StohlquistFIT Adult Life Jacket, US Coast Guard Approved Type III Life Vest, PFD for Men and Women, Easily Adjustable, Lightweight and High Buoyancy

The large arm holes are great for kayaking, the vest is good quality and looks good. The Buoyancy was enough to support my weight, (when I read the booklet I think it said 18 lbs of buoyancy). It said it is a type 3 flotation aid device. Make sure you buy the size that fits you. I am 6f2in , 170lbs and this is good for me. Fits well, I had to loosen it a bit.I bought it to get into kayaking. I also bought an inflatable kayak. 3 minutes in the water near the ocean (where the river ends) I flipped the kayak! I had tried before to climb back to a canoe or kayak without a lifevest and I know it is really hard and for me, even impossible, because I don't have that kind of strength. Also the water was deep, and there was a small current. As the kayak turned, when I was at a 45% angle, I knew I was about to struggle.As soon as I fell, my head was under the water for less than a moment. I didn't have to swim upwards or anything, the lifevest lifted me up immediately! It also made is easy for me to climb back to the kayak because it lifts you up.I am truly, truly grateful!The people I was with didn't even see me fall... it is dangerous out there!

Okay, so I have been looking for the good fit vest for awhile. I stopped by at the local Walmart and sporting goods stores but all of them are too small eventhough the size states XL. The reviews I saw here are mixed in regards to the size. I took a chance and ordered the XL "oversize". Yes, it is little bit big but at least it fits me good since there is a pull cord to tighten. I'm 5'8", 175lbs. Not slim or not fat either. I wear XL t-shirts and size large for polo shirts and dress shirts. This vest goes down to the belly button. I wore this and sat on the floor and the fit doesn't bother me at all. The opening around the neck is fairly wide so okay. Doesn't rub my cheek or neck. If I am to use the paddles, I don't think the vest would bother me around the arm pits. I'll be using for the fishing mainly. I haven't actually used at the lake so I don't know the how this would work. But for now, this is the vest I was looking for and the price was reasonable.

The Amazon description says "life jacket" which in the US officially means a Type I personal flotation device, usable in whitewater canoeing when someone might be knocked unconscious, or farther offshore or when rescue may be delayed. Instead this is a "flotation aid" for brief use while conscious in still water. Regulatory semantics? I should have bought an actual "life jacket" to allow whitewater canoeing as well as small lake boating. But I will live with it since the lake boating is a match for my current boat.The universal adult size fits me OK with 45 inch chest. At 6'2" height it feels a little high above the waist but it is your head you want above water. Very light, quite comfortable shape, easy to get on.One of the two I bought arrived with one pair of the three straps assembled wrong, the lowest one crossing to middle and the middle crossing to lowest. Did not seem to affect comfort and should not affect safety. Not worth the effort to return for a correctly assembled one, or to do some unstitching to rethread the two crossed straps. (It is good that the buckles cannot be pulled through without unstitching.)The misleading headline and the assembly error => 4 stars instead of 5. Room for improvement.

I have not had to use this vest in an emergency situation yet (and hopefully never will), but am required by law to have a pfd on a kayak. "I can't wait to put on this beautifully tailored pfd", said no one ever. But at least this Stohlquist pfd makes you hate following the rules a little less. It is relatively compact and mostly fits this midget; which is pretty impressive for a "universal" garment of any type. I am 5'3" and 120#, after tightening this vest appropriately I only have about 1 inch left on each side to tighten. Luckily, I'm in no danger of losing weight. However, if you are a very, very thin person and/or have an exceptionally small frame, this "universal" pfd may be too large for you. I am able to paddle with ease and I have not had an issue with the pfd riding up when I am seated (I do have a moderately long torso for a short person), unlike others have mentioned in their reviews. Overall, I am very happy with this purchase. Thank you Stohlquist for a quality product. Side note: Amazon sent an adult oversize (lol!) to me in error, but because Amazon has awesome customer service, I was sent the correct one a day and a half later. Sending the mislabeled one back was very easy (and free).

The pfd’s fit perfectly for both my wife and me. Excellent price too

We bought 2 of these. A small and an oversized. I wasn't sure if the oversized was going to fit the rather large person who would be wearing it, however it fit and could be adjusted properly and they felt comfortable in it. Good value for a bit of water safety. I would buy these again.

I'm sure this is a fine life vest but when you are sitting in a kayak the back and front push up into your neck. It's not comfortable at all for kayaking.

comfortable, fits well, easy to adjust and keeps you floating

El mejor que he tenido y muy practico para manobrear en la pesca de kayak.

Like how the straps can be adjusted to a wider size range so I can share this amongst a group of us.

EXCELENTE SALVAVIDAS Y MUY BUENA CALIDAD

Chaleco salvavidas, por el diseño te permite remar sin que te estorbe, se ajusta de la cintura, cumple su función, en relación al precio es un producto bueno

hace su función para una mujer de 55 kilos