What Makes A Garment Air Vest Compatible?
Let's talk about air vest compatible garments and what makes something air vest compatible. First and most importantly, for a garment to be air vest compatible, it really should have been to an air vest lab and tested with an air vest to deem that it's compatible.
The compatibility usually has to do with the amount of elastane in the fabric, so how stretchyit is, but also the directionality of the stretch. Some companies will say that if the garment has fabric content with at least 15% of elastane, that it's sufficient. But for me, my preference is that it's been to an air vest lab and tested.
Why?
Some people think it's just to make sure that the garment doesn't rip, but frankly, while I don't want your garment to rip, I actually really don't care that much. I know that sounds bad. What I really want is to ensure that the vest is able to inflate the way that it was designed to inflate to protect you.
When you send something to a lab to get tested, they're actually measuring the pressure of the air within the air chambers to make sure that it is able to do its job. So this is not a front porch project where you're putting an air vest on a mannequin, putting a garment on top of it, pulling the cord and seeing if the garment rips. You can't tell if the performance is there doing by that.
This is an actual scientific study that should be done in an air vest lab.
