Would you rather be wet or dead?

Two men were fishing on Lake Erie when they tangled floating debris around their propeller. The waves were 2- to 3-footers, but the water was warm. One angler in the small boat decided that if they were going to get to shore safely, they needed the motor to function. Wearing a personal flotation device (PFD) or life jacket, he jumped into the water to work on the motor. Before he could correct the situation, he floated away from the boat and was unable to get back. First the boat was rescued and then, four hours later, another fishing boat picked up the "motor repairman," bobbing in the waves. He was wet.

A canoeist floated down the Allegheny River here in Venango County. He saw a likely looking fishing spot and lowered an anchor over the side. He was not wearing a life jacket. The anchor caught bottom, the line came taut, and the current caused the canoe to roll out from under the fisherman. Six months later, the Fish and Boat Commission investigating officer got a call from the Allegheny County coroner. A body was being thawed from a block of river ice and it was that of the fisherman. He is dead.

Would you rather be wet or dead?

Statistically, the difference between being wet or ending up dead while doing any kind of boating is whether or not the person involved wears a life jacket. It's just that simple.

Before you start bellyaching that life jackets are too clumsy, hot or just get in the way, let me say: "Get over it." Today there is a vast array of designs, colors and special purpose flotation devices that meet the legal requirement of U.S. Coast Guard approval. These devices are tested to insure they will work when needed. Always be sure the one you're considering buying displays USCG approval information.

To find what you are looking for - especially if you want to try them for fit, style and comfort - you may need to go to a boating specialty store. You'll spend $10 and $100, depending on what you need, but if properly cared for a life jacket can last for decades. In Pennsylvania, if you are cited without a PFD for each person in your boat, the fine is $50, plus $20 for every one you are short, plus $20 court costs. Being one flotation device short will cost $90. You could have bought a dandy life jacket with that money.

Anyone who has been boating for any length of time and has become proficient at his or her sport wouldn't be seen dead (pun intended) without a life jacket on when on the water. Professionals that work on the water wear PFDs, as well. Only inexperienced or foolish boaters would be on the water and not wear their life jackets.

To meet legal requirements and work correctly, life jackets must be fully functional, free of tears or defects in the material. All buckles, straps, zippers, and other closures must work. PFDs must be stowed within easy reach and cannot be in a plastic bag or original wrapping. They must be of the appropriate size (on label) and should be set up and adjusted for a particular person. They really should be worn.

All boats, even inflatables or Tom and Huck's raft, must have personal flotation devices for each person on board. All boats over 20 feet, except canoes and kayaks, are required to additionally carry one Type 4 throwable flotation device.

So who is required by law to wear life jackets and when? Anyone being towed behind a boat for any reason, from waterskiing to tubing, must wear a life jacket, as well as sailboarders and personal watercraft riders. Children under 12 years old in a canoe, kayak or on any boat of any kind less than 20 feet long (length is listed on registration card) must wear a PFD that is sized and adjusted to them. On lakes operated by the Pittsburgh District of the Army Corps of Engineers, anyone on a boat of any kind under 16 feet long must wear a PFD at all times.

The personal flotation device (PFD, life jacket, life preserver) law isn't new. It has been on the books since the 1970s. All 50 states have basically the same requirements. I know you think a boating accident can never happen to you, but if it does ... do you want to end up wet or dead?