Best coastal lifejackets: 8 lifejackets tested suitable for cruising, a ride in a RIB or tender

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We gathered and tested 8 of the best coastal lifejackets for boaters and sailors who sail coastal waters and ride in ribs, tenders and dinghies

Anyone who spends time on coastal waters – whether on a yacht, a RIB, or a tender – a good lifejacket is arguably the most important piece of kit you own. But finding the right one can be a challenge. The best coatstal lifejackets need to be a seamless part of your gear, so comfortable and lightweight that you forget you’re even wearing it, yet capable of performing flawlessly in a crisis.

We believe the only way to truly test this balance is on the water. We’ve put a range of the market’s leading 150-180N inflatable lifejackets through their paces, testing them in real-world scenarios.

Our comprehensive tests of the best lifejackets took into account not just buoyancy and inflation performance, but also practical considerations like comfort, ease of adjustment, re-packing, and the ability to accommodate essential accessories like lights and personal beacons.

Whether you’re looking for the best coastal lifejacket on a budget, a premium PFD, or a lifejacket tailored for women, our verdict cuts through the marketing to give you the honest truth.

Best Coastal Lifejackets 150-180N

Baltic Athena Auto Inflatable Lifejacket

Best women’s specific lifejacket

Specifications: Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 165N | Inflation type: Auto

Reasons to Buy: Cut specifically for women | Comfortable and easy to move around in | Easy to repack and easy to check the firing mechanism
Reasons to Avoid: Bladder can be a bit tight around the neck when inflated

Verdict: The Baltic Athena is a women’s specific designed lifejacket that comes in two versions, a non harness and a harness model.

A sprayhood and light are additional extras that can be specified for the lifejacket.

This is an excellent choice of lifejacket for women who do a host of boating activities. High praise from all who tried this lifejacket in the dry.

Spinlock Deckvest Lite Coastal Inflatable Lifejacket PFD

Best for everyday wear

Specifications: Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 170N | Inflation type: Auto

Reasons to Buy: Smart looking lifejacket with slimline feel | Few details to get caught or snag | Really easy to repack | Fits smaller adult body types | High visibility bladder
Reasons to Avoid: Some dislike over-the-head method of donning | May not suit larger bodies.

Verdict: The Spinlock Deckvest Lite is a smartly styled lifejacket, weighing a smidge under 900grams. It’s a lightweight model and is donned as a closed loop, over the head, rather than the waistcoast style of many other lifejackets in our lifejacket test.

This no frills but stylish lifejacket performs well both off and on the water. It is great for everyday wear and is unobtrusive and easy to forget you’re wearing it.

Seago Seaguard 165N Inflatable Lifejacket

Best budget lifejacket

Specifications:Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 165N | Inflation type: Manual and Automatic available

Reasons to Buy: Excellent value for money | Cross over bladder design works well Room in the casing to add a sprayhood and light
Reasons to Avoid: Several snaggy areas where the straps or toggles could be tucked away better

Verdict: This modest looking Seago Seaguard lifejacket seems quietly unassuming and certainly doesn’t shout ‘look at me’ when compared to a whole load of other lifejackets we had in our group test.

We were very pleased with the performance of this lifejacket. Some would argue that it doesn’t look super stylish, but it doesn’t offend either. Where it excels is as a lifejacket in the water, and that’s where it really counts.

Crewsaver Crewfit+ 180N pro inflatable lifejacket PFD

Best premium coastal lifejacket

Specifications: Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 180N | Inflation type: Auto

Reasons to Buy: Smart looking lifejacket | Fitted with sprayhood and light as standard | Well designed wide bladder | Very comfortable and easy to adjust
Reasons to Avoid: Rearming the firing mechanism is fiddly | If you fly regularly with this lifejacket, the CO2 bottle seal will be an annoyance

Verdict: This is an excellent lifejacket, leading the way with coastal lifejackets that will take you offshore and into the night with its well positioned strobe light and nicely designed sprayhood.

The thoughtful design is apparent throughout, but perhaps was taken one step too far with the CO2 bottle anti-unscrew seal feature making it a poor choice for frequent flyers but an excellent choice for people who worry about their CO2 bottles coming unscrewed.

TeamO Micro lightweight inflatable lifejacket for sport boats

Specifications: Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 170N | Inflation type: Manual and Automatic available

Reasons to Buy: Super skinny lightweight lifejacket – one of the lightest on test at 860grams
Reasons to Avoid: Quite difficult to repack | Very basic with no room for add-ons such as a light or sprayhood

Verdict: The target market for the stylish TeamO Micro is likely to be for those who use RIBs, go day boating and motorboating and for other inshore sheltered water activities.

If you want a coastal lifejacket with the smallest footprint, then this may well fit the bill. If you are looking for the very best coastal lifejacket that you can add to later with additional safety gear, then you might look elsewhere.

Ocean Safety Sport 170 ADV inflatable lifejacket

Specifications: Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 170N | Inflation type: Manual and Automatic available

Reasons to Buy: Well established and trusted brand with service centres readily available everywhere | Crossover bladder design
Reasons to Avoid: Suboptimal positioning of the CO2 canister which can be uncomfortable

Verdict: Whilst there’s no doubt this is a good quality ISO rated lifejacket, it is smart and fits well, adjusts well and functions well in all aspects, however there’s no escaping its shortcomings in respect to the bottle position and the underwhelmingly small sprayhood.

Helly Hansen Sail Safe inflatable lifejacket PFD

Specifications: Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 150N | Inflation type: Auto

Reasons to Buy: Lightweight and easy to stow | No frills design means simple operation
Reasons to Avoid: Adequate in all areas but didn’t excel in any particular area

Verdict: The Helly Hansen Sail Safe lifejacket is a lightweight coastal lifejacket with the ubiquitous HH branding. You get good performance all over but for the (relatively high) price it does feel that you are paying for a name and higher specified lifejackets are available at a lower price.

Waveline inflatable 165N lifejacket

Specifications: Size: Adult (one size) | Buoyancy: 165N | Inflation type: Manual and Automatic available

Reasons to Buy: Very light at just 800g fully armed | Flat profile is comfortable to wear | Velcro closure makes this life jacket really easy to check the arming mechanism and really easy to re-pack
Reasons to Avoid: Not very stylish | Nowhere to stow excess webbing after adjustment

Verdict: The Waveline 165N auto lifejacket is an excellent budget option that works well in the water when inflated and is a no frills option for getting out on the water boating safely. A lightweight and simple lifejacket that is tried and tested the world over.

However, it offers little in the way of bells and whistles and while its simplicity might be a selling point for some, that simplicity is also its biggest drawback.

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