Floatation ice fishing suits

[Browneye]

So I see some places are already discounting some ice gear and I got to thinking. Does anyone have experience with the suits actually in the water? What I'm getting at is do you really need both the bibs and the coat to keep a non swimmer up? I could see that maybe bibs alone maybe wouldn't be enough and would give you a weird bottom up center of gravity but would a jacket alone be enough to keep you up?

 

[deleted member]

good question. i probably only wear them together about 50% of the time. got me thinking

 

[MuleyMadness]

Someone test it out in the summer and let me know

 

[Wall-eyes]

Really need both to work properly.

 

[wslayer]

^^^^^ this is the claim ^^^^^ I just have coat and ice picks.

 

[Eatsleeptrap]

I have one, but probably can't pull my fat ass back on to the ice with a bad shoulder. Silver lining is, it will make it a lot easier for first responders to recover me....

 

[NDbowman]

 

[701FishSlayer]

I'd be willing to bet that most who wear them don't have a snowballs chance in hell of pulling their soaked self in a panic out of a hole. You fat bastards.

 

[Reprobait]

I have a true Coast Guard approved float coat. I use it for early/late ice and also cold weather open water fishing. They have more buoyancy than the ice fishing suits. They do get stiff in real cold temps so they don't work for that. Carry ice picks to climb back onto the ice.


https://www.kentsafetyproducts.com/collections/flotation-jackets

https://www.mackspw.com/Onyx-Camouflage-Floatation-Jacket-Realtree-Max-4?quantity=1&color=1470

Mustang also makes one.

Ice rescue video:

 

[Mr. Pike]

Bring your dog with to rescue you like this guy did.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/19/dog-rescue-michigan-ice-lake