O'Neill Gooru vest.  I wear mine in the surf 100% of time under wetsuit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00QLN1L4O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472660936&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=gooru+vest

BUY A GOORU

Have you tried swimming any distance in these pfds? The shortcoming of some of these PFDs is that it is pretty much impossible to do so. So it will keep you afloat for sure, but you aren't going anywhere. . . . .

BUY A GOORU

I've had several opportunities to try and swim wearing a USCG approved PFD and an impact vest; the impact vest is far easier to swim while wearing. . . . .

BUY A GOORU

There are people on this forum that know their stuff.  I don't want to be a d-ck but everyone's opinion is not equal.  Area10 has been around and while we have disagreed HE KNOWS HIS STUFF.  SUPSPORTS and I have disagreed on fins, but HE KNOWS HIS STUFF. 

Having been SUP surfing for 7 years and survived conditions that would have killed a bunch of people, and watched some guys at Mavericks survive absolutely horrific, deadly stuff I have concluded you want to FLOAT.  . . . AT ALL TIMES.  I have chosen to wear the Gooru vest all the times, it is on, it works it doesn't require CO2 and it is NOT coast guard approved.  I have surfed with it over 500 hundred times and when the waves have gone over 20 feet I have added another life jacket on top of it.

I have broken ribs and fallen in the water and thought "Well this is going to suck but at least I will not drown.  When I hit the beach it's really going to hurt . . ."  I have broken leashes and paddled 500 yards.  I do not downwind so I haven't paddled for 2 miles but I imagine it would be possible with the Gooru under my wetsuit.  For $80 to $120 it might just save your life.  Probably not (because those of us reading this will not be the next mom that drowns in Colorado, or dude in the Gorge because we didn't wear a PFD), but the added amount of courage will push your further, make you a better SUP'er and lead to better posts on this forum.  So paddle on.

Seldom, I imagine our SUP conditions are very different. If you read the whole of my post, then you'll see that I was talking about the situation where you have become separated from your board because of eg. leash failure. Leash snaps ate a real possibility in the conditions I go out in.

We might also differ in our definitions of what constitutes "swimming". A couple of days ago I swam about 2.5k in the sea at a respectable cruising pace just to make sure I can. I was OK, but was pretty tired at the end of it. If I had been doing it in typical downwinding conditions it would have been substantially more difficult. But I could probably still make it. But put a typical kayak or sailing pfd on and it would be pretty much impossible unless perhaps you happen to be a professional lifeguard or open-water swimmer.

So, I suggest you try it. Get a pfd on, jump in the sea, and try to swim 1-2 miles. I doubt you'll get further than 500 yds before you decide that it is, to all intents and purposes, "impossible". I know, I've tried. And I was shocked at how handicapped I was.

But of course if there is no chance that you could swim to safety anyway, because your swimming is weak, then pretty much your only option if your board goes AWOL is a pfd. So, yet again, matters of safety depend in situations and people, and it is pretty difficult to come up with a "one size fits all" solution. Mostly it is about balancing the risks. In cold water, you can't just bob about forever and wait for someone to come. Even in a wetsuit, the clock starts ticking the minute you hit the water, so if you can, you'd better start moving in the direction you need to go asap. It might be different in the tropics, and in calm water or suchlike.

I also think that sometimes PFDs give a false sense of security. But that's another story altogether, and I'd never suggest someone doesn't wear one if they think it might be helpful.

Two key words expose you:  you "imagine" how I paddle, though you know nothing about me. You "think" you can make it.  Hope you do if the time comes.  But the important thing is that you had the right to choose whether or not to wear a pfd. 

Yes, he probably does. Getting back on your board with a USCG-approved lifejacket is much more difficult. Beginners have trouble with that to begin with. I make my grandkids use them, but I'd NEVER wear one of those on a SUP. They aren't getting out of my sight anyway. I need to be able to swim, at least try to get the board if the leash breaks, and/or make it to shore in cold water rather than just bobbing and waiting. Standard lifejackets and even those designed for minimum interference don't let you swim. Stick one on and try it. It would take you half the day to get from the middle of the Columbia to the beach, if you ever got there.  I broke my leash on a Maliko run a few years back and Headmount caught my board. He was fifty yards from me at most, and my camelbak dragged so much that it took huge effort to swim to him. I tried a number of kayak vests before I bought the Vaikobi--took them out to the event center and tried to swim. Very slow.

Yes, you can swim in whitewater with a PFD. It's more a matter of channeling the energy the river supplies than anything else, and generally, you need to go a few yards perpendicular to flow--and even that is mostly ferrying. Been there, done that, not the same thing.

I would never recommend such a lifejacket to people. Why do you think people took the lifejacket off to swim to shore. The USCG does a completely incompetent job regulating our sport. The only lifejackets they recognize as being useful are those that passively float you, waiting for rescue. Other countries have recognized PFDs intended for everything from passive floating to swimming. If the CG examined my Vaikobi jacket they'd give me a ticket. How stupid is that? I can have a child's PFD tied uselessly to the nose of my board with the requisite USCG tag and I'm legal, but wearing a PFD that actually allows me to get back on the board, or swim to shore rather than going hypothermic, and I'm not. Screw that.

Gooru is a great choice.

I cut mine up a bit and added a gore under the arms. Works better anyway. No padding to rub my delicate skin while paddling.  I'm a total believer in wearing an impact vest while surfing, and it's not for impact. It's to get back to the air a little sooner and not worry all the time that my leash might break. I can swim easily in an impact vest. Loch Eggers, who is an absolute waterman, wears one all the time. He said "anything over three feet and I'm wearing this." I don't know what sparked that, but my guess is that it was pretty horrific. I came across him at Upper Kanaha one day, swimming with a camera. No float, no board, just one fin, an easy mile from shore in wicked current and surf. Happy as a clam. If he's wearing float, I'm wearing float.

If the surf is bigger than three or four feet, and it is warm and sunny,
I wear a triathlon short john.  It is 5mm thick on the front and 3mm on the back -
- so lots of float.  Yup you can swim in it - it is for triathlons!  I think it has as much float
as the impact vest but is less obtrusive.  Although I've never tried on an impact vest.

Before that, I would wear trunks and a 1.5mm wetsuit jacket top but once I was out
in really big surf and I decided it just didn't have enough float.  I didn't want to go with the
restriction of thicker arms - then found the thick triathlon short john would fit the bill -
no paddling restriction of the arms at all with plenty of float.

Now, I'm more comfortable/relaxed in the bigger surf than not having the extra float.
Of course, I'm not surfing Mav's.

Looks like US Lifejacket regulations are changing and the lower levels of float will have use-specific approval. I don't know if Australian level five will equal USCG level five, but we might be able to use CG-approved lifejackets that actually work.

I'm not talking about challenging water for the current stuff, I'm talking about your basic lake. Fall off a board with a full PFD and you'll have a hell of a time getting back on. If you don't have a leash and there's any kind of breeze you probably won't be able to get to it. If you have to swim more than a few hundred yards to self rescue you're gonna have a long afternoon that might not work out well.

Quote from: Area 10 on September 01, 2016, 02:39:25 PM

Seldom, I imagine our SUP conditions are very different. If you read the whole of my post, then you'll see that I was talking about the situation where you have become separated from your board because of eg. leash failure. Leash snaps ate a real possibility in the conditions I go out in.

We might also differ in our definitions of what constitutes "swimming". A couple of days ago I swam about 2.5k in the sea at a respectable cruising pace just to make sure I can. I was OK, but was pretty tired at the end of it. If I had been doing it in typical downwinding conditions it would have been substantially more difficult. But I could probably still make it. But put a typical kayak or sailing pfd on and it would be pretty much impossible unless perhaps you happen to be a professional lifeguard or open-water swimmer.

So, I suggest you try it. Get a pfd on, jump in the sea, and try to swim 1-2 miles. I doubt you'll get further than 500 yds before you decide that it is, to all intents and purposes, "impossible". I know, I've tried. And I was shocked at how handicapped I was.

But of course if there is no chance that you could swim to safety anyway, because your swimming is weak, then pretty much your only option if your board goes AWOL is a pfd. So, yet again, matters of safety depend in situations and people, and it is pretty difficult to come up with a "one size fits all" solution. Mostly it is about balancing the risks. In cold water, you can't just bob about forever and wait for someone to come. Even in a wetsuit, the clock starts ticking the minute you hit the water, so if you can, you'd better start moving in the direction you need to go asap. It might be different in the tropics, and in calm water or suchlike.

I also think that sometimes PFDs give a false sense of security. But that's another story altogether, and I'd never suggest someone doesn't wear one if they think it might be helpful.

Two key words expose you:  you "imagine" how I paddle, though you know nothing about me. You "think" you can make it.  Hope you do if the time comes.  But the important thing is that you had the right to choose whether or not to wear a pfd.

"Expose" me? What do you mean? It seems that I've irritated you in some way - but I'm baffled as to how or why.
I say I "think" I could make it because you can never take anything for granted. I know I can swim the distances I need to normally. But it is likely that if I found myself swimming for my life the circumstances wouldn't be normal.
You are right that I know nothing about you or where you SUP. So it would help me if you could tell me, because after this reply I'm still none the wiser. I'm sure I'll understand your viewpoint if you explain the background to it. It seems from the other replies here that my own views aren't minority ones. But no doubt there are many other viewpoints as well, depending on one's personal experiences.

Yes, I'm lucky that I live in a country that largely lets you make your own mind about which safety approach on the water is best for you.