My Mom, Mrs. Hill Made Thousands of Life Jackets
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ketzer
Before too much playing in the D hydro, make sure the jacket floats you. When I first started racing in the late 60s, I wore a jacket that Dan Futrell gave me that he used in the 50s. The first time I got thrown out of a boat, I raised my arms to indicate I was okay and proceeded to sink, at which point I was forced to tread water. The filler in that jacket had gone hard, too.
My mom made thousands of life jackets, filled with kapok. Kapok will float you for abour five minutes, then it soaks up water and you'll sink. She tried covering it with plastic, but water soaked in the stiching and would never dry out.
The first Lifeline jackets went to me, Dennis and Dewey Berghauer. I delivered them to Waukegan. Denny, Dewey and me all jumped of Johnson Motors docks and the same time and tried to f;loat face down. Those early Lifeline jackets had about 6 inches of padding/floatation in the front. You could not float on your stomach.