Staying Afloat

PAIGE'S MISCHIEF : LIFE JACKET VIDEO
Chapter One, Part Two

Swimming back to the ladder Paige had really found herself coming to trust and accept the Life Jacket. In the water its, almost swaddling, embrace had quickly gone from uncomfortable and awkward to safe and comforting. Standing on the dock now, dripping water, she was surprisingly hesitant to remove it, it was warm, and despite no longer supporting her in the water the comfort of having it on had not dissipated.

'Pull yourself together' Page thought somewhat embarrassed at how much she had enjoyed wearing it.

Tim was talking to the camera, holding the next jacket, Paige's eyes drifted down to it and widened slightly. This one was Orange, and it was much bulkier.

"this is the Navigare Comfort, it's a bit more expensive but is a remarkably comfortable jacket for its size. Like the Little Legends it has lots of flotation in the front, a collar to support the head, and a pair of crotch straps to keep it from riding up. However this is available in larger sizes for Youths through Adults"

As Tim started to walk toward her Paige suddenly realised she was still wearing the Little Legends and quickly started to remove it. Unclipping the waist and crotch straps, unzipping it and dropping it off her shoulders as she has the PFD. She immediately missed it, standing on the dock without a jacket on made her feel exposed. But Tim was already approaching with the new Navigare Comfort. This time Paige was quick to turn her back to Tim, putting her arms out and back so he could easily slip it over her.

"Hold on a minute Paige, I need you to step into these straps first."

"Huh" Paige turned slightly looking over her shoulder to see Tim was holding the jacket low with the two crotch straps already done up, hanging like loops from the jacket. Lifting her right foot Paige carefully stepped into the first one, then repeated the process with her left foot stepping into the other loop. She left her arms at her sides and allowed Tim to guide the jacket's arm holes over them. A moment later Paige felt the jacket come to rest over her shoulders. She could immediately feel the extra bulk of this life jacket. She turned to face Tim so he could strap her in.

Like the Little Legends the Navigare Comfort had a zipper and single chest clip. Tim first pulled the zipper up. Sealing Paige into the bulky foam cocoon. As he clipped the chest belt and pulled it tight. She felt the whole life jacket tighten around her, the foam squishing in tight to conform to her body. The jacket was like laying on top of a duvet, but all around her, and with more pressure. Tim took a moment to tie the string at the top of the jacket, holding the top panels together just a bit more firmly before kneeling down to secure the crotch straps. He took the loose end of a strap in each hand and pulled them tight at the same time, snuggling them down securely. Like with the Little Legends the straps between her legs made the jacket feel much more secure, it was impossible to slide out of the jacket with those straps done up. Paige twisted in the jacket comfortably as Tim rambled on about a sale on Life Jackets. She was pretty sure he had just made that sale up.

"Ok water test?"

"Yup" Kyle was rushing over with his tripod. It took him just a moment to get it set up again.

Kyle gave them a thumbs up and Tim gave Paige a real shove this time, sending her off and into the water.

Paige hit the water head first and upside down. She got a mouthful of water and some up her nose. She kicked around somewhat aimlessly for a moment before relaxing and letting the jacket work. It had her on the surface the same moment, supporting her on her back at a 45 degree angle with her arms and legs hanging down below her. The extra bulk and dual crotch straps made this lifejacket far more envolping than the Little Legends. Paige felt like she was truly wrapped up in it, the foam was very soft and conformed to her body shape. The two straps between her legs dispelled thoughts of sliding out, keeping her firmly sung inside the jacket. The significant bulk of the jacket made movement harder encouraging her to just relax and let the jacket hold her in the water. Paige twisted and squirmed slowly, enjoying the lifejacket immensely. She reached down with her leg to feel for the ground under her but the water of the marina was of course far too deep to touch the bottom. Feeling nothing below her made the sensation of being held and protected by the jacket even more visceral. The jacket kept her from sinking down into the deep water beneath her, and the straps between her legs kept her from sliding out of the jacket.

"Paige? We're good. You can climb back up now."

'Shit, how many times did he just call me?' Paige had been so distracted she had no idea. But Tim was grinning at her lightheartedly.

Loathing to take off the jacket Paige took her time swimming back over the ladder. She let her arms hang limp and frog kicked her legs to slowly push herself back.

Standing on the dock again it was with great reluctance that Paige removed the Navigare Comfort. She was again struck by a naked and exposed feeling without it. Her immediate attention tho was wondering what Tim had for her next.

"Now the Little Legends and the Navigare Comfort are just two of the life jackets we have available here and both are really great for keeping you safe. But a lot of folks want something less cumbersome to wear. That's where this comes in."

Tim held up a suspender style inflatable vest. It consisted of a thick black fabric tube, which rested around the neck and hung down over the torso, it had a strap that went around the waist, and one that went from the waist strap up to the back of the neck. Paige couldn't help being a little disappointed. It looked far less bulky even Little Legends, let alone the Navigare Comfort.

Tim approached her and held one side of the vest open. Paige passed her right arm though the large gap and looked over her left shoulder to get her other arm though. Tim let it hang loosely on her for a moment.

"These jackets are so low impact that many people say they forget they even have them on. But if you end up in the water they will automatically inflate and keep you safe."

Tim connected the front of her vest together, the connection was rather different than a standard buckle, it was two metal tongues, a small one that passed through a larger. He then pulled an adjustment strap on each side of the best around her waist; tightening the waist belt up so it was very snug.

'This one might actually be ok' Paige thought, though she secretly lamented that the between the legs strap was missing.

"One of the really nice features of this model, the Spinlock Deckvest 5D, is it's designed to keep off the back of your neck". Tim turned Paige around by the shoulders and pulled an adjustment on the back of the vest. She felt the part of the jacket behind her neck pull away to curve over her shoulders. It was actually very comfortable. She went to turn around to face the camera again but Tim stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Like the other premium life jackets we offer here the Deckvest 5D also comes equipped with crotch straps"

'Wha?' Paige looked down at the jacket, she couldn't see a buckle, was it a different model?

Paige felt a slight tug at the back of the jacket and suddenly Tim was reaching though her legs, Paige tried to spread her thighs to create some space. Tim spun her around by the shoulder again but it was a little awkward as he still had the loose end of the crotch straps in hand and had to move with her a little as she turned around.

"The crotch straps clip in just beneath the vest here"

Paige couldn't see the buckles but they were definitely there. As he had before Tim pulled the slack through the buckles and tightened the straps up until they were good and snug. Paige shifted a little. This was very different than the other jackets. It was tight, she could feel the straps around her and that was something even without the bulk the foam life jackets had offered. But it didn't restrict her movement at all. There was no bulk to it. She wondered what it would feel like when inflated but had a hard time imagining it would match the cozy feeling of the others.

Kyle was getting the camera set up by the edge of the dock again. He made an indication that he was all ready to go.

"Ok jump on in Paige"

Genuinely curious about what would happen Paige stepped off the dock into empty space. As she hit the water and plunged beneath the surface she wondered for a brief moment if the inflatable mechanism had failed. She was sinking and the thin device strapped around her was doing nothing to stop her descent. Then all of a sudden it did. One moment she was free and loose, with only the straps and thin fabric tube wrapped tightly around her. The next there was a great disturbance of water and bubbles that shocked and disoriented her. Years ago Paige had been in a major car crash, everyone was fine but she had been stuck wearing a neck brace for several weeks, With the jacket inflated she felt like she was back in that brace. The inflated jacket was far tighter and more restrictive than the foam jackets had been. She couldn't move her neck. The straps seemed to have tightened around her. The large sack of air pulled her aggressively upward toward the surface. She felt like it was dragging her along with it. It was tightly secured around her neck but the straps tight around her waist and between her legs made it feel like it had an excellent hold on her torso in general.

Paige broke the surface and found herself on her back looking up at the sky. Looking around to get her bearings was difficult as the tightly inflated jacket did not allow her to move her head. She had to rotate her whole body to look around. A task made more difficult by the act of dragging the large inflated jacket through the water. After locating the dock Paige gave up for a moment, flopping back into the jacket and just letting it hold her in water, gazing up at the sky.

Laying back in the water with the jacket holding her neck in a vice and the straps tight around her torso and between her legs Paige was practically in a daze. She instinctively wanted to pull away from the straps that ran between her legs. Of course the jacket was secured around her so her unconscious attempts to move away resulted only in a slow, twisting, backward motion.

"Ok there Paige, we're all done". The words brought a serious surge of disappointment to Paige. Fighting the jacket to get into a more vertical position where she could see Tim and Kyle on the dock. Kyle was folding up his tripod and Tim was collecting all the jackets off the ground. Rotating herself in the water Paige turned to look at the shop where they were headed, it was about 300m away down the shore but also sat right on the water. Paige really didn't want to be finished with the jacket.

"It's really nice in here"Tim didn't seem to be listening. "Hey Tim!"

He turned and looked.

"What?"

She was committed now.

"ahh- "

Tim walked over to the water's edge, Paige fought the jacket to face him more directly.

"The water is really nice. I'm going to swim over. If that's ok. And meet you over there."

Tim just shrugged "Sure, want me to take the jacket though?"

"No-" Paige was unprepared for the question. She wasn't sure how to follow it up. "It's ok. It's comfy. I'll just swim over."

Tim grinned and chuckled. "Ok Paige sure thing, see you over there" Paige was pink with embarrassment, but did not have an ounce of regret. The Shop was not only a good swim away but it was free of the wave break, there was a good brease today and waves were breaking on the shore.

Tim had turned and followed Kyle down the boardwalk.

Paige immediately discovered that swimming in the bulky inflated vest was easier said than done. She attempted to rollover swim on her stomach twice, with the jacket getting in the way and eventually flipping her back over each time. Even while on her stomach the jacket restricted her movement too much, she couldn't reach forward for an effective stroke. Giving up Paige let the jacket flip her over onto her back for the third time. She began to do a flutter kick but quickly switched to a frog kick. Her arms would have helped a bit but she opted to hold onto the front of her jacket instead. Something about the added bulk over her chest made her want to hang onto the jacket. Despite her squirming and twisting about, the straps around her torso and between her legs had not loosened at all.

The experience of this lifejacket was very different from the others. Where the little legends and the Navigare Comfort had felt like they were wrapped all around her torso the Inflatable was different. Around her neck it was like a brace, but her toso was just held to it by the straps wrapped around her. they were very tight and held her securely but somehow left her limbs feeling loose and exposed. The contrast was a very weird sensation and she found herself enjoying it immensely.

As Paige slowly made her way out past the break water the waves began to toss her about. As each wave reached her the jacket pulled her up sharply, only to let her drop back down into the trenches between them. Paige found herself twisting and squirming against the straps wrapped around her body. Around her neck the jacket was too tight to feel like squirming was possible but she somehow couldn't reset wriggling around a bit, trying.

In order to check her progress Paige had to stop swimming and twist her body around to face her direction of travel, a process she found herself doing more than often she necessarily needed to. Rather than actively maneuvering back onto her back after checking her position she just went limp, allowing the jacket and the waves to pull her about for a moment before somewhat halfheartedly continuing on her way.

The waves made an even bigger impact on the experience than she had thought they would. Each time a wave pulled her up and dropped her down Paige couldn't resist the urge to squirm. Several times a wave would be a bit larger or come a bit sooner than expected, taking her off guard and sending her into a limp daze.

As Paige approached the shop she managed to pull herself together, though with Tim and Kyle both inside she was more than tempted to remain in the water a little longer. Despite this she managed to get to her feet on the shore, it was still a short walk up to the shop. Page unclipped the crotch straps and started fumbling with the waist belt, but the jacket was surprisingly hard to remove, she wasn't one hundred percent sure how the waist belt went on in the first place and she couldn't see anything that she was doing with the vest in the way. Deciding she was actually going to need help with it Paige hesitated a moment on the shore before deciding that she might as well do the straps between her legs back up, glancing at the shop windows she saw no sign of Tim of Kyle. It was easy to get a hold of the straps hanging behind her, and she managed an awkward hand off to pass the straps between her legs relatively quickly. However finding the buckles to connect the straps to was another matter. She eventually managed it, holding the loose ends in one hand and running her other hand along the base of the jacket to find the buckles. With the straps both snapped into place Paige gave one last look out at the water and the waves before trudging up the shore to the shop. The sun was warm still and the ground was soft with grass and sand. The three jackets she had worn early were laying on the boardwalk drying in the sun beside the door.

As Paige entered the shop she saw Tim and Kyle were hanging out just inside goofing around. Tim looked over as she entered and raised an eyebrow.

"Nice getup" He laughed.

"Thanks, can you give me a hand please?"

Tim laughed as he walked over. Grabbing a red tube on the side of the jacket he opened a valve and released the air from the jacket. As the jacket finally deflated and fell away from her Paige's eye's moved over to the shelves of the store. She had never given them more than a glance before but now she found herself staring at the wall of Lifejackets and PFD's. There had to be a dozen different models. There were several orange ones similar to the Helly Hansen Navigare, at least three different inflatable models, a bunch of childrens and teen versions. She wondered how she had never noticed them before. With the jacket fully deflated Tim went ahead and unclipped the crotch straps and waist belt, holding the jacket and Paige slipped out of it.

"Well how did you like all the jackets?"

Paige was caught off guard again, not wanting to seem overly enthusiastic, but also recognising that she had just asked to swim over wearing an inflatable for no apparent reason. She saw no reason to outright lie.

"I like them actually. They are really comfy, -- kinda cozy"

Tim just smiled, "well maybe we'll have to do some more reviews for the channel if this video does well."

"What made you choose those four?" Paige wasn't sure why she wanted to keep this conversation going but something made her dig a bit more.

Tim seemed to gain a bit of enthusiasm. "These are some of the most popular models in europe, especially the Helly Hansen, no idea why they are taking so long to catch on here. The inflatables do well but they are a pain to test and rearm every year if you ask me."

"Do you have a favorite?" She felt like she was way out on a limb but also like there was something to reach for.

"Depends what you're looking for! Safety? Comfort? Good looks? For comfort the inflatables are pretty hard to beat, though foam jackets with kapok instead of closed cell foam are also pretty darn nice. For safety for someone your size the best is probably this guy over here." Tim was walking over to the wall of jackets. To a bright yellow one that looked too small to
Paige for someone 'her size'.
"This, is the Crewsaver Supersafe"