Blog posts of '2026' 'September'

At Up and Under (Outdoor Gear) Ltd, we are very proud to be the number one supplier for Outdoor Education Centres, Schools, Scout Groups and many other organisations for the supply of watersports PPE (PPE - Personal Protective Equipment). We also supply a wide range of PPE gear for other sports such as Climbing. In addition to that, we also offer a comprehensive range of work at height and professional rescue PPE.

Over the last yearm we have see a major increase in customers asking "How long should buoyancy aid last". The answer to this question is not that simple. But, we are hoping by reading the info below it wll give you more help and guidnace. 

If you have a question, please do get in touch!  

With an increasing array of equipment becoming PPE in the Climbing, Rope Access and Rope Rescue Market, questions are getting harder to answer. This is not always made easy as it gets more complicated as rules, guide lines and different manufactures give different shelf lifes and life spans. 

Having such a strong relationshop, with Palm Equipment as they make our Up and Under Centre Cordura Universal PFD for us. We considereded them to be the number one choice with whom to discuss this matter for the first round.  

So, in mid September this year (2026). James our Contract and Watersports Sales Manager took a trip to Palm HQ in Clevedon to meet up with Craig Jones. Craig is the Professional Sales Manager who deals with all things PPE. The converation started over a cup of tea and biscuits. 

So, what is PPE - This will heavily depend on what area of sport you are in. But in simple terms, PPE is Personal Protective Equipment. PPE is equipment that is issued by an actvity provider to keep the user safe. 

What is classed as watersports equipment PPE? This would be equipmet that is issued by the activity provider to maintain the safety of the user. In watersports there are only two items classed as PPE and they are PFD's / Buoyancy Aid and a helmets. 

So whether your running an outdoor centre issung a PFD or a Helmet. It falls as PPE. If you are a professional user such as a resuce team, again your PFD classes as PPE.

When a PFD or a watersports helmet is made, they all come with a manufacture date which is clearly displayed internally within the product. Typically with Palm Equipment, they will use a very simple system which is referred two as quarters. This is then followed by the year, So as per image this is manufactured in Quarter 2 in 2026. Quarter 2 relates to 1st April through to 30th June. The year is self explanatroy. 

Palm then recommned that their PFDs and Helmets can have a three year shelf life, and up to a maximum of 10 years in use. This runs from the date of purchase by the customer. However, if the customer cant prove their purhase, the default is to use the manufacture date as the base line. 

But, please note that whilst they say up to 10 years lifespan, this is not a guanretee to say that the item of PPE will last for 10- years. It is very importanat, that when buying an item of PPE, it is recodred. This can be easily done by keeping your sales receipt to show the purchase date. You also need to factor, when the PFD was first put into use.

There are still a few further bits of the equation to populate, the main one here is "how often is the garment used"

There are also situations and situations where a PFD pr helmet life span can change. Things like this may occur as more and more testing is carred out. It can also be down to changes of fabric and technology. So in this case the expected lifespan of an item. In this case, the PFD can then increase or reduce lifespan by the new professional guidance that is being given. 

Example One

1st March 2020 - Palm Equipment issue a technical update stating all PFDs have a 5 year lifespan.

1st April 2020 - An Outdoor Centre invests in 10 new Center Zip PFDs. They get put into active use straight away. So, this means that by 31st Martch 2025, that Centre PFD MUST be removed from service.

1st May 2020 - Palm Equipment issue a technical update to state that PFDs can have a lifespan of 10 years. This means that now, the same PFDs MUST be now removed from service by 31st March 2030.

However just due to the life span, it does not mean it can or should stay in service for that long. 

The amount of usegae that a PFD or helmet is subjected to, will determine its active life span. But as a guideline, the more its used, the shorter the lifespan. 

If an Outdoor Centre only used that PFD for one 2-4 hour session of kayaking once, a week. The estiamted life span would be about 5 years. Subject to regular PPE inspections. If it was used for two sessions per weeek, that would eqaute to about 3-5 year life span. If the centre then decided to offer a paddle boarding session for 2 hours per day the estaimated life would drop to 2-3 years. Whilst for daily sessions of 3 horus plus, you would be dropping to about 1-2 years life span.

Despite all of this guideance, it still does need to pass a regular PPE inspection. We have given someexamples of PPE inspections below. 

When it comes to a PPE Inspection for a PFD, there are three types of inspection. Every Use, Occasional and Yearly. The below is a great guide to help you on your way

Every Use PPE Check, this is a 15/20 second process that you do each time you fit a client with a PFD. 

Occasional PPE Inspecition, this is something that wont be done on every use. But it can be done on a regular period basis. This is maybe an activity that you do at the end of each week. 

Yearly PPE Check, this would be typically done maybe once a year. Possibly as part of your annual equipment ordit. 

Example Two

An Outdoor Centre is getting a coasteering group ready to go out on session. As the instructor issues out the PFDs, he would visually give each client a PFD and a quick once over the check the PFD is fitted correctly. He finds one PFD with a broken buckle. This would then need to be removed from service, it would be handed back into stores for isolation.  At this point, you coudl then action all the above points, check the life spans. You could then do a float test. Based on all the points above being positive and thefloat test being passed. With this assesment, you can then see if its possible / financilly viable to get the broken buckle replaced. 

For a PFD / buoyancy aid to be legally sold here in the UK, it needs to meet the strict guidleines of ISO 12402-05 (50Newton Standard). Selected PFDs and Buoyancy Aids will also carry a rating of ISO 12402-6 which defines a special purpose standard.

Whilst the standard is know as the 50N option, not every PFD has to meet the 50N. On the smaller sizes its nearly impossible to get that much foam onto the torso. 

As a guideline, the basic requirements are below 

 One of the biggest questions we get is, I weight XXkg and the PFD is my size does not cover my weight.  The most important factor is, The fit of the PFD need to be the correct size on the torso. 

Palm Equipment make the majority of their PFDs to meet and exceed the ISO regultions. 

So, please see the same table from above now duplicated with Palm sizes and Palm floatation levels added.

Palm recommned that a PFD / buoyancy aid is tested every year, from the point of being three years old. 

Having now gained personal experience from testing a PFD, it is infact a very easy process. However you do need to make sure it is carried out in the correct way to get an accuarte reult. 

We tested a PFD in two dfferent ways. 

Firsly, we opted for the simple but effective way with equipment that most people will have readily available. We then did a second test, this time using a set of calibrated scales. This time the result was fractionally more accurate, but both resuts were in the acceptable range.  

As a guideline, Palm suggest and recommned that the guideline for PFD failure is outside of the 10% tolerence of their given weight. so for an XL/XXL pfd from the table above, as long as it exceeds 72n that is acceptable. If it came in at 69n that would potentially be a failure. 

How to test a PFD / Buoyacy Aid.