Quote:
Originally Posted by skprbob
Let me repeat an item from another thread - swimmers' belts do not satisfy the NH PFD laws. They are not USCG approved. They are fine as a supplementary device as described, but cannot be used alone. You still must have the appropriate USCG approved PFD aboard.
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It's better to be wearing a swimmer's belt, which is perfectly capable of giving pretty good support in 3-foot waves, than to not wear anything because a standard pfd was too hot or inhibited paddling. A swimmer's belt obviously does not inhibit paddling like a pfd.
Correct me if I am wrong but anyone who is 16 or older is not legally required in New Hampshire to have a pfd on board a kayak without a motor which is what the vast majority of kayaks are; motorless and propelled by a kayak paddle. Legally, anyone 16 and up may have nothing, or a pfd, or a swimmers belts or both a pfd and a swimmers belt and their favorite rubber duckie just for good company! It is nutty to be out on the water without either a pfd or a swimmer's belt, but that's the law, as I understand it.