A campaign where people can swap their old and unsafe life jackets for new ones at a discounted rate will visit Wānaka this Saturday (December 14).

Coastguard’s Old4New Lifejacket Upgrade campaign is stopping in at Wānaka as part of its 74-stop tour to help get more people into safe life jackets.

Coastguard head of operations Rob McCaw said it was very important for people to use right life jackets for the occasion and person.

“Too often we see children in adult life jackets or life jackets that are long past their best,” Coastguard head of operations Rob McCaw said. 

“It’s not going to help them stay alive if they fall into the water unexpectedly.”

At next Saturday’s event - which will take place at the Coastguard Rescue Centre at Eely Point - there will be a range of discounted lifejackets suitable for boating, watersports, kayaking and sailing available in sizes ranging from infants to adults.

The Old4New team will also provide life jacket advice, including fitting and servicing, along with local boating safety tips and information about education courses.

Old4New is one of the Coastguard's leading water safety initiatives and around the country 30,000 life jackets have been replaced since the programme’s inception. 

It visits Wānaka or Hāwea most summers and previous Old4New visits to Wānaka have seen up to 300 life jackets replaced.

Last year Coastguard senior communications advisor Ben Parsons told the Wānaka App there was a real gap in Kiwi’s understanding of how to maintain the safety of a life jacket and what constitutes a fit-for-purpose life jacket.  

A jacket should be replaced if it is more than ten years old, but there are also other steps Kiwis should be taking to check if their life jacket is still fit-for-purpose, Ben said.

Do the following: Pull the straps, hard, and any of them stretch or tear, do not use the life jacket, and replace; look for tears, mould and sun damage in the fabric, and if there are any, do not use the life jacket.

Inflatable life jackets need to be serviced every year. To check it is functioning correctly, blow the mouthpiece to blow it up and leave it overnight. If it deflates overnight, get a new one.

Anyone who is unsure if their life jacket is still up to standard can also get it checked at the Wānaka Old4New session.

Coastguard’s Old4New Wānaka visit will take place at the Coastguard Rescue Centre at Eely Point between 8am and 3pm on Saturday.

PHOTO: Wānaka App