The Safety Equipment You Really Need for Your Boat

In 2023, 2,126 people were injured and 564 people died while boating in the United States. Far and away, the leading contributing factor to those accidents was operator inattention and improper lookout, and the leading cause of death (67 percent) was drowning. If we could get everyone to pay attention while underway, and wear life jackets when operating open vessels under 26 feet, we could cut those death and injury rates in half.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s Boater’s Guide to the Federal Requirements for Recreational Boats pays a lot of attention to the equipment and knowledge required to curtail these tragedies. But after studying the accident statistics and evaluating the equipment requirements over the decades, I don’t think these requirements are working. 

In fairness to the Coast Guard, the Guide does state that federal equipment requirements are minimum requirements and do not guarantee the safety of your vessel or its passengers. Clearly, the word “minimum” and the phrase “do not guarantee safety” severely undersell the risk. To have a real impact on the safety of your boat and crew, it’s best to focus on what really happens during an offshore emergency and create your own standards, and then make sure your requirements cover the U.S. Coast Guard’s.

The Federal Standards

In its most basic form, the federal law requires a couple of ways to keep an overboard person afloat; a couple of ways to signal a rescue asset or vessel; one or more fire extinguishers; and a way to make some noise in low visibility. The flaw in the logic is that the Coast Guard treats these tools as if they address separate risks, as if you get to pick one of the dangers, which you won’t get to do.

Take life jackets as an example. Let’s put aside the fact that you’re merely required to have it aboard. Even if you are wearing the life jacket, what good is 150 newtons of buoyancy if you’ve left the signaling equipment in the storage box under the port settee? Sure, you won’t drown, but if you are offshore and your vessel loses sight of you, it will be difficult for anyone to find you if you can’t signal your location. How difficult? Many people who fall overboard and are lost from sight are never seen again.

This isn’t hyperbole, it’s simply the reality as reflected by the statistics. When a person goes overboard offshore, and the vessel they fell from calls the U.S. Coast Guard for help, there is a 40 percent chance the person will never be seen again, dead or alive. And the majority that are seen again will not be found alive. This means that a lifejacket alone can’t shift the odds in your favor.

Your Standards

You want to combine the requirements of flotation and signaling into a single, properly outfitted PFD and—just as important—set your own standards for when you will wear it. Whether you choose an inflatable or a closed-cell foam life jacket, you should stow, attach or secure the following items—listed in order of importance—to your flotation device:

• A Personal Location Beacon or a combined PLB/AIS device. I know they cost far more than the life jacket, but they cost way less than a funeral.
• A waterproof flashlight. Though it’s not required by law, it should be. Nothing turns a search vessel or aircraft around like a waving flashlight.
• A whistle. If you hear rescuers shouting your name, they are listening. A whistle will be louder than your voice and carry farther.
• A USCG-approved strobe light. No, that little strobe on the PLB does not count. Neither does that wimpy water light.
• A See Rescue Streamer. In my opinion, there is no more effective daytime passive signaling device. 

If you truly want to put things over the top in terms of a safe return to the vessel from the water, attach a marine VHF radio to your PFD. Provided those at the helm are monitoring channel 16 (as required), you may not need to use anything else on this list to get you out of the water. 

I realize that I’ve just drastically increased the total cost of your life jacket. My own personal flotation device is outfitted with all of the above, plus—because I am a complete geek about this type of stuff—a second flashlight, a small signal mirror and a way to start a fire. It cost me just under $1,500. I don’t know what to tell you about that. I’m a guy who used to search for people in the water, so I have no problem spending that money. Maybe get over it?

When To Wear a PFD

In most states, there are legal requirements for when life vests must be worn, but they almost invariably apply to minors at varying ages and different vessel lengths. All these laws are meant to address that 67 percent drowning fatality rate in boating accidents. Rather than relying on regulators to decide when you should protect yourself, I strongly suggest you use your own judgment. 

I’ve long disagreed with my former employer’s advice to always wear your life jacket. But I strongly believe that every boater should set their own standards by considering the risk of falling overboard, the severity of that risk, and then decide when to wear a PFD.

My own list looks like this:

• Whenever topside underway, on a vessel of any kind, alone, or when the rest of the crew is asleep. 
• Whenever topside on a moving boat without waist-high railing when the water temperature is below 70 degrees.
• Whenever on a vessel that calls (or should call) “Pan Pan” for any vessel emergency. 
• Topside, in any weather that would be described as “foul.” 
• In any other situation where someone gets a bad feeling. “Bad feelings” are often the first indication of actual danger and should not be ignored.

In any other situation where someone gets a bad feeling. “Bad feelings” are often the first indication of actual danger and should not be ignored.

Every year, for the past 20 years, we’ve had over 2,500 boating injuries and deaths, and in almost every instance the boat had all the federally required gear aboard. Clearly, as the regulators say, the minimum requirements “do not guarantee the safety of your vessel or its passengers.” So, what can? 

The risk of a mishap in any activity, including boating, can never be fully eliminated. But you can greatly reduce the risks by creating your own set of rules based on the reality of what can go wrong at sea. 

For more on boat safety, read Boating Safety Checklists Are Not for Nerds.

June 2025