These days, modern personal flotation gadgets, like Stearns protective vests, are a pretty ubiquitous sight at any water setting. Though in principle they appear straightforward – buoyant materials sewn into vests to keep the person afloat in the water – there is a lot of technology at work, including very especially produced textiles designed around our understanding of human anatomy and how it functions under the stress of any scenario where Stearns life vests might be needed. And this is an essential part of protective equipment.
Keeping a person afloat, whether unconscious or awake, in the right position, and also warm while floating in the ocean is not as simple as sewing a couple foam pads onto a shirt. Even so, floatation devices weren’t always so well designed as Stearns life vests – specifically the first recorded uses of personal floatation devices some thousands of years ago.
The internal organs of animals were often used to achieve floatation. Quite often the hollow organs, just like stomachs or bladders, were inflated with air to make large buoyant sacks. Since animal products were used for virtually everything around this time – from clothing made of furs to weapons using the dried out sinews – using internal organs for floatation is not a far stretch. Organs could be dried and cured, much the same as other parts of the animal were used for other applications, and once inflated made for a amazingly durable, and efficient floatation device.
Because most of the world’s navies were historically comprised of draftees and normal citizens press ganged into service, personal flotation devices were not standard issue until the early 19th century. Many seamen were compelled to find their own alternatives should the worst come to worst. Norwegian sailors made some of the first purpose-built floatation devices by basically tying together several specially cut sections of cork, or other extremely buoyant types of wood. Gradually, the technology began to catch up to devices such as Stearns life vests, beginning around halfway through the 19th century.
The predecessor to Stearns life vests, the first particularly designed life jacket, is widely thought to have been developed by a Captain working with life boats for the United Kingdom in 1854. It was basically a vest with pieces of cork sewn into the fabric to keep men afloat. The first inflatable life vest was created in 1928 by Peter Markus, and was to become well-known under the nickname “Mae West” – so called because when inflated, gave the wearer the busty physical appearance for which the vaudeville actress was popular.
The Mae West was later standard issue for both British and American troops serving in the United States or Royal navies, the US Marine Corps, or actually any water-borne troops. The American, Canadian, and British soldiers who made the popular and iconic landings on the beaches of Normandy in June of 1944 can be seen wearing Mae Wests in many old news reels.
