9. 9 times out of 10, if I get a phone call from a client saying that their vest didn't work, we usually find that it's been reset incorrectly. Air vests are very easy to reset, but you still have to do it right if you expect your vest to work.
I'm always surprised how many people just wing it, even though written instructions are provided, and we also provide videos of us doing the reset, showing how to do it properly. Sometimes, what we'll find is that people will let other people reset their vest. Maybe it's because the other person is saying, “I know how to do this,” or maybe you've just fallen off and you're a little bit frazzled. So this raises the question, who should you let reset your vest?
First and foremost, if you're letting somebody else reset your vest, make sure that they know how to reset it and that they have actually reset that vest type before, because each one is a little bit different and you don't want them to skip a step.
At the end of the day, you have to take accountability for your own safety, so I always recommend that you make sure to know how to reset your vest and that you're the one that's doing it.
I also have parents that let their children reset their vests. Again, this is a judgment call because even if you have a child-size vest, it's child size for the child to use. But I wouldn't necessarily let the child be the one doing the reset if you want to guarantee that it works. So make sure that whoever is resetting it knows how to reset your particular vest.
