Wasted Fabric

I treat myself to a new life jacket every few years when the old one starts to get raggedy. I used to delay that purchase as long as possible until I realized that for less than the cost of a new rod I could possibly save my life. While I’d rather not spend the money, I don’t regret it.

What puzzles me, though, is that of the last four or so PFDs I’ve purchased, they all have pockets, at least two, sometimes more. In fact, the pockets may be a selling point. I don’t know that I’d purchase just a plain vest. That’s despite the fact that I can’t remember the last time I actually stuck something in any of the pockets. I mean, maybe if you looked into one of the old ones you might find a Pop Tart wrapper or an old bag of 1995 grubs, but on a day-to-day basis I never use them to store stuff. I don’t even stick my hands in them. For all I know, the buttons and Velcro may still be virginal.

It might make sense if I was in a kayak or a float tube, but I have 20 feet 2 inches of fiberglass under me with about 812 separate storage compartments.

I suppose that if you wore your PFD all the time, like you’re supposed to do with the inflatable type, it would make sense in that case, too. You could store line clippers or creature baits or beef jerky inside – but I don’t wear that type, and besides I don’t recall ever seeing any that had pockets of their own. I’d be curious to know if anyone else out there actually uses PFD pockets, or if we need to start a letter-writing campaign to the life vest manufacturers of the world.