Originally Posted by Fuji Abound
Most of the time life jackets are useless in our climate. You need a life raft and some say better still a dry suite.
I'd concur that a life jacket is
not enough, but would take issue with any suggestion that they are "useless". They could easily be the difference between survival and otherwise, despite you having other safety equipment.
Here's a personal view
I wrote back in the summer regarding prioritisation of SE, which I hope explains my comment above - naturally if you can, you should go for as much of it as is feasible.