Bursting inflatables

[Angus Meldrum]

I use A 4 person flat towable commercially but cannot find one that does not continually burst. Does anyone have any contacts for a decent durable products like the Jobe heavy duty Airstream. I am thinking that using drop stick technology would be better than PVC.
Thanks Angus

 

[subysti]

I've used lots of the Mable towable a with good luck. The nylon shell usually wears out before I have problems with the bladder.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

the lower bladder in my super Mable separated inside and now it looks like a huge ball. It is not useable at all and a new bladder costs as much as the entire tube so I am disappointed with their products.
I am now trying a different one with separate chambers for each of the three people in it but it actually flies out of the water in tight turns and flips if I don't slow down quickly. I am thinking about a 3 person canoe type sort of like a hot dog but more stable I hear.

 

[Scottintexas]

I had a mega slice tube that I think I left the pump on to long and it broke some seams and became more of a ball than than a disk,

I bought a new one last year and have been happy with it, I also monitor it better and don't fill it up as tight,

I like the jobe style to help keep people on but I don't like to tow people faster than 20mph for safety so the disk is good as riders can fall off easier,

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

The one I have now is called a sidewinder but it claims to have a lift assist base so perhaps this is why the thing flies in the air with 3 people in it I do like to keep it just touching the water with just the side but If I go any faster once it starts to rise up out of the water it will flip over. My speed is probably 35 but the rope is 80 feet long so the tube being snapped in a circle is breaking the sound barrier or maybe even the speed of light not sure.

 

[Angus Meldrum]

Exactly what happens to them all. Last year we went through 10 inners in 2 months and they were commercial products. The inner splines break and detach causing the inflatable to become a ball and it also tends to split on the same seams. I cannot believe that nobody has developed a better bladder but I have looked long and hard and have no found one yet. I considered getting one made up in Hyperlon but I was quoted nearly £3000. I think a drop stitch inner like a SUP would be ideal. Anyone want to make me one in a set size and we can source an off the shelf cover for it.

 

[jdonalds]

I've never had a tube burst on me. Our first Airhead G-Force tube sprung so many pinhole leaks that I finally replaced the bladder. Otherwise we've gotten several years of heavy use from it.

Just bought a Sidewinder at CostCo. Can't wait to try it out.

I wonder if proper inflating is the issue for bladders that burst?

 

[Scuba_ref]

My last costco tube popped last week, it lasted 2 seasons. About all I et.out of a tube anymore. Our mable also blew a seam and is ball like.

 

[KXCam22]

We usually get 3 to 4 seasons out of the big ones. The $50 round tube we got at Walmart lasted 3 boats and well over 10 year of abuse. Just started leaking last fall. Pinhole on a seam so not much chance of patching. Cam.

 

[Angus Meldrum]

10 years ago we used to use them for the season with no issues. Now we are lucky if we get a week out of them. We have tried all sorts of tubes and none are any better. trying to get someone to make a decent inner seems to be impossible. Ours can be out for 6 or 7 hrs a day every day of the summer.

 

[scokill]

never had any one of a variety of towables break...unless they were 3-4 years old and nylon rip.

 

[Mainah]

I have toyed with the idea of getting a custom tube made out of hypalon (NRS and AIRE brand raft material) or urethane (Sotar brand rafts). This is the stuff the good white water rafts are made with Urethane being lighter and more expensive than the hypalon. It would still be heavier than pvc but no cover would be needed if you had handles and rings welded directly to it just like a white water raft. I wonder if a company like Sotar would take something like this on.

 

[Angus Meldrum]

I have toyed with the idea of getting a custom tube made out of hypalon (NRS and AIRE brand raft material) or urethane (Sotar brand rafts). This is the stuff the good white water rafts are made with Urethane being lighter and more expensive than the hypalon. It would still be heavier than pvc but no cover would be needed if you had handles and rings welded directly to it just like a white water raft. I wonder if a company like Sotar would take something like this on.

Thanks I will give them a try.

Angus

 

[Julian]

You guys must be tubing with bigger people than me! I've never had a tube fail. Our favorite one (an Aero--they don't sell them anymore) just got its first hole after season #14, patched it and its back in business! Are you pulling big teens and adults and having them fail? That I don't do....yet....

2-Aero's first hole last year (one bladder)
1-Airhead 3 person - no issues - season #13 (this one has 4 bladders-one under each seat, and one big main one)
1-Sports Stuff Bandwagon 2+2 on season 3 with it. (2 bladders-one for the arch, 1 for the main body)

 

[Scuba_ref]

Part of the issue here is we boat in colder water than you do. This causes the air in the bladder to compress and that is when we get issues. It didn't matter how many times I stopped to put air in my tube last Saturday it would feel under-inflated after a while in the 60 degree water. When you get slack in the bladder and the skin bad things happen - I didn't catch it one time and the girls went over the wake, came down on the tube and POP!

 

[Mainah]

Thanks I will give them a try.

Angus

Please report back.

 

[Mainah]

I have never had a tube last more than 2 seasons. Cold water was certainly a factor and my guess is the aggressiveness of how we tube is a factor as well. 30-40 mph with lots of very hard turns, circles, and wake crossings is my idea of a good time on the tube. Its probally a good thing they don't make those flying tubes anymore because I would have to have one.

 

[Scuba_ref]

Part of the issue here is we boat in colder water than you do. This causes the air in the bladder to compress and that is when we get issues. It didn't matter how many times I stopped to put air in my tube last Saturday it would feel under-inflated after a while in the 60 degree water. When you get slack in the bladder and the skin bad things happen - I didn't catch it one time and the girls went over the wake, came down on the tube and POP!

FWIW, Costco took back that tube and refunded our money. We bought the tube in 2015. We did have to provide them with the rope and the inflator that came with the tube.