Getting all of the air out of the life jacket bladder is the most time consuming part of repacking. Our testers and staff members developed a variety of methods to try to accomplish this task. So what happens if you don’t get the air out? The bladder simply will not fit back into the pouch on most jackets, so it’s back to the beginning.

The folding of each life jacket bladder is carefully designed for it’s accompanying pack, which means following the directions to a “T” is the only way to ensure the jacket will go back into its pouch correctly.

While each model varied in ease and complexity of packing, the main point all our testers agreed on was this: spend an hour with the user’s manual and read the instructions as if your life depends on it—because it does.