Review - The Baltic Flyfisher 150N Inflatable Life Jacket

The Baltic Flyfisher 150N

When Saltwater fly fishing it's probably more important to wear a life yacket than in any other type of fishing. Usually, where the fish like to hang out, it's not the best place for a leisurely swim kitted out with 1500 quid's worth of tackle tart appendages festooned all over you. The fishy quarry are quite keen to hang around tide rips, rocky, wave crashed rocks and generally anywhere else that falling in couldn't be more perilous.

The Baltic Fly Fisher 150N Inflatable life jacket is specially designed with the needs of the fly fisherman in mind. Their marketing statement says…

"The Baltic Flyfisher 150N is based upon our Winner model but with modifications to meet the demands of top flyfishermen. Extra short for wading, soft Velcro patch on the cover to fasten your fly's and the gas cylinder is fitted on the left side for hunting. Toggles to fit on to a jacket and whistle, lifting becket and retro reflective patches."

So we decided to find out if it's worth owning one. It arrived in a sealed bag market as the automatic model (The Baltic flyfisher comes as manual and automatic). On initial inspection it is very well made (in Sweden by the way). Having handles some made in the far east recently it was in a whole different league of quality.

After handing it around the office it was time to put it on and this is where the first surprise came. A hand through each side and put it on like a jacket and there you are. Click the Plastic (SW proof) buckle together and you're in - Very quick and easy! To tighten the jacket, just pull on the strap on the right hand side (which is held in place with a plastic tab so it doesn't swing about loose.) It's a lot shorter than usual inflatable jackets and comes very convenienty to the top level of my waders, just above nipple hight. This immediately suggests that kids could use it too as it'll fit them too. Placing it on my 13 and 16 year olds proved this perfectly.

D Loop

You can tell some thought has gone into the design of this life jacket on terms of fishing. All of the internals are on the left hand side keeping everything that could tangle a fly line our of harms way (and even if you are left handed, there's still not a lot to catch your line on) The neck area is lines with soft material so it doesn't chaff the neck and there is even a patch of Velcro on the left hand side for placing flies on (Although you may want to stick some foam on this if you want to carry large SW flies). The Pull cord is Stiff and keeps the priming toggle tucked up and out of the way hleaving it tangle free but easily accessible (even with cold hands). It also has a D ring on the back for a landing net too.

So in terms of fit and design it's very impressive.

Auto Inflate Unit

Now, usually SW fly fishers stay away from automatic life jackets like the plague as a few minutes in the surf usually see it inflating when not required. However, this jacket is sealed with Velcro around the edges so you are going to be able to stand a lot of surf and spray before it accidentally goes off. However, there is still the risk that if you only stumble and land on your knees, this level of immersion will see it going off. Don't worry, the automatic firing device can be removed and once off the jacket acts as a manual only vest. Just pop it on when you need to, take it off when you don't. a nice touch.

Inflated jacket

Next stop… the swimming pool! Now under new PC gone mad rules, we weren't allowed to take pictures in the pool so you'll just have to take my word for the next part. I weigh a fairly hefty 19 Stones, and over 20 in my fishing gear (which they also wouldn't let me wear in the pool! Rules!) So it was going to have it's work cut out in getting me back to the surface before I ran out of breath. The idea was to jump in as if I were unconscious and see how long it took to inflate and get me back to the top. So, like a freefalling whale, in I went! I didn't manage to count to three before my head was well above the water. Drowning in less than three seconds if pretty difficult so this was definitely good news. However, if I'd had expensive SW flies on my patch, they might well have gone walk about when it went off. However, you can buy new flies but not a new life!

So there I was, happily bobbing about in the deep end with my head a good 6" clear of the water and the jacket was quite comfortable. It hadn't tightened up like some jackets can when they go off. We also tested the Stearns Chest pack at the same time and this was definitely the easier of the two to sit there in and just float. This could well be due to the bladder size being a 33g CO2 model offering 15N of buoyancy whereas the Stearns is only 16 gram CO2 model and also where the bladder is attached.

Lift Strap

Whistle

Once you're happily bobbing about, the hidden features come to light. There are several reflective panels on the bladder than reflect even sunlight so you can be located. On the front of the bladder, there is a very handy lifting tab so the very lice fisherman in the passing Coble can drag you out. And as a final touch the bladder has a whistle in a small pocket to attract attention, which when I blew it in the pool lead to some seriously dirty loops from the Lifeguard in charge! Saying that, every kid running around or jumping in the pool did stop dead in their tracks and looked extremely sheepish!

So in Summary, would we be pleased with it if we bought one! A resounding "Absolutely!" Which is why you can find it in the UKSWFF shop!

See you in the Forum
Tight loops.

Carl

Carl Hutchinson is a qualified instructor with the EFFA and FFFUSA and runs saltwater fly fishing Mullet with www.corporateflyfishing.com He is a member of the 55 yard club and current Roxtons International Saltwater Fly Casting Champion and has fished extensively in many saltwater locations and specialises in saltwater fly fishing for Salmon in Canada.