History
The most ancient examples of "primitive life jackets" can be traced back to inflated bladders of animal skins or hollow, sealed gourds, for support when crossing deeper streams and rivers.
Personal flotation devices were not part of the equipment issued to naval sailors up to the early 19th century, for example at the Napoleonic Battle of Trafalgar. Seamen who were press-ganged into naval service might have used such devices to jump ship and swim to freedom. It wasn't until lifesaving services were formed that personal safety of boat crews heading out in pulling boats generally in horrific sea conditions was addressed.
Purpose-designed buoyant safety devices consisting of simple blocks of wood or cork were used by Norwegian seamen. The modern lifejacket is generally credited to one Captain Ward, a Royal National Lifeboat Institution inspector in the United Kingdom, who, in 1854, created a cork vest to be worn by lifeboat crews for both weather protection and buoyancy.
The rigid cork material eventually came to be supplanted by pouches containing watertight cells filled with kapok, a vegetable material. These soft cells were much more flexible and more comfortable to wear compared with devices utilizing hard cork pieces. Kapok buoyancy was used in many navies fighting in the Second World War. Foam eventually supplanted kapok for "inherently buoyant" (vs. inflated and therefore not inherently buoyant) flotation.
The University of Victoria in British Columbia pioneered research and development into the "Floater Coat" (patented UVic Thermo Float PFD), which provides superior protection from cold water immersion (immersion hypothermia) through the incorporation of a neoprene rubber "diaper" that seals the user's upper thigh/groin region from otherwise cold, flushing and debilitating water.
Read more about this topic: Personal Flotation Device
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