i wasn't 100 percent sure of this pfd. i was leaning toward an astral green jacket. so i went to my local shop and spent some time checking both of them out and wound up liking the fit of the stohlquist over the astral. it is super comfortable. i had an older astral before this and i hated that the straps would loosen up on it. that is non existent with this pfd. once tightened to where you want it, it stays put. the padded shoulder pads are great as well. all the features are well thought out and it is just an all around nice design. i will say this, stohliquist stuff runs small. if you are usually a large, you will need an extra large and so on. i would recommend this pfd to everyone.