I'm just sorting through my safety lists and found something others may find useful. You can find USCG life vest approvals at https://cgmix.uscg.mil/Equipment/EquipmentSearch.aspx

Search by "Manufacturer Name" (e.g. Kent) and "Brand, Type/Model Name, Keyword" (e.g. 2042S-H) and you will get to the approval.

TLDR Details

One of my life vests is a West Marine made by Kent. Many life jackets are made by Kent. West Marine didn't have the approval certificate. Kent didn't have the approval certificate for this model at their site either, https://kentoutdoors.com/uscg-certificates After a couple weeks, Kent did track the approval down for me and also gave me the link to the USCG CGMIX site and search page. I could not find this CGMIX page for the life of me using Google. Thats why I thought it useful.

USCGAUX during inspection, not to mention SSS SER, require an approved life vest on board (my Spinlock vests don't count they are not USCG approved, my Mustang EP 38 is, and so is my old West Marine now I found the approval and it's renewal). See, for example http://blogs-it.cgaux.org/vqa.php/20...-jacket-expire
which says ...

Verify that all PFDs for recreational boats have a fully legible instruction label and the Coast Guard approval number is listed. If not, the device does not meet carriage or VSC decal requirements.

Kent also sent me the fancy color USCG certificate. The plain approval from CGMIX isn't quite the same as the fancy color USCG certificate (like this one for my immersion suit http://navalex.com/downloads/KENT-US...IFICATIONS.pdf) but it is better in that it is kept up-to-date when the mfr. renews it.