12 Days of Christmas Gifts: Day Eight [Iron Mike's Marathon Swims » Iron Mike's Marathon Swims --]

Iron Mike here presents to you twelve days of gift ideas for the marathon swimmer in your life. Check back daily!

Day eight: Thursday, 21 December. Rescue/safety buoys.

I advise all open water swimmers to use a safety buoy when they’re swimming, especially if they’re swimming alone. Your visibility is important. There are too many drunk boaters and crazy jetskiers out there trying their hardest to run you over. Along with your terribly bright swim cap, you should tow along a buoy.

My favorite is the ISHOF SaferSwimmer. Large enough for a towel, cell phone, car keys, flip-flops. Very large and orange for those drunk boaters! Simply put your items in it, roll the top flap over 2 or 3 times and clip the plastic brackets. Then you blow up the air pocket and you’re ready. I’ve even thrown my Garmin GPS watch in there and it has correctly tracked my swim throughout.

There are other buoys out there, but this is the only one I’ve used. No matter which one you choose, make sure you wear it while swimming in open water!