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Women's PFD recommendation

3K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  Osseous 
#1 ·
Hi folks- I'm shopping for a Christmas gift for my GF. Top candidate right now is the MTI PFDiva SE..... although I have to admit to not being impressed with MTI's stuff when I've held it in hand. Light materians, questionable stitching?

This one gets good ratings and reviews online- what do the ladies of the Buzz have to say? She tried on a Betsea and it fit horribly. Not understanding that design at all?! Squeezed her pups out the sides- and the stiff foam was really uncomfortable. Help me play rafting Santa!
 
#2 ·
Kokotat MSfit is what I use. Fits well, comfy, good amount of pockets, lash tab for knife, nice adjustable shoulder straps. PFDs are pretty personal for fit. I tried on a few before I found this one. They are currently on sale on backcountry.com
Good luck River Santa!
 
#3 ·
I got my wife a womens specific stolquist a while back, not the betsea, but womens specific white water. I don't think she ever wore it before we returned it, and got her an Astral Wondervest. She really likes it, fits her well, and gives her very good movement. Much less brick like than the stolquist too.
good luck.
 
#6 ·
I have a good bit of experience in this department...
If it's anything other than an Astral w/Kapok (and not all of them have it) than you should definitely have her try it on, if you can. Kapok is much softer in comparison to what everyone else uses. This equates to the jacket having an already broken in feel to it that women seem to really like. If she is going to be very active in the jacket (rowing a lot, paddling, SUP action), I would recommend a design that is shaped with kayaking in mind. These styles work great for both men and women and are usually much more functional, without sacrificing storage or buoyancy.

The main thing to consider here is that if she has to wear it for more than 5 minutes, she better be comfortable in it. Women usually only sacrifice style for comfort and you're not about to see anyone rockin' them at the club.
 
#8 ·
TopBud,

I boat the same rivers. Zipper silting is, I think, more of a problem in zippered boats (AIRE) and not so much a problem on PFD's. I have never had a PFD zipper silt up in 20+ years of boating SW rivers (San Juan, Grand, etc.)

I don't think limiting to non-zippered PFD to avoid silting is worth losing out on so many good PFD designs.....


my $0.02
 
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