70N (7KG or 16lbs) is pretty much industry standard (and 2kg or 4.5lb more than the requirement for certification as a type V vest); which to me raises the questions: How heavy are you, and what on earth do you expect to be doing when you swim.TonyB wrote:Dont Like the Greenvest. Dont think it floats enough and it's got to many doo-dads that arnt really worth it.
I do like the out of the way pockets, need other vests to start doing that.
I'll be honest, I think that hi-float vests are actually a bad idea for anyone other than an inexperienced raft clients on big water trips; they're also very US-centric, I'm yet to meet someone from outside of North America who a) uses one b) thinks they're a good idea; even paddling on truely collosal whitewater.
I'm also highly wary of MTI; they've been making PFD's for 20 years according to them, but the innovations of the past 6 or so years (foam moulded to the *actual* shape of the body, low riding PFD's that put the buoyancy in clever places rather than two or three slabs, and any kind of low profile cut whatsoever) have all passed them by; combined with their overlarge and ungainly range of products, it really doesn't make me think they're a quality marque, so much as a fading star.
Edit: I re-read that and realised that it's a little "robust"; Please don't think of that as an attack on you, so much as a [fairly tactless] request for you to explain your thinking on the subject.
in my experience European paddlers are not better (or know more) than North American 
so have you ever tried swimming in a higher float jacket 
or even considered that not all higher buoyancy jackets are the same, just like all regular ones are different 
not to question your ability, just that post
) and have so far found that the Green vest gets me to the top on problem. I also notticed that the latest generation of green jackets are significantly lighter than the first generation ones.