THE HARRISON BALLISTA LIFE JACKET
Price: Manual £ 88.00, Fully Automatic £ 99.00

Harrison’s say:

Made for Harrisons in the UK especially for anglers.

Most anglers life jackets are a yachting life jacket with the fluorescent cover replaced with dark material. They tend to be low fitting making them not so good for sitting or wading. At last, here is a proper life jacket designed from start to finish for anglers.

No other life jacket has all these features:

  • Camouflaged tough outer cover.
  • Full 150 N interlocking buoyancy chamber with reflective stripes. When fully inflated and properly fitted, is capable of turning an unconscious person face up with the mouth clear of the water. The inner bladder is brightly coloured yellow when inflated.
  • Two models, manual (hand pull) or automatic (water contact). Can be converted in a few minutes from one to the other. We recommend the automatic for most applications. The automatic has the addition of a triggering devise which operates in contact with water but can also be set off manually. Both can be easily re-set with the purchase of a kit that includes a new gas cartridge.
  • High on the body and small when packed, make it ideal for wading and comfortable when sitting in a boat. The shorter length package conceals a full size 150N bladder.
  • Leather scrim front inner lining for hard wear resistance and reducing risk of hook damage to the bladder.
  • Soft neoprene neck lining for all day comfort.
  • Simple easily fitted harness with warm to the touch no fiddle Lock Monster acetal nylon fastening clip.
  • Velcro patch to attach accessories such as a fly box.

FISHINGmagic VERDICT

I’ve had a lifejacket of one sort or another for years, including the ones that inflate from a gas cartridge.

More than once I’ve tried them out by donning a pair of swimming trunks and the lifejacket, jumped into the lake and then inflated it. They worked very well. Fortunately I’ve never had to try one in a real situation.

But I always wondered what would happen if I fell overboard and struck my head on the side of the boat or some other object and lost consciousness. And there was nobody else around. The ones that inflate via a pull cord wouldn’t be much use then would they.

Which is why the fully automatic version from Harrisons makes such good sense. It inflates on contact with water and the above fears become very much reduced.

As far as I’m concerned, for the sakes of an extra tenner for the automatic version, there is no contest.

What price your life – £ 99.00? Never go on a boat without a lifejacket.

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