More than 100 old life jackets handed in to Whanganui coastguard

The pile of old life jackets collected as part of Coastguard NZ's Old4New campaign.

Boaties of Whanganui were able to trade in more than 100 old life jackets for newer and safer alternatives.

Coastguard Wanganui held its Old4New event at its headquarters on Friday, January 4 where old life jackets were traded in and boaties who did so were able to get a discount on a new jacket provided by Hutchwilco.

They were also able to have their current life jackets checked for any issues.

"We traded in over 100 old life jackets," said Coastguard Whanganui president Garry Hawkins.

"This means there are a lot of boaties out there that are just that bit safer with the new life jacket."

Hawkins said there were many "extremely old" jackets as well as a couple of inflatable jackets.

"One of the jackets didn't have the pressurised canister so if someone had tried to use it, it would never of worked," Hawkins said. "Another had the canister so rusty that the rust had pierced the internal bladder [and] once again it would not have saved anyone's life."

He said anyone using an inflatable type jacket should get it checked yearly.

The Old4New van will be back at Wanganui Coastguard headquarters next Thursday from 10am until 12 noon for anyone that missed out on the last session.