using a ride engine, which I like, but adds around 5 lbs of weight when wet. Also interested in value as some of these are now pushing $200 which seems absurd to me.
I guess that depends on what your life is worth. $200 for a well thought out design and floatation or a cheap knock off.
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My ride engine vest is the same, absorbs water like a sponge
Is yours a V1 vest. I talked to ride engine and they say their V2
Is an improvement. Anyone have the V2 Defender that can
Comment on water absorption.
Mystic vests don’t absorb too much water. Anything neoprene will have some absorption, but the foam inside doesn’t seem to hold water.
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Not sure what version it is but in light air is noticeably harder to pump up on plane.
More than a year old.. trying to decide if I get V2… I like the vest just not the weight
I use the Team vest and haven’t noticed any real weight gain (from a wet vest, it’s tight at the waist so I notice my belly early in the season!) Now you’ve got me on the way to the scales!
-I find the biggest weight is gained by a wetsuit not made of Yamamoto rubber. An O’neil, Billabong, etc gain a tremendous amount, but a Matuese Hoplight or Tumo, hardly any.
Team vest is what brand?
I see the Team
vest from RE. Does it have adequate padding on the sides? I cracked a rib with a promotion vest that had little side protection just hitting the water hard. Thx
I’ve been using a WIP vest (the black one without hook) for the past 3 years and haven’t noticed it gaining weight.
Follow brand wake vests are really nice. Love my Yulex one I bought like 5 years ago. Had to replace the zipper though.
I have the WIP with the hook and also don’t notice weight gain. It’s probably middle of the road weight wise to start though if I had to guess.
Strongly disagree. I liked the design of the Follow vest at first but I’ve now gone through two of them that basically disintegrated (one was a warranty but it sucked just as bad). They use metal zippers that corrode really quickly - it’s a wake brand and these are clearly not designed for saltwater use. They also did take on quite a bit of water.
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Maybe they’ve changed over the years. Mine doesn’t seem to take much water. Zipper definitely not good for salt water. Like I said, needed to replace at the local seamstress with high quality zipper.
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What’s unique is that the padding is continuous throughout at about 1/2". No thick panels for flotation or removed padding for harness. I think by having a lot of continuous padding, it is able to better absorb a water impact as opposed to a thick panel over your ribs that would place pressure on a smaller area. That said, I haven’t gone cliff jumping death dives to test my theory!
My follow vest is a sponge, very heavy when wet.
My Pro-Limit vest is much better but there is still room for improvement
pet peeve that companies can’t seem to figure this out and continue to put black neoprene on everything that is related to water sports
Yeah, mine was the top of the line version, made from Yulex neoprene. Doesn’t take on water. I don’t think they make it any longer.