Lifeguards, rescue divers, aquatic first responders or swimmers find jeans a practical and effective measure against injuries. They are versatile and protect the rescuer from sharp metal and fibreglass when doing rescues from rocky shores, boat accidents and submerged vehicles.

Swimming in Jeans to a Water Rescue

Jeans enable the rescuer to be prepared to swim and respond to an in-water emergency without the added inconvenience and waste of precious time required to "suit-up".

Make sure your jeans fit well and stay put during a rescue, otherwise they become a hindrance. Shrink-to-fit jeans may be the best choice as you can get an optimal fit with good freedom of movement.

Swim Training in Jeans

You can also enhance your swimming training with jeans. Start swimming with a just jeans and a T-shirt to get a feel for it. Then put on a sweatshirt and/or a lifesaving anorak.

You can layer these clothes to fine tune the level of resistance training you need. The British Marines use this method to build up strength and stamina.

Our lifeguard team guards a beach popular with surfers. They know what they do. Incidents are infrequent.

To keep warm and safe from sunburn, our uniform consists of Levi's 501 or the tighter 512 jeans, T-shirts and hoodies. We have a whole stack of them at our base, so we can immediately jump in and rescue someone. Afterwards, we just change into dry kit and carry on with our watch.

To keep us up to speed, we run practice sessions every week. The team set up an incident scenario and some of us do the rescue, dressed just as we are. That is great fun, but challenging. Jeans are the most practical patrol gear, in my opinion.

Jim, Oregon, USA