12-03-2005, 04:21 AM
Hi Matt,
Welcome to the forum.
I'll chime in here because I've only recently spent time comparing the ODC with the Fish Cat 4, the FatCat, and Super Fat Cat.
As you've already noticed, the ODC has pretty good quality. It is far ahead of the Caddis Navigator II that I have used for several years. (My mind goes to pool toys when I think about the bladders on that boat just as yours did with the Kennebec.) Yet I felt quite safe in stillwater with that craft and it still floats nicely if I want to take a boatless friend with me. While I have not actually disassembled the SFC's to compare bladder quality with my eyeballs, I have observed, since I bought the ODC, that it has good quality bladders.
I figure it this way... I have never encountered anything on stillwater that would threaten a tube like the ODC. Limbs, brush, stumps, stickups, yes, but very rarely, and nothing that would actually puncture a bladder like the ODC. I have dealt with pinhole leaks in other boats and stitching that came loose on one of my earliest tubes but never a puncture in stillwater - ever. So I don't see it as a safety issue. To me a puncture situation is so unlikely that I feel I can disregard it.
But how about wear from long term use? The SFC bladders will probably be around for a long time, no doubt about it. But there are other things that wear on a tube. I figure if I can get two or three years out of a reasonably priced tube, I have my money's worth. If I can then keep it for a loaner or backup, I've maximized my investment.
That leaves me with this... I can buy three ODC's (at the current sale price on the Creek Company website) for what I could buy one Super Fat Cat. This means I could get a new one every year for the next three years and still be at even money. To me its a no-brainer. As long as I'm pleased with the performance of the ODC, and I want that particular tube design, then its the tube for me.
zonker
[signature]
Welcome to the forum.
I'll chime in here because I've only recently spent time comparing the ODC with the Fish Cat 4, the FatCat, and Super Fat Cat.
As you've already noticed, the ODC has pretty good quality. It is far ahead of the Caddis Navigator II that I have used for several years. (My mind goes to pool toys when I think about the bladders on that boat just as yours did with the Kennebec.) Yet I felt quite safe in stillwater with that craft and it still floats nicely if I want to take a boatless friend with me. While I have not actually disassembled the SFC's to compare bladder quality with my eyeballs, I have observed, since I bought the ODC, that it has good quality bladders.
I figure it this way... I have never encountered anything on stillwater that would threaten a tube like the ODC. Limbs, brush, stumps, stickups, yes, but very rarely, and nothing that would actually puncture a bladder like the ODC. I have dealt with pinhole leaks in other boats and stitching that came loose on one of my earliest tubes but never a puncture in stillwater - ever. So I don't see it as a safety issue. To me a puncture situation is so unlikely that I feel I can disregard it.
But how about wear from long term use? The SFC bladders will probably be around for a long time, no doubt about it. But there are other things that wear on a tube. I figure if I can get two or three years out of a reasonably priced tube, I have my money's worth. If I can then keep it for a loaner or backup, I've maximized my investment.
That leaves me with this... I can buy three ODC's (at the current sale price on the Creek Company website) for what I could buy one Super Fat Cat. This means I could get a new one every year for the next three years and still be at even money. To me its a no-brainer. As long as I'm pleased with the performance of the ODC, and I want that particular tube design, then its the tube for me.
zonker
[signature]