R651-201-3. Good and Serviceable Condition

(1) "Good and Serviceable condition" means any required equipment must be in proper operating condition; and

(a) Required labels and markings shall be intact and legible;

(b) Required equipment shall not be stored inside original packaging; and

(c) A PFD is considered to be in serviceable condition only if the following conditions are met:

(i) No PFD may exhibit deterioration that could diminish the performance of the PFD, including metal or plastic hardware used to secure the PFD on the wearer that is broken, deformed, or weakened by corrosion; webbings or straps used to secure the PFD on the wearer that are ripped, torn or which have become separated from an attachment point on the PFD; or any other rotted or deteriorated structural component that fails when tugged.

(ii) In addition to meeting the requirements of paragraph (i) of this section, no inherently buoyant PFD, including the inherently buoyant components of a hybrid inflatable PFD, may exhibit rips, tears, or open seams in fabric or coatings, that are large enough to allow the loss of buoyant material; buoyant material that has become hardened, non-resilient, permanently compressed, waterlogged, oil-soaked, or which show evidence of fungus or mildew; or loss of buoyant material or buoyant material that is not securely held in position.

(iii) In addition to meeting the requirements of paragraph (i) of this section, an inflatable PFD, including the inflatable components of a hybrid inflatable PFD, must be equipped with a properly armed inflation mechanism, complete with a full inflation medium cartridge and all status indicators showing that the inflation mechanism is properly armed, except as provided in paragraph (iv) of this section; inflatable chambers that are all capable of holding air; oral inflation tubes that are not blocked, detached or broken; a manual inflation lanyard or lever that is not inaccessible, broken or missing; and, inflator status indicators that are not broken or otherwise non-functional.

(iv) The inflation system of an inflatable PFD need not be armed when the PFD is worn inflated and otherwise meets the requirements of paragraphs (i) and (iii) of this section.