[C320-list] for owners of older Sospenders

[sailorlew at aol.com]

  In 2000 I purchased a manual/automatic Sospenders pfd. Over the years it sat in its original packaging because I never felt that conditions necessitated wearing it. After the boat was hauled in the fall I put it in the trunk of my car & forgot about until last week when I opened the trunk & found it inflated(some snow had gotten on it when I had opened the trunk previously). I figured that at least I knew that it worked, & I would get a re arm kit. Today I called the manufacturer to find out what the correct rearm kit would be & was told that since this model was manufactured before the inflatable pfd's became CG approved they no longer had kits available for them. They reccomended that I "retire this unit & purchase a new one that is CG approved". To purchase a similar unit that includes a harness is about $200 dollars as opposed to about $20 for a rearm kit. This seems a ploy to make customers buy new units since even if it's not CG approved, if you have enough regular pfd's aboard you are still legal, & even a CG approved unit is not legal unless its being worn.
Lew
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