Flotation suits - Not just for keeping you warm!

A flotation suit is not just a piece of clothing to keep you warm, but also a safety device. Many of us enjoy the sport of sea fishing but tend to forget the dangers of the water. Wearing a garment when fishing, such as a flotation suit will increase your chances of survival if the unthinkable does happen.

A flotation suit is made to be highly visible and tend to be made in bright luminous colours such as yellow, red, blue or green. Most good suits will also have reflective strips incorporated into either the arms, shoulders, and legs, or a combination of all three. This gives you the best chance of being found quickly if you do fall into the sea.

There are many regulations regarding flotation suits, two of the most common are: EN 393 & ISO 15027-1

EN 393 means that the suit is certified as a flotation suit - the test in which the suit must pass to achieve this is a buoyancy test. All suits with a buoyancy of over 50 Newton抯 can be classed as a flotation suit. meaning in simple terms they will keep you floating on the surface.

ISO 15027-1 the harder of the two tests, means that the wearer must not drop any more than 2 degrees Celsius of their body temperature when submerged in 5 degrees Celsius water temperature for an hour. Again in simple terms keep you warm enough in the cold water.

It is very important when purchasing a flotation suit from a fishing shop that you check, the suit has the appropriate level of certification for your requirements. If not displayed then ask. (better now than later)

Also vitally important is that you purchase a flotation suit of the correct size, a good way to make sure you get the correct size is to give both your weight and height to the fishing tackle supplier. They should then be able to give you the correct suit for your size.

Flotation suits are very popular when sea fishing because most manufacturers have turned a piece of safety equipment into a working piece of fishing clothing. Most modern flotation suits are extremely mobile (non restrictive) and have plenty of pockets. Some flotation suits also have extra knee padding along with other safety features like whistles.

Lots of fishermen wear their flotation suits on just about every outing as it keeps them nice and warm and being completely waterproof, they are dressed for any weather.

Suits also come in either one or two piece. The reason for this is the two piece gives the wearer even more flexibility, this means the jacket or trousers can be worn independently of each other.