Can I cut the crotch strap off my life jacket? I'm not a great swimmer, but is it needed?

The designer placed it on the suit for practical rather then aesthetic reasons. You probably should use it, especially because it's not a a great fitting jacket.

It's most likely a redundancy feature so that when you flailing around in a particularly turbulent area of water, the life jacket won't flip off over your head.

If you drown wearing the life jacket and the manufacturing company finds out you altered its safety design, don't expect your surviving relatives to make a successful lawsuit against the manufacturer to compensate for your potential Darwin Award winning mistake.

"I'm can't really swim"...

i'd find a better life jacket, or wear that one the proper way.

You really need to take the time to learn to swim. You'll thank yourself for it everyday. It's a lot of fun.

I live in Waterworld and good swimmers drown here by the dozens each year. Not good swimmers die even more often. Good swimmers in life jackets drown an a regular basis.

I'm a good swimmer and I would never consider getting in the water without a life jacket anywhere but the pool. Rivers are especially dangerous.

You only get one life. Don't waste it on "fashion".

Oh---

This boyfriend sounds like a keeper. He obviously loves you enough to want you to be safe. That's great! A life jacket might not seem like a romantic gift but truly it is.

I'll back up the posters but most, boom, who says learn to swim.

I didn't learn to swim for a long time, so I understand. However, you have no business in the water if you are not comfortable swimming. Always wear the life jacket you are told to, even if you can swim. Don't be cute about it.

I guess I'll add, currents don't identify who is most cute.

Yeah. Anyway, noone is a good swimmer when their kayak takes them into a rock in the middle of the whitewater, if that's what we are talking about here.

There is a cute technique for righting a capsized canoe, but without a lifejacket supporting more than your armpits, I don't believe it can be done. Have no idea if the same thing applies to kayaks.

So Boomerang? How long have you been married to Kevin Costner?

stepan nailed it. The strap is there to keep the jacket in proper position so your HEAD stays above water. No head above water, no breath, and death by drowning. No strap and your body can slip any which way in the jacket if you go overboard, and down goes the head. Try sewing some sort of padding on the strap. If you're not a strong swimmer, DO NOT cut it off, don't leave it unfastened. It will look much less silly if you fasten it, and believe me you will look much sillier than you think it does if you drown because you weren't using it properly

Hi all. Thank you for the advice. I used to be able to swim, I was actually a lifeguard. It's due to health reasons I can't swim anymore. I typically just kayak.

He actually just became my fiancee:-) Thanks for the comment! He's big on safety for me and I definitely don't appreciate it enough.

I disagree with the over-cautious answers here.

Not every doo-hickey is necessary, the argument that just because it is there it is critical doesn't make much sense.

Why don't you just test it? Jump into the water with the life-jacket on while someone you trust stands beside you to make sure you don't drown. Then you can see how it works with and without the crotch strap. Make sure you splash around a bit to get a feel of how it would work in a river.

I bet the life jacket keeps your head solidly above water even without the crotch strap (which sounds like more of a fashion statement to me).

... and congratulations on your engagement!

I would error on the side of caution and wear it with the strap, but I do have to say I recently bought a jacket on eBay and didn't know it had the underneath strap until I got it, hence why I googled it and found this. Now I am also trying to decide about it. It does bother me when jackets ride up. Also not sure how tight or loose to make them. Best of luck. I'm in the same situation trying to decide how funny it looks.