TeamO team ethos

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TeamO team ethos

We're sailors who started a lifejacket business. From the initial spark of an idea about how we could improve lifejacket safety back in 2011, TeamO has grown in to a small but dedicated team who work from our HQ in Southampton. Today we're profiling the people behind the scenes to show you who makes your lifejacket and how we are bringing manufacturing back to the South coast.

 

TeamO Marine Founder Oscar Mead working in the UK lifejacket factory carrying out quality control checks on new lifejackets

Each day we come in and make the best quality lifejackets that you can rely on if the worst should happen. The responsibility of that sentence is something we constantly think about. If the worst should happen, the standards we put in place every day will help ensure safety and possibly even survival of someone who ends up in the water in our lifejacket. That is a lot to take on board.

There can be no 'made at 4pm on a Friday' attitudes when it comes to safety products.  It has to perform. It has to be made right.  To do this we only use the best performance materials, that are ISO certified from audited suppliers. 

TeamO Marine BackTow Lifejacket part waiting for production in the TeamO UK factory

We cut carefully (with a laser for pinpoint accuracy). We employ the best sewers and makers we can find. Gill and Lou have been with us for nearly two years and their experience is second to none. If you need someone to sew a small, fiddly, complicated shape, these two are your first port of call. Cat joins us when she can and helps us to fulfill your orders (but she also has her own cool sailing plans going on which we're excited to watch developing)

We are also working with a third party manufacturing supplier who does some of the non-technical sewing stages because we can't keep up with demand if we start from scratch in-house anymore.

TeamO Marine the crew behind production of the TeamO range

Oscar is our Head of Design. It was his original idea for a lifejacket that could turn the wearer face-up if they went overboard whilst clipped on that eventually turned in to our award-winning BackTow Lifejacket Deckharness that so many sailors trust and choose for their crew today.  Oscar and our ISO test partners cover the quality control side of things too.

We check, sample, test and retest continuously. Oscar literally knows how many stitches there are in every lifejacket, how much weight a buckle is designed to take and he is constantly seeking new ways to improve and develop our range. Sometimes that means just getting on a boat and going sailing in your own product. 

Oscar Mead, founder of TeamO Marine, sailing whilst wearing one of his own TeamO Offshore lifejackets on a sunny day in the English Channel

Lauren covers the sales and marketing side of things. In the beginning no one had heard of a BackTow lifejacket before and so we set out to educate the market about why being BackTowed was important (short answer: face up =  breathing = good. face down = drowning = bad). From time to time we have other people drafted in to help when we have projects on .

TeamO crew cooling their feet in the River Itchen on a sunny summer day, taking a break from making lifejackets to eat icecream together

We are a small team, but a passionate one. We can't make as many lifejackets every week as some of our competitors, but we are the only ones who can make a BackTow Lifejacket. We think that's important. We plan to keep doing what we're doing, turning up every day to make top notch lifejackets you can rely on, and designing the next big thing (and you should see Oscar's design notebook. There are some wild innovation ideas waiting to burst off those pages.)

We're always happy to talk about lifejackets, and even happier to talk about what you're planning to do whilst wearing our lifejackets - our customers end up in some pretty cool places around the world.  Please keep tagging us in your social media posts when you're out on the water, or tell your dock neighbour about BackTow and why they should consider it.

Last month we launched the Coastal BackTow Lifejacket. This is a new model that combines our patented BackTow harness in to a smaller lifejacket without a sprayhood or a light that is specifically designed for sailors who are doing shorter offshore sailing trips (ie, maybe one overnight passage in coastal waters compared to a longer time offshore when you might be crossing an ocean) This allows Coastal sailors to access BackTow technology at a lower price. The Coastal is ISO approved for use in offshore conditions, and customers can choose to purchase the sprayhood and light separately and install these themselves if they wish to upgrade to the full Offshore package later on without having to buy an entire new lifejacket. 


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Latest Reviews

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99 reviews
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My 5 life jackets

Hi all. I first saw the life jackets on u tube a video by sailing uma I was impressed with what I seen so I got 2 limited addition thay are N170 black with pink piping this year. A couple of years later I bought 2 more gray/orange N170 for any crew members . The 5th one? I treated my self and got a blue/yellow piping N270 . I think it's important to have the best you can afford. I have look at other life jackets and what other people are using and they just don't seem adequate enough for me at the end of the day you as captain are responsible for your crew and what price do you put on life. I know I've got the best I can afford and giveing them the best chance of survival. So now I can say I've done my best to get the best I could afford and now I have 5 temo life jackets. PS you need to see the utube video on the life jackets I loved the part with the cup of tea.

Great Piece of Gear

I have purchased the lifejacket for a specific trip off-shore in the pacific, it has arrived in a short time. I must say I am very happy with the overall product, even in warm climates was very comfortable to wear and the materials seem very nice and sturdy.
I can only point out 2 elements that got me to rate it "only" 4 and not 5:
1. The light that comes inside the lifejacket was not exactly new. Manufactured in June 2021 with only 1/3 life left, expiry date June 2026.
2. I have purchased the lifejacket and had it shipped to Italy. As it arrived I had to pay about 25% of taxes on top for the import. I know this does not depend on TeamO but it would be nice to have mentioned on the site the possible additional costs related to importation in EU.

Great lifejacket

This life jacket is so light you barely know you even have it on. It is perfect for the dinghy, paddle boards and kayaks with the manual inflation.

Micro 170N Automatic - Very comfortable to wear

Glad to have come across the Micro 170N. With its minimal, light and comfortable fit, I almost forgot wearing it. Bought two for my wife and myself. Perfect choice for our inshore pleasure motorboating use. Exceptional accommodating personal customer service when I had some questions regarding trade and shipping to my country Norway. I strongly recommend the TeamO and their Micro 170N! :)

Awesome!
Super fast shipping from the UK to AUS