Bear with us because this post is going to be a bit ranty...but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD please don't use a non air vest compatible garment over an air vest!!!!!  

In the last two weeks, we've seen multiple examples of other retailers suggesting in blog posts, emails or social media that you can technically wear any garment over an air vest.  

I mean, CAN YOU? Yes, if you want to be literal. SHOULD YOU? NO!!!

And what's the reasoning they give? That an air vest compatible garment will look nicer. THAT'S NOT THE REASON!!!!!  

While yes, we want you to look as nice as possible, the real reason is that we want you to be safe, and a garment that has been deemed air vest compatible means that it won't impede the inflation of your air vest AS IT WAS DESIGNED TO INFLATE.

We even saw someone saying they tried it under an old wool hunt coat and it "seemed to work fine." 🤦‍♀️PLEASE DON'T.

You might as well throw money out the window if you're not going to use your equipment the way it was designed to be used. This isn't an accessory - IT'S SAFETY EQUIPMENT!

The only real question that people should be remotely entertaining is if their air vest compatible garment that was tested on one type of air vest is compatible with another type of vest. This is the extent of the risk that anyone should even think of taking.  

Will those garments work? Quite possibly, but the air vest companies will tell you that their insurance policies won't cover you in case of a malfunction if it's not garment that they tested.

At the end of the day, if you're buying an air vest, you get to do whatever you want with it. Heck, we even had one kid throw hers in the washing machine. But just know that you are potentially affecting the efficacy of your safety equipment by using non-compatible garments.  

So what should you do if your retailer tells you that you can use your AA Motion Lite or any other hunt coat and "you'll be fine"? RUN THE OTHER WAY. That retailer is either grossly uninformed, doesn't care about your safety, or only wants to make a buck, or some combination of the three.

RANT OVER. (Sorry, not sorry. We care about your head, neck, back, butt and all things in between.)

P.S. You can wear your air vest OVER anything, just not UNDER anything.