What do you carry in your lifejacket (aka "PFD" until the Coast Guard officially changed it back last year).

Here is what I carry:
1) waterproof white light
2) whistle
3) knife
4) emergency flares (small hand-held variety)
5) mirror
6) waterproof matches
7) energy bar
8) small tube of sunscreen
9) Steripen

Sometimes also carry poly-pro liner gloves and a kleenex.

Most of my paddling is in the Atlantic Ocean or Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. Lots of large water and big winds.

Most stuff in my PFD (sorry, lifejacket) is there in case I get separated from my kayak. Still, I don't bother to change it for the Boundary Waters or Quetico.

How about you? What's in your lifejacket?

Note: there is no "right" answer here. Its all personal preference.

AH YES!!--this is a favorite subject of mine.i call my PFD the Ditch or Overboard vest.it's set up to handle the worse case i could think of,in the water with the canoe and gear gone,somehow.i ran a detailed run thru of this over at Equipped To Survive,a great site where i have been getting a lot of good info on the SPOT and PLB...but on with the Ditch Vest..


all that stuff go's into this Swiss Army canteen cup.



the "stuff" is blocks of pea soup,tea,sugar,MRE coffee,fruit and nut bar and a few other high energy food items.i would assume that after a cold swim i would want something hot asap.on top of the canteen which is sealed in zip locks and duct tape is a fire kit with matches,Bic and Army heat tabs.--in the other pocket i have shelter items.



this is a old photo like the one above of the re-pack in the spring. but this shows the basic idea.a foil blanket with duct tape and nylon line for making a WP shelter,a Heatsheet bivy bag,some minor first aid items,mostly pain meds.more fire making items--so on.
when i was paddleing around this spring on a wet day i started looking at the shoreline that i stick close too and got the impression that swimming ashore and setting up a "camp" to wait for help could be a major survival hassle.not only were there cliffs and boulder piles too high to get over but some very steep moss and brush covered hill sides that in no way could i find a spot to shelter in.
the other "survival" problem would be a fall and major injury on a carry so i keep the vest with the packs or me on the trips across. it is more to carry but part of the price of going solo and being in my 60's and not as strong as i was..the vest has a whistle and flasher but after looking out on a stormy lake i get the idea that it would take something VERY bright and VERY loud to signal anyone who MIGHT be around..so in the end i stay close to shore when i can and don't take chances on bad water.

Ummmm Marlboros and a windproof lighter!

A water proof GPS, fire starter flint, knife

This is what I SHOULD carry in my PFD:

What wetcanoedog said.

i have said this before.next time i'm out on a buddy trip i plan to try out the gear at the last camp and have one of the guys take photos and some short movies with my digital camera.i would get into the lake and swim to a spot that would be usable,no cliffs and such and see if my plans for making a shelter with that Ditch Kit and cooking a block of soup would really work.after a hard look at the shore line this year i was thinking that a vest with pockets large enough to carry one of those tiny Gaz stove burners and a small cart would work better than trying to start a fire with wet,moss covered rotten wood.

this is a nice photo but think about dragging yourself ashore in the bad weather that put you overboard and trying to make a fire and shelter in that tangle of trees and brush.

The only thing inside my PFD is me. In a waterproof fanny pack I usually have a bic lighter, fire starter, whistle, compass, extra map, emergency blanket, fishing license, permit, and a snack bar. I keep a knife in a sheath on my belt.

Just me. Everything else is in my day pack which is never out of arm's length away.

Cargo pants carry all of my loose\survival items. I am the only thing in my PFD and I do stay in it when on the water.

im the only thing in it and i carry every thing else in my pockets or its in the pack.

Had a friend who became separated from his kayak during an unexpected storm at Ocracoke Inlet in the Pamlico Sound a few years back. The waves were four or five feet high, and very choppy.

We found him and got him back into his boat in less than five minutes. However, that experience made me look real hard at what I carry in my PFD. You cannot rely on access to a day pack in a situation like that.

BTW, there are few things more frightening than seeing your friend's empty boat shoot past you in the middle of a storm.

Wetcanoedog -- That's an impressive list of gear. How many pockets in you PFD?

ME in rough water and an emergency kit bungee-dealee-bobbed to it.

some excitement at ocracoke over the 4th.

used to fish ocracoke and more recently portsmouth. the inlet can get rough. been there.

Jdrocks --- I was on Hatteras Island on the Fourth. Saw a bunch of TV news helicopters headed south but had no idea what happened until I saw the explosion on the news that night. Word is that Ocracoke is still in shock.

ME's in Me life jacket
SunCatcher