I think at least a few of you may own the FRV Mark II, so I'll post a photo of a minor change I've made in the way I wear mine.
In addition to the automatic inflation if you exceed your time or depth triggers, the vest has two ways to manually inflate. One is to pull that orange ripcord on the left lapel. It may be possible to reach that with your left hand, but its much easier with the right hand.
The other way to manually inflate the vest is to push four times on the remote button at the end of a cord that is normally mounted on a band that fits on your left bicep. It would be impossible to reach that with your left hand. So if your right arm was restrained or incapacitated for some reason, you might not be able to do a manual inflation.
My solution is to remove the remote from the arm band and route it down the middle of my chest, tucking it under the middle cross strap. Its very easy to grab with either hand, and I don't have to get my arm through that bicep band when I donning the vest.
The remote also has a green light that flashes in certain circumstances, but I won't get into that here. The light is at least as easy to see as it was on the arm band.
I sent photos to Terry Maas, and he said that he liked the idea and would try it. However, unless he ends up endorsing it, please don't consider my change to be officially approved by Terry. I'm just offering it as something to consider.
Also, notice that the vest provides an easy way to carry a Storm Whistle so that you can get your buddy's attention and make him come cut your fish out of the kelp.
In addition to the automatic inflation if you exceed your time or depth triggers, the vest has two ways to manually inflate. One is to pull that orange ripcord on the left lapel. It may be possible to reach that with your left hand, but its much easier with the right hand.
The other way to manually inflate the vest is to push four times on the remote button at the end of a cord that is normally mounted on a band that fits on your left bicep. It would be impossible to reach that with your left hand. So if your right arm was restrained or incapacitated for some reason, you might not be able to do a manual inflation.
My solution is to remove the remote from the arm band and route it down the middle of my chest, tucking it under the middle cross strap. Its very easy to grab with either hand, and I don't have to get my arm through that bicep band when I donning the vest.
The remote also has a green light that flashes in certain circumstances, but I won't get into that here. The light is at least as easy to see as it was on the arm band.
I sent photos to Terry Maas, and he said that he liked the idea and would try it. However, unless he ends up endorsing it, please don't consider my change to be officially approved by Terry. I'm just offering it as something to consider.
Also, notice that the vest provides an easy way to carry a Storm Whistle so that you can get your buddy's attention and make him come cut your fish out of the kelp.
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