How to wear a life jacket properly, step by step

Post · 3 October 2026 · Figures reviewed 6 October 2026

A festival crowd at the water with MM life jackets in use — A festival crowd at the water.

A life jacket only works if it stays on and sits right. Most of what goes wrong in the water, a jacket riding up over the face or slipping off over the head, starts with how it was put on. These are the steps for a foam jacket of the kind MM lists.

Before you put it on

Check the label: the user-weight range must include the person wearing it. See life jacket sizes by weight.
Check it over: no tears, every buckle works, the whistle and light are in place. See how long a life jacket lasts.

Putting it on, step by step

Put it on like a waistcoat, or over the head for a yoke-type jacket such as the MMLJ, with the buoyancy at the front.
Close every buckle and zip. A jacket left half-fastened can twist in the water.
Tighten the belts from the bottom up: snug, but loose enough to take a deep breath.
If the jacket has a leg or crotch strap, fasten it. It stops the jacket riding up.
Tuck or tie off loose strap ends so they cannot snag on a rail or a net.

The lift test

Have someone take the jacket by the shoulders and lift. If it rides up past the chin or ears, tighten the belts, or move down a size. A child’s jacket must not come up over the head.

Jumping in from a height

Jump only if you must, and from as low as you can. SOLAS tests a jacket with a jump from 4.5 m, and training advises going no higher.

Check the water below is clear of people, wreckage and boats.
Hold the jacket down: cross one arm over your chest and grip the jacket, so it cannot be forced up into your chin when you hit the water.
Cover your nose and mouth with the other hand.
Look straight ahead, not down, and step off feet first with your legs together.

A wearer in an MM life jacket on the jump tower above the test pool — From MM’s own film of the 4.5 m jump test.

An NDRF rescue crew in orange MM life jackets on an inflatable boat in floodwater — NDRF rescue and safety drive, Vasai. MM’s photograph and caption.

In the water

Keep the jacket fastened. It is doing the work; save your strength.
Alone, draw your knees up and hold them, with your arms close to your body. This is the heat escape lessening posture (HELP): it shields the chest, armpits and groin, where the body loses heat fastest.
In a group, huddle together, chests close and arms round each other, with smaller people in the middle. A group keeps warmer and is easier to spot.
Blow the whistle in short bursts, and switch on the light if water has not already done it. See life jacket lights.
Do not try to swim a long way. Stay with the boat or wreckage if you can, and wait to be found.