I am needing to buy a life jacket to have on my personal pontoon boat, and want to get something very light and unobtrusive, but yet effective.  What is the difference in a USCG rating of 1 versus 4, and which one is better?

thanks.

Commercial applications require different flotation requirements than recreational.

When I fish the bay, I use a type III jacket.  The one below.

However, fishing offshore and using my commercial permits/licenses, we are required to carry 1 type 4 life suit per person.

The avg PFD's for recreational angling are type I.

Hope this helps

thanks, the one I am looking at is one from BPS that has the auto inflate and is on sale for $99.  It is USCG rate type V, so I am assuming that would be ok keeping in mind that I don't fish out of a boat with a motor, only out of a personal pontoon.

check you states boating laws. some state still  require you to carry a nother PFD when using a auto inflate