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 lifespand of 10 years. This means that now, the same PFDs MUST be 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.
| No Use | Light Use | Medium Use | Heavy Use | Intense Use |
| Unsued and Stored | About 16 hours / month | About 8 hours / week | About 2 hours / day | About 3 / hours day |
| 10 years | 5 Years ish | 3-5 Years | 2-3 Years | 1-2 Years |
Despite all of this guideance, it still does need to pass a regular PPE inspection.
