the three in a row dead-man omen, life jackets work magic in spite of folklore.

As fall approaches and water temperatures plunge what will be your fate if you venture out onto the water? Hopefully, uneventful, and no doubt it will be if you wear a life jacket. Yes, life jackets can be bulky and restrictive especially while fishing. But consider this: the Coast Guard requires that I wear a life jacket and more. When I get underway, I don a bulletproof vest, a life jacket and a pyrotechnic vest. Talk about restrictions. Personally, I could do without the bullet proof and the pyrotechnic vests (not at night), but I couldn’t do without the life jacket, not after what I’ve seen over the years.

In fact, I’ve grown to appreciate life jackets as I do safety belts in cars. And for every fatality a state trooper can link to motorists who died because they failed to wear a seat belt, I’m sure I can match it with a drowning because the person failed to wear a life jacket.

Boaters ask me if wearing life jactets will become law as with seat belts. I don’t know but I do know this: the Coast Guard and other safety agencies simply can’t ignore the fact that thousands of people would be alive today had they worn a life jacket. For now, the Coat Guard and other concerned agencies hope education is the answer, that and perhaps improved more "wearable" life jackets.

To meet recreational boater demand for greater "wearability," manufactures have designed fully inflatable life jackets. These devices take up a fraction of the volume and surface area of foam-type, conventional life jackets; they wear, in fact, like lite clothing. Sure they cost more, but isn’t one’s life worth it. Even an anti life-jacket infidel might concede that this latest user-friendly life-saving device may be the ticket.

So, how do they work?

Inflatable life jackets use a cylinder of compressed carbon dioxide gas (C02) to inflate a coated chamber. By pulling on a cord, the wearer causes the inflation system to drive a pin through the seal of the gas cylinder. The escaping CO2 gas is forced into the chamber, which fills and expands the life jacket. As a backup, these life jackets also can be inflated by mouth. To answer a question boaters often asked me this summer while inspecting boat: when will the CO2 inflatable device be CG approved? It is now approved as of this writing.

And not only is the C02 inflatable device approved, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the Coast Guard are evaluating several automatic inflation systems that would serve as a backup to the manually activated inflation system in the event the wearer is unable to pull the cord as for instance an unconscious person in the water. These automatic backup systems uses stored energy, in the form of a spring, to drive the inflation system pierce pin through the seal of the C02 cylinder. The spring energy is held in check by a sodium water-soluble element. When a boater falls into the water, the element dissolves, releases the stored energy, punctures the cylinder and inflates the life jacket. These life jackets will also be required to have an oral inflation system as a back-up. Boaters may see UL Listed/USCG Approved automatic inflatables on the market soon.

This may all seem like highly advanced technology for just a life jacket. And perhaps it is, but there is one fact for certain that is as ageless as time: Life Jackets float, people don’t. Inflatable or not, don’t tempt fate, Boat Smart- wear a life jacket.

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Boat Smart is now on the Internet: www.boatsmart.net (includes Lake Michigan water temperatures and local weather).

Use channel 16 for emergencies, and channel 9 for calling fellow boaters.