04-06-2009, 03:38 PM
Have any of you had a major tube failure or frame failure in cold water? What did/would you do to best survive such a situation? I have always been concerned about this as hypothermia would be a concern for even the best of swimmers. You may also be loaded down with gear or waders that would fill with water when this happens unexpectedly. I only know of a couple of stories like this and the individuals were in deep water but close to shore and survived, but lost expensive equipment. One ran into a tree branch just below the surface that had a lure with trebles inbedded, causing a big tear in one pontoon which left only one intact and the other barely buoyant for a brief time. The other had a weld failure on a very thin tubing frame and seat area went down, though both pontoons remained inflated.
My own solution is to stay no more than 10 minutes of swimming time from the shore line in very cold water. I do not wear waders for that reason. I also pack closed polycell foam (camping mattress foam) in as many sheets or "noodles" under and around the seat as possible prior to going out in cold water. This should help keep the platform level if you have to stay with whatever remains floating and in recovering back at least some of your gear. That's also another reason I like the quad tube pontoon unit on large lakes.
Pon
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My own solution is to stay no more than 10 minutes of swimming time from the shore line in very cold water. I do not wear waders for that reason. I also pack closed polycell foam (camping mattress foam) in as many sheets or "noodles" under and around the seat as possible prior to going out in cold water. This should help keep the platform level if you have to stay with whatever remains floating and in recovering back at least some of your gear. That's also another reason I like the quad tube pontoon unit on large lakes.
Pon
[signature]