I've Never Died Before

Wednesday, July 5, 2006
by Ray Scott

Both anglers were wearing personal flotation devices (PFDs). They suffered bumps and bruises, but neither required medical attention. Weyer lost “a bunch of tackle and six or seven rods.”

It could have been worse. Much worse.

Photo: Ray Scott Outdoors PFDs are so streamlined these days that lack of comfort is no longer an excuse for not wearing one on the water.

It would be fair to say that BASS deserves the lion’s share of credit for the use of PFDs today, as well as the installation of kill switches in all boats.

In this day and time, there is absolutely no reason to NOT wear a PFD. The old complaint that life vests aren’t comfortable was completely eliminated when inflatable vests like those made by Mustang Survival (www.mustangsurvival) were developed and refined. (Mustang Survival is the Official PFD of BASS and a sponsor of the ESPN Outdoors Weekend Series).

Self-inflating PFDs are clearly the most effective and most comfortable PFDs on the market. No doubt about it, they will save your life.

But you have to wear them for that to happen.

As a young life insurance salesman, I used to go home at night and be so frustrated because I had just spent 2 hours with a prospect diagnosing his problems relative to his life insurance needs. In most instances, the conclusion was that he desperately needed the life insurance and could well afford it. Yet, the prospect would tell me he “just wasn’t quite ready” to sign up right then.

Here’s a similar scenario: Bob and his buddy are running across the lake on a fishing trip. He has left his life vest in the bottom of the boat or in the storage box —which is legal — despite the fact that he knows he should be wearing his PFD anytime the boat is under power.

Why did the man not buy that life insurance when I showed him that he needed it? Why did the man not wear the life vest when it was in his boat?

Here’s why: it’s because he had never died before. Think about that. If he had gone through the experience of dying, he would realize the importance of taking every precaution to protect his life on this Earth.

I just wish I could provoke people to think about this question: If you knew you were about to die, would you wear your life preserver? Darn right, you would! Anytime you are on the water there is always that chance.

In 1968, there was no requirement to wear a PFD in a tournament – or anytime. You just had to have it in your boat to be legal. No state nor the U. S. Coast Guard requires that you actually wear a PFD while under way.

The reason for that is because of the considerable pressure and influence of the marine industry. Most boat manufactures are against anything that might raise the cost of the boating experience even a nickel. That was the same situation when I first designed and required a kill switch in boats more than 20 years ago.

The president of a major motor manufacturing company (which was a sponsor at the time) called me and tried to talk me out of requiring and promoting the ignition kill switch. He said, “Ray, you know enough about marketing to know that anytime you raise the price on any item, demand is suppressed. We want to make boating as economical as possible. It’s going to be costly to put this device on our boats and motors.” About three months after that call they had ignition kill switches on all their outboards.

The marine industry does not encourage the wearing of PFDs. They sell boats, not PFDs.

I can assure you that the percentage of the public who faithfully wear PFDs today is directly due to the influence of BASS and bass fishermen. I challenge you to open up Field & Stream, Bassmaster or any popular outdoor magazine and show me an ad that features a bass boat running across the lake and the fishermen are NOT wearing a PFD. But try to find one ad for pleasure boats that shows anybody actually wearing a PFD.

I asked the question “why?” to the National Marine Manufacturers Association, which is the lobbying group for all boat makers. I was told by one of the leaders of that organization that the reason was because it would show an image of danger involved in boating. And most pleasure-boat manufactures didn’t want to promote that fact.

The truth is, boating can most certainly be a dangerous experience.

I’m proud to say BASS tournament pros set the example for all bass fishermen. And that is especially true of boating safety. It is not the most glamorous chapter in our history, but it is definitely the most important. You can ask Charlie Weyer and Steve Harrison.