06-22-2013, 06:02 AM
[quote dayhut]Great comments, Pon...
I'm always leery of inflatables, in general. This is a me thing,
because nothing has ever happened to me. I'm a fair weather
angler/boater and stay off water in heavy weather. I'M not afraid of rain,
but wind and lighting are the enemy. So I don't normally place myself on harms way.
However, I've always had a hull beneath my ass, so I have a (irrational) minute fear of punctures. Leaks can be fixed, but having a hole poked in my tubes' bladder concerns me. It probably shouldn't... but it does.
I'm not letting that stop me, of course. I was just wondering how experienced
tubers reconcile the matter.
Great comments so far!
[cool][/quote]
Think of it this way. A float tube is just a miniature version of an emergency survival raft. You can read accounts of lives saved under the most dire circumstances (wind, waves, lightning, shark bumps, leaks, etc.) in such craft. Since inflatable craft are not rigid, quality built ones can take brutal force collisions and slide over some sharp objects while cushioning passengers. Holed float tubes don't "pop" and sink instantly while in water, AFAIK. But they can explode before they are put in cooler water, if overinflated on dry land. If you operate under common sense conditions where you can avoid hypothermia, there should be nothing to fear.
Pon
[signature]
I'm always leery of inflatables, in general. This is a me thing,
because nothing has ever happened to me. I'm a fair weather
angler/boater and stay off water in heavy weather. I'M not afraid of rain,
but wind and lighting are the enemy. So I don't normally place myself on harms way.
However, I've always had a hull beneath my ass, so I have a (irrational) minute fear of punctures. Leaks can be fixed, but having a hole poked in my tubes' bladder concerns me. It probably shouldn't... but it does.
I'm not letting that stop me, of course. I was just wondering how experienced
tubers reconcile the matter.
Great comments so far!
[cool][/quote]
Think of it this way. A float tube is just a miniature version of an emergency survival raft. You can read accounts of lives saved under the most dire circumstances (wind, waves, lightning, shark bumps, leaks, etc.) in such craft. Since inflatable craft are not rigid, quality built ones can take brutal force collisions and slide over some sharp objects while cushioning passengers. Holed float tubes don't "pop" and sink instantly while in water, AFAIK. But they can explode before they are put in cooler water, if overinflated on dry land. If you operate under common sense conditions where you can avoid hypothermia, there should be nothing to fear.
Pon
[signature]