In 2000 I purchased a manual/automatic Sospenders pfd. Over the years it sat
in its original packaging because I never felt that conditions necessitated
wearing it. After the boat was hauled in the fall I put it in the trunk of my
car & forgot about until last week when I opened the trunk & found it
inflated(some snow had gotten on it when I had opened the trunk previously). I
figured that at least I knew that it worked, & I would get a re arm kit. Today
I called the manufacturer to find out what the correct rearm kit would be & was
told that since this model was manufactured before the inflatable pfd's became
CG approved they no longer had kits available for them. They reccomended that I
"retire this unit & purchase a new one that is CG approved". To purchase a
similar unit that includes a harness is about $200 dollars as opposed to about
$20 for a rearm kit. This seems a ploy to make customers buy new units since
even if it's not CG approved, if you have enough regular pf!
d's aboard you are still legal, & even a CG approved unit is not legal unless
its being worn.
Lew
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