Patent ID: 8128445

Claim:
An apparatus for cold water survival, the apparatus comprising: an elongated belt body comprising a piece of buoyancy-providing material, the belt body sized such that end portions thereof overlap when the belt body is wrapped around a user's waist, the belt body having an inner side which faces the user when the belt body is wrapped around the user's waist and an outer side which faces away from the user when the belt body is wrapped around the user's waist; one or more fasteners for holding the belt body in place around the user's waist; a plurality of flotation devices attached to the outer side of the belt body; a plurality of pockets attached to the outer side of the belt body; a mounting mechanism attached to the outer side of the belt body; and, a telescoping pole held by the mounting mechanism, wherein the telescoping pole is separable into a telescoping part and a non-telescoping part; and wherein the telescoping part has a reduced diameter portion at one end thereof sized to be received in an opening defined in an end of the non-telescoping part, and wherein the reduced diameter portion of the telescoping part defines an L-shaped slot therein and the non-telescoping part comprises a protrusion extending into the opening, the protrusion configured to be received in the slot such that the telescoping part and the non-telescoping part may be secured together by inserting the reduced diameter position into the opening with the protrusion aligned with the slot, then twisting the telescoping part and the non-telescoping part relative to each other.