Originally Posted by
MoAlpha
Those old ones have a "cookie" that dissolves in a second if it gets wet and allows a spring-loaded needle to spike a CO2 cartridge. The new ones have a hydrostatic release which reacts to water pressure. They also have a handle you can pull and you can also blow them up by breath.
Long ago I had some of the "cookie" types. When I had the sport boat, I arrived one day to find them both inflated due to water coming in through the mast step (it was a "wet" boat).