Recs for children's life vests?

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wmk0002

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I need to purchase life vests for my twin 4 year old boys, who I believe are both around 40 lbs. There are a lot of options and price ranges so before randomly selecting ones I thought I'd ask here. These are intended to just be used for safety while on my 1648 flatbottom while underway and fishing - not for any watersports. TIA.
 
Can't recommend any one certain brand, but get the ones with the high collar (to keep their faces above the water) AND where it includes a large 'pull or lifting handle' behind the neck, in case you need to pull them back aboard. One well worn should also have the strap that goes around and in-between their legs, so the jacket can't slip up & over their heads.

I'm an identical twin ... and some days I wonder how both of us made it to adulthood, growing up being on the water ... so take care of those boys :D !
 
Dale is right.

I use to work surf rescue a few years back.

You want a life jacket. Life jackets are designed to turn onto its back and keep the face out of the water. And life jackets are usually more buoyant than PFD. The handle makes it easy to pull kids back aboard as long as they are wearing the crotch strap. Colour realistically doesn't matter, assuming you not taking your kids out at night or in poor visibility. Pick aa colour or design they want that way they are more likely to want to wear it.


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I tried looking locally visiting, Cabelas, Academy Sports, and Walmart but had no luck finding a childrens size vest that had all of the features. Those places only had those features for infant vests and the childrens versions were identical to adult ones, however, some did have crotch straps.

I ended up getting a pair of the 'Stearns Heads Up Childs Vest' off of Amazon for $35 each. Had all the features plus are hi-viz. Had 4.5 stars as well. We will test them out on them in the pool this weekend and then get them out on the lake soon!

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I bought this Mustang best for my daughter and it works well. It is comfortable and the front doesn’t ride up into her chin like we’ve experienced with other ones. It has the extra tall collar with the lifting strap and the strap that goes between the legs making it near impossible to slip off.

https://www.mustangsurvival.com/en_US/products/flotation/kids-pfds/lil-legends-100-child-vest-MV3255.html
 

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