cedmonston

Yes, the label will say whether or not it has to be worn to count for carriage requirements. It will look something like this... Notice this is for a type 3 jacket, and there's nothing that says it has to be worn to count towards requirements.

At one point in time only manually inflated jackets were approved, as a type 3. Then automatically inflated jackets were approved as a type 5-the reason being that it was felt that automatics, having more intricate inflation mechanisms, were more complicated and therefore should be worn to be legal. (and yes, automatics can also be manually inflated, before it hits the water.) That would have been an easy rule to remember-manuals are type 3, autos are type 5 and have to be worn. but then type 2 autos came along, and new jacket designs came along, and then the rule just kind of went away. Now you have no real way of knowing what a jacket is unless you look at the label.

The important thing isn't what style of jacket it is, but what the type is. If it is a type 1,2 or 3 it doesn't have to be worn to be legal. Only type 5 jackets need to be worn to be legal. This is the same for inflatable or foam vests. The best thing to do is look at the label of the jacket--it will tell you what type it is, and whether it needs to be worn for it to count. Some inflatable jackets look just like another--but one could be a type 2, and the other a type 5. You just can't tell by looking at them in many instances. Many state boating officers aren't fully aware of the laws--but you always have what the law is on the life jacket label...