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Old     (GoBeavs85)      Join Date: Jul 2015       02-14-2019, 7:48 PM Reply   
My 8 year old daughter really caught the surfing bug last summer. She spends 20+ hours per week in the summer in the water or on the boat. Last year we had her in just a cheap vinyl type material life jacket. Would like to find a higher quality more comfortable CGA vest for her this summer.

What do y’all recommend?

I’m familiar with the comfort of a comp vest but obviously we are sticking with CGA only for her. Thanks!
Old     (infinitysurf)      Join Date: Apr 2017       02-15-2019, 5:30 AM Reply   
That is awesome, my kids also love to be on the water. Boating activities have kept my family close and spending quality time together....especially as my girls become teens and want to hang out with friends, I just tell them to invite their friends too.

I found some nice neoprene life jackets for my girls at Wal-Mart actually, they start stocking them in the Spring. My daughters are 12 & 15 now, so a bit bigger than your daughter is right now. Its hard to order life jackets online for the kids since they cant try them on.... I also have a couple neoprene in smaller sizes that fit my 5 & 7yr old nephews now that my girls grew out of (honestly dont remember where I bought them) They are comfortable and are CGA.... they are Stearns Youth size life jackets (same brand your daughter has on)....below is a link from Amazon from a quick google search.

https://www.amazon.com/Stearns-Hydro...th+life+jacket
Old     (CALIV210)      Join Date: Jun 2015       02-15-2019, 6:21 AM Reply   
In the spring Costco usually has pretty nice life jackets on sale . I always say I'm gonna take them back and end up keeping them for other peoples kids .
Old     (CALIV210)      Join Date: Jun 2015       02-15-2019, 6:23 AM Reply   
BTW your daughters a bad a$$ I cant wait until my girls ready for this stuff shes still tubing with her cousins . My son asked for a wakeboard for his birthday and rode it a few times and decided he like knee boards . Drives me nuts . lol
At least my wife rides his board .
Old     (Matt0520)      Join Date: Feb 2019       02-15-2019, 6:30 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by CALIV210 View Post
In the spring Costco usually has pretty nice life jackets on sale . I always say I'm gonna take them back and end up keeping them for other peoples kids .
Came to post the same. They have them out now at our store, all Hyperlite/neoprene. $29.99-$39.99/ea for infant up to 88lbs. They fit our boys well, and we got a few pink/purple ones in same sizing for their girl friends ("friends that are girls, DAD!")
Old     (GoBeavs85)      Join Date: Jul 2015       02-15-2019, 7:23 AM Reply   
Thanks everybody! Costco for the win, I should have known
Old     (Padge)      Join Date: Feb 2017       02-17-2019, 3:59 AM Reply   
My daughter was 6 when she first got up on a wakeboard. We’ve always used youth hyper lite vests, and they are the higher quality material and seem to be comfortable and keep them afloat well.
Old     (PSATL)      Join Date: Jul 2014       02-17-2019, 2:38 PM Reply   
Nope. Not Costco. If your looking for the “best” don’t shop on price alone. Check out the new line from Ronix. It is the first that I have seen with fleece lining on the neck and arm openings. Yes pricey at 59-69. But u said best.
Old     (GoBeavs85)      Join Date: Jul 2015       02-17-2019, 5:48 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by PSATL View Post
Nope. Not Costco. If your looking for the “best” don’t shop on price alone. Check out the new line from Ronix. It is the first that I have seen with fleece lining on the neck and arm openings. Yes pricey at 59-69. But u said best.


I like the sound of the fleece, to cut down on rash. You say it’s new so probably not a lot of experience on how it wears over time?
Old     (Surfer101)      Join Date: Oct 2015       02-17-2019, 6:12 PM Reply   
Something like this should do that trick.
https://www.wakemakers.com/liquid-fo...fe-jacket.html
Old     (bass10after)      Join Date: Feb 2010       02-17-2019, 10:52 PM Reply   
somebody needs to invent a better life jacket for the 6mos to a year market and for the 2-4year old market. nothing but garbage uncomfortable options
s
Old     (hunter991)      Join Date: Jul 2016       02-18-2019, 9:42 AM Reply   
My advice? just buy the cheap ones as they grow out of them almost every year. Wait til the stop growing so fast then get the better one.

Ask me how i know.
Old     (GoBeavs85)      Join Date: Jul 2015       02-18-2019, 9:59 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by bass10after View Post
somebody needs to invent a better life jacket for the 6mos to a year market and for the 2-4year old market. nothing but garbage uncomfortable options
s


Our baby was happy in this one last year. It had a side entry with the buckle out of the way. A nice soft neoprene material. We put over 100 hours on the boat last summer. She was there for all of them. So it must have been comfortable enough. The headrest was still in the way often but it of course serves an important purpose.

But I agree there is always room to improve kids comfort in gear!

Also of note...we went to a boat show last weekend and stopped to talk to the marine safety booth. Their advice to us was to not take our kids boating until we were comfortable leaving the kids in the water without supervision for 10+ minutes! What?!?? So no boating until kids are teens because even my strong swimmer 8 year old doesn’t swim without supervision. I thought that advice was ludicrous.
Old     (Matt0520)      Join Date: Feb 2019       02-18-2019, 12:45 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by PSATL View Post
Nope. Not Costco. If your looking for the “best” don’t shop on price alone. Check out the new line from Ronix. It is the first that I have seen with fleece lining on the neck and arm openings. Yes pricey at 59-69. But u said best.
I spent years selling to Costo and their co-packers...one thing I learned is that most companies don't manufacture especially for big box stores. It might be last year's model, privately labeled, SMI that needs moved, etc. but typically the quality isn't different. Their buying power is what drives prices lower typically, not inferior product.

This can vary more in segments like tech, where TV manufacturers will keep a lot of low-spec TVs for the big box guys or for Black Friday retail, hoping people see the cheap 60" and don't pay attention to the 720P or 60hz refresh rate in the fine print.

Not saying you're right or wrong, just throwing that out there with some firsthand experience.
Old     (jonblarc7)      Join Date: Jul 2006       02-18-2019, 12:51 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by bass10after View Post
somebody needs to invent a better life jacket for the 6mos to a year market and for the 2-4year old market. nothing but garbage uncomfortable options
s



Our boy is three now but we went through the same for him went he was a infant. I bet we bought 3 different jackets to find one he was comfortable in.

The Stohlquist toddler is amazing. The neck is cut in a low V so it comfortable for there little necks and fat checks.

https://www.amazon.com/Stohlquist-To...=ATZ61JQHZC6XB
Old     (jonblarc7)      Join Date: Jul 2006       02-18-2019, 12:58 PM Reply   
This is not 1 year ould to 4 months later just over 1 year old. They may not be the coolest looking but they work and the baby is happy.
Attached Images
  
Old     (bass10after)      Join Date: Feb 2010       02-18-2019, 2:45 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonblarc7 View Post
Our boy is three now but we went through the same for him went he was a infant. I bet we bought 3 different jackets to find one he was comfortable in.

The Stohlquist toddler is amazing. The neck is cut in a low V so it comfortable for there little necks and fat checks.

https://www.amazon.com/Stohlquist-To...=ATZ61JQHZC6XB
Good find! We did the same last year, i think we bought 4 different ones and every one of them looked so uncomfortable because the big cheeks and lack of neck lol
Old     (jonblarc7)      Join Date: Jul 2006       02-18-2019, 5:08 PM Reply   
Sorry what I wrote above didn’t make sense. I wrote it as I was walking out the door at work.

Basically the pictures above are at 8 months and alittle over 11 months old. It works really well and most of our boat friends with little ones switch to that jacket.
Old     (CALIV210)      Join Date: Jun 2015       02-19-2019, 12:26 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by PSATL View Post
Nope. Not Costco. If your looking for the “best” don’t shop on price alone. Check out the new line from Ronix. It is the first that I have seen with fleece lining on the neck and arm openings. Yes pricey at 59-69. But u said best.
While I agree there definitely are better options out there I lean towards the kids growing so fast why buy so many of the rather expensive life jackets . Plus my kids are in their Costco vest for almost 2 weeks straight during the summer and that's just 1 trip and have no issues . Of course most folks have more money then me lol
Old     (tre)      Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: WI       02-19-2019, 2:47 PM Reply   
I got this for my 10 year old who surfs and wanted a "real" life jacket like Mom and Dad. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The fit is fantastic. Her friends who are smaller have also used it. All have loved it. Amazon says there is a newer version. Looks like only color is different. This is Cost Guard Approved yet a great material and fit. Not bulky at all. dries fast. Same material as a high quality adult vest.
Old     (infinitysurf)      Join Date: Apr 2017       02-23-2019, 8:11 PM Reply   
Sam' Club just came out with their new "instant savings" booklet from Feb 27 - March 24th. They have really nice looking Neoprene (Body Glove brand) life jackets available in infant, child, youth and adult sizes listed between $22-$40.
I have a love/hate relationship with Sam's. They always have great deals and over the years I have saved a ton of money buying bulk....but I always seem to spend $500+ every time I walk in that place cause the deals are so "great". Guess I am a sucker for that place!

Also noticed they have AGM marine batteries (Duracell Platinum) with $20 discount off listed prices, 3 different marine battery sizes @ 27/31/34, between $120-$180 and from what I have seen on these batteries everywhere else, these are at least $100 cheaper than anywhere else. I may replace 1 of my 3 regular wet cell Interstate batteries since its 5yrs old now (the 1 starting battery, the other 2 are wired in parallel for accessories). Gotta say tho, the wet cell have never let me down but I also always keep them on smart maintainer and also check the water level and top them off with distilled water every Fall. I recently had an on-board, 3 bank NOCO installed that I bought on Black Friday sale and also got a "remote" plug which I had mounted on the front of my built-in cooler. Looks factory and makes plugging up the NOCO maintainer super easy. These AGM batteries are the same price as the Interstate wet cell's so may be worth trying. The 31 is supposed to be their premium deep cycle, 20amp hour:105, but they say that all these work well for starting or deep cycle.

For other suckers like me that find it hard to pass up a good deal when it come to boating/lake days.... they also have huge beach towels for $12, we bought 4 last Spring and they are great boat towels.
A 6x15 water pad for $250 (I bought one 4yrs ago...then sold it 3yrs later for $280 since most places sell them for $500+). I now have one of the WOW blow up pads since it takes up such less room on boat when not in use.
Big Joe, Noodle sling floats @ $20 that look awesome for floating around the boat and has to beat wearing a lift jacket like a diaper while floating. I will have to pick up a couple of these and try them out. They also have nice SUP paddle boards, kayak's and bunch of other lake stuff.
Old     (srock)      Join Date: Mar 2002       02-27-2019, 6:52 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by infinitysurf View Post
For other suckers like me that find it hard to pass up a good deal when it come to boating/lake days.... they also have huge beach towels for $12, we bought 4 last Spring and they are great boat towels.
I found those big towels and they were really thick causing them to hold water. I like them thin.

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