It looks like I may be in the market for a new float tube for occasional drive-to lake use to save wear and tear on my Wilderness Lite Backpacker Pro that I use for long hike-ins/multi-day backpack trips. I don't want to make another disposable "3 trips and out" purchase that it appears my last one may be turning into.
I've looked at Outcast but their Outcast line is looking smaller; it looks like they discontinued the Trinity.
Are any of the current Outcast tubes bladderless like my Trinity was (sold it to get the lighter Wilderness Lite).
In the Fish Cat series the FC4 hasa single(?) urethane vinyl bladders but a foam seat whereas the FC4DLX appears to have 4 chambers but is vinyl? That seems like an odd marketing decision.
Are there significant strength/durability advantages for a still water tube to Urethane vs vinyl to make it worth the extra cost? Steve Parton (Sparton, who picked up the license for the original Wood River V-boat now; OoB) in the UK wrote an article for Sexy Loops that says it is a big deal. And my current vinyl bladder tube seems to bear that out.
What's the sweet spot for OSG?
Scadden has the (bladderless?) Aircraft but no specs as to weight, number of bladders or material, and his CS rep casts a big dark shadow over a purchase from him. Paying almost 5x the cost if there were problems for another "disposable" tube would really piss me off!
Are there any advantages to bladderless besides lighter weight? Bladderless disadvantages?
Bucks has the Roughneck but the price is ginormous. They still make the Mustang and Bullet HC U-boat style tubes with urethane bladders but the info about them on their website is pretty sparse, no reviews on the net, and the price is high.
What do folks think of the current crop of tubes with a crossbar on the apron? I seem to recall somebody on WFF mentioned seeing someone getting turned upside down in one of those and it being a close call???
Then there's the hybrid Super Cat but the cost is astronomical for the amount it would get used.
Thoughts?
I've looked at Outcast but their Outcast line is looking smaller; it looks like they discontinued the Trinity.
Are any of the current Outcast tubes bladderless like my Trinity was (sold it to get the lighter Wilderness Lite).
In the Fish Cat series the FC4 has
Are there significant strength/durability advantages for a still water tube to Urethane vs vinyl to make it worth the extra cost? Steve Parton (Sparton, who picked up the license for the original Wood River V-boat now; OoB) in the UK wrote an article for Sexy Loops that says it is a big deal. And my current vinyl bladder tube seems to bear that out.
What's the sweet spot for OSG?
Scadden has the (bladderless?) Aircraft but no specs as to weight, number of bladders or material, and his CS rep casts a big dark shadow over a purchase from him. Paying almost 5x the cost if there were problems for another "disposable" tube would really piss me off!
Are there any advantages to bladderless besides lighter weight? Bladderless disadvantages?
Bucks has the Roughneck but the price is ginormous. They still make the Mustang and Bullet HC U-boat style tubes with urethane bladders but the info about them on their website is pretty sparse, no reviews on the net, and the price is high.
What do folks think of the current crop of tubes with a crossbar on the apron? I seem to recall somebody on WFF mentioned seeing someone getting turned upside down in one of those and it being a close call???
Then there's the hybrid Super Cat but the cost is astronomical for the amount it would get used.
Thoughts?
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