Adventure: 057 – Life Jacket
Team: Thing One, Thing Two
Date: July 25, 2012
Location: Florence Lake
As we went across Florence Lake, Thing Two put on her personal flotation device (PFD) or in layman's terms, a life jacket. The device she is wearing comes from a long lines of devices, stretching back as far as 860BC when the King of Assyria had his armies use inflated animal skins to cross water barriers to sack cities. It gradually improved as Norwegian sailors used blocks of wood to keep afloat. Cork was introduced. Finally in 1854 an English captain named Ward who was the royal lifeboat inspector invented what is considered the first modern life jacket, made of cork and worn by lifeboat rescuers. 1928, Peter Markus made the forerunner of the World War II life vest, soon to be called the Mae West for creating a certain resemblance to the actress.
Currently, life jackets are very specialized according to the need. The common recreational jacket is used on small boats. While aircraft have different types. The armed forces uses personal flotation devices resistant to shrapnel.
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