Over the years life vest have gotten more comfortable and they have come to cover a larger range of sizes. Maine Outdoors requires everyone on a canoe trip to wear a vest and kids under 10 are required to wear them any time they are in a boat. Whether it is a nature exploration trip, a family fishing trip, or a scenic boat ride life vests are required for kids under 10.
That they cover a range of sizes makes life simpler as fewer are needed to cover the sizes of clients on a particular trip. When Maine Outdoors started in 1986 we needed about 30 life vests to accommodate family trips, today 20 hang on the rack. Most of our vests over the years have come from LL Bean in Freeport and today they all come from there.
The real improvement has come in comfort. Frequently I remind someone that they need to take off the vest they have on before they leave me. Last week the vests got the biggest compliment possible on comfort. A young boy (who by the way has been bitten by the fishing bug) was on a family fishing trip. I put a life vest on him at the beginning of our trip and thought nothing more about it. We had a great afternoon and at the end he did not want to leave. Eventually the family all loaded into their van and drove off.
Next day I got a phone call from his father, apparently the young fellow had worn the life vest all of the way back to the rental cottage and no one had realized it! The life vests are so comfortable that not only you forget you have it on but so does everyone else!
Made a trip on a rainy morning to their cottage and retrieved my vest so it is back on the rack waiting to be comfortable on someone else.
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