05-22-2008, 08:38 PM
Brace yourselves...this is a big post!
So I finally finished school and got to work on my tube some more. I hadn't been out in it since last August before classes started up, so needless to say I had the itch. After hours and hours of tinkering, here's what I came up with. Thanks to everyone (especially TD) for all the ideas you've posted. This is kind of a grab bag of ideas from ya'll with a few fun new inventions of my own. I'll let the pics do most of the talking so let me know if you'd like some more explanation or more close-ups of anything. As always, any questions, comments, and critiques are most welcome.
Here's the whole thing from a couple different angles. The towels hanging from the head rest are both to wipe the hands off and to shade the neck.
[inline "01 Whole Tube Side View (Tool Rack).jpg"]
[inline "02 Whole Tube Side View (Rod Rack).jpg"]
[inline "03 Whole Tube Front View.jpg"]
Here's some closer shots of the tool rack and rod rack. The tool rack carries my needle-nose pliers, side cutters, bait knife, and two bottles of smelly jelly.
[inline "04 Tool Rack on Tube.jpg"]
[inline "05 Tool Rack (alone).jpg"]
[inline "06 Rod Rack (alone).jpg"]
For the rigid apron, I liked the recent idea of flipping the lid upside-down. I found a lid I really liked that has lots of little compartments for putting stuff if I want. I bolted in a little plastic box for random small stuff and also used liquid nails to attach a small magnet where I can put hooks, lures, etc. temporarily while working on a fish so they don't accidentally puncture my tube before I put them away or cast them out again.
I also liked that this lid allowed me to dremel little holes all across the tabs in the top to give added support for the little 3/8-inch PVC bar that has the bungee running through the middle of it. The mini carabeaners hook into holes I dremelled out in the PVC end caps sticking out from the pieces screwed into the front of the pockets.
[inline "07 Rigid Apron.jpg"]
[inline "08 Rigid Apron (Side View).jpg"]
[inline "09 Rigid Apron Connection (left front).jpg"]
I moved my fish finder display into the front left pocket as shown here. I stuffed the excess transducer cable into a couple of 1 1/2 inch PVC couplings. It seems to keep it nice and out of the way and still leaves some room for other stuff in the pocket if needed.
[inline "10 Fish Finder Display Mount and Transducer Wire.jpg"]
I wanted to avoid running any fishfinder cables outside of the pockets so I ran the battery wire through a little hole in the bottom of the front and middle pockets into the rear one where I put my battery. In the middle (big) pocket, I ran the wire through a small piece of 3/8-inch PVC to keep it from getting caught in the other gear I put in there.
I went up to the NPS (I think) store with TD a while back and picked up a couple of the smaller-sized 12v gel cell batteries for a nicer fit. I put the battery in the pocket with a few pieces of foam to keep it from stressing the seams of the pockets while in use.
[inline "11 Fish Finder Battery Wire in Pocket through PVC.jpg"]
[inline "12 Battery Wires Coming through Hole in Rear Pocket.jpg"]
[inline "13 Battery Setup for Rear Pocket with Foam Pieces.jpg"]
On the front D-rings of both points of the "V" I put a couple PVC handles to make it easier to carry with a buddy if needed. Last year I had them tied on with parachute cord, but I would occasionally get a hook stuck in them which was a pain, so I resorted to wire this year. It seems to work pretty good.
[inline "14 Handle Close-up.jpg"]
For the transducer, I fashioned a clip out of a 1/2-inch T-connector piece which holds it tight, allows it to slide up and down easily, and makes for simple attaching/detaching.
[inline "15 Transducer Clip (up).jpg"]
[inline "16 Transducer Clip (down).jpg"]
On the front of the right side, I have a trolling rod holder, a vertical rod holder to put the rod I'm working on at the time, a clip for my lip gripper, and a rear-view mirror.
For the rear-view mirror, I took the gooseneck piece from a desk lamp and bolted it into the middle section of a T-connector piece (to be out of the way of the rod in the vertical holder). I got the mirror from the car accessory section at Walmart and used liquid nails to attach it to a piece of 1/2-inch wood I cut to size. I drilled out a hole in the bottom of the wood which was just big enough to push the other end of the gooseneck firmly and I used some more of the liquid nails to secure it in place.
[inline "17 Rear View, Lip Grip Mount, and Trolling Rod Holder (right front).jpg"]
I made this piece and several others on both sides removeable for easier storage.
[inline "18 Rear View Mirror (detached).jpg"]
I have a small bungee cord hooked to the lip grip to keep it from accidentally drowning.
[inline "19 Bungee Securing Lip Grip.jpg"]
Having a sturdy back rest was a big one for me, so I went through a lot of trial and error on that one. I ended up using 1/2-inch schedule 40 PVC bars with 3/8-inch flexible PVC tubing stuffed into the middle of it for added support. I have a couple of bars on either side of the back rest (had to cut small holes in the top material and shave out slits in the foam) which fastened to cross bars that I slid pieces of water noodles onto for a head rest at the top and to support the whole thing on the bottom. The pieces on the bottom do a good job of keeping the back rest foam from falling down behind the seat foam. They also keep the seat foam pushed forward. It came out very sturdy and comfortable!
I also included a horizontal bar across the back that I could strap more gear to. I set it back further to keep it from digging into my back. Here's what I put on it (from left to right): hand pump in the green waterproof bag, life jacket, marker bouys in the red waterproof bag, and a black mesh bag with a couple insulated containers for bait. I actually attached the mesh bag higher up on the thing so I can easily swing it over my right shoulder when I want to get to it.
[inline "20 Bar for Hanging Gear on Back Rest.jpg"]
One problem I noticed last year was that when I stored my tube in the hot garage with the back rest lying horizontal, it woud get hot and bend down (forward) from the weight of the head rest. For this reason, and also to make it so that I can take the whole back rest frame off if I need, I secured the head-rest portion of the frame with pins instead of PVC glue. I also wanted to be able to take the gear bar off if needed, so using the same concept, I drilled a small hole and ran a piece of wire through it.
[inline "21 Pins for Detaching Head Rest.jpg"]
[inline "22 Bottom of Back Rest.jpg"]
[inline "23 Bottom of Back Rest with Foam Seat Showing.jpg"]
[inline "24 Flattened with Head Rest Attached.jpg"]
[inline "25 Flattened with Head Rest Detached.jpg"]
The whole thing flattens down pretty well for storage or transport.
[inline "26 Flattened for Storage or Travel.jpg"]
Inspired by TD's latest set of wheels, I tried something a little different. I made a pair that slides over the sturdy foam seat pretty snug, eliminating the need to attach it with bungee cords. I tried it out for the first time last Tuesday at Sand Hollow and it worked pretty well. I may adjust it slightly, but I think the concept is there. I have a 5/8-inch metal bar running through the cores of the tires themselves and the PVC on either side of them. It fits nicely into the area behind the seat even with all the other stuff I stick back there.
[inline "27 Wheels (alone).jpg"]
[inline "28 Wheels Detached by Tube.jpg"]
[inline "29 Wheels Attached (Front).jpg"]
[inline "30 Wheels Behind Back Rest (alone).jpg"]
[inline "31 Wheels Behind Back Rest (with other gear).jpg"]
That's about it for my tube. Again, any and all comments would be greatly appreciated.
While I'm at it, I figured I'd go ahead an post a couple other minor PVC projects I've been tinkering with. My wife prefers to fish from Creek Company Uboat 2000 (which I must admit, is really comfy). She also likes things a lot simpler than my setup, so here's what I did for her.
I made a combination rod/tool rack for her since she only likes having two poles out with her and doesn't carry quite as much gear. The rack consists of two vertical rod holders, a trolling rod holder, a cup for smelly jelly, and a place for her pliers and bait knife. On the right side, she has a net that tucks nicely into the black strap running around the outside of the whole tube and attaching to a D-ring on the side.
For the rigid apron, it's pretty similar to mine (same lid) but I didn't have to trim it down since the two ends of the "U" stick out pretty far and can support the whole thing. I ran the PVC support bar on the opposite side due to the placement of the D-rings. Works pretty good so far, but there are probably a couple of adjustments yet to be made after our maiden voyage.
[inline "02 Uboat 2000 Rod and Tool Rack.jpg"]
[inline "01 Uboat 2000 Net and Rigid Apron (Front).jpg"]
[inline "03 Uboat 2000 Rigid Apron.jpg"]
And lastly, I made a little rod rack to keep the poles a bit better organized while in the garage. It's all glued together to keep it sturdy except for the four corners so I can flatten the thing for storage or transport. The PVC fits pretty tight so it keeps it from falling over with the weight. I offset the pieces for obvious reasons.
[inline "01 Rod Rack 1.jpg"]
[inline "02 Rod Rack 2.jpg"]
[inline "03 Rod Rack (Flat).jpg"]
Well, thanks for your perserverance. That's all I got for now. I'll post updates as they come. Again, please feel free to let me know what you think. I would love to hear some ideas to make it better.
[signature]
So I finally finished school and got to work on my tube some more. I hadn't been out in it since last August before classes started up, so needless to say I had the itch. After hours and hours of tinkering, here's what I came up with. Thanks to everyone (especially TD) for all the ideas you've posted. This is kind of a grab bag of ideas from ya'll with a few fun new inventions of my own. I'll let the pics do most of the talking so let me know if you'd like some more explanation or more close-ups of anything. As always, any questions, comments, and critiques are most welcome.
Here's the whole thing from a couple different angles. The towels hanging from the head rest are both to wipe the hands off and to shade the neck.
[inline "01 Whole Tube Side View (Tool Rack).jpg"]
[inline "02 Whole Tube Side View (Rod Rack).jpg"]
[inline "03 Whole Tube Front View.jpg"]
Here's some closer shots of the tool rack and rod rack. The tool rack carries my needle-nose pliers, side cutters, bait knife, and two bottles of smelly jelly.
[inline "04 Tool Rack on Tube.jpg"]
[inline "05 Tool Rack (alone).jpg"]
[inline "06 Rod Rack (alone).jpg"]
For the rigid apron, I liked the recent idea of flipping the lid upside-down. I found a lid I really liked that has lots of little compartments for putting stuff if I want. I bolted in a little plastic box for random small stuff and also used liquid nails to attach a small magnet where I can put hooks, lures, etc. temporarily while working on a fish so they don't accidentally puncture my tube before I put them away or cast them out again.
I also liked that this lid allowed me to dremel little holes all across the tabs in the top to give added support for the little 3/8-inch PVC bar that has the bungee running through the middle of it. The mini carabeaners hook into holes I dremelled out in the PVC end caps sticking out from the pieces screwed into the front of the pockets.
[inline "07 Rigid Apron.jpg"]
[inline "08 Rigid Apron (Side View).jpg"]
[inline "09 Rigid Apron Connection (left front).jpg"]
I moved my fish finder display into the front left pocket as shown here. I stuffed the excess transducer cable into a couple of 1 1/2 inch PVC couplings. It seems to keep it nice and out of the way and still leaves some room for other stuff in the pocket if needed.
[inline "10 Fish Finder Display Mount and Transducer Wire.jpg"]
I wanted to avoid running any fishfinder cables outside of the pockets so I ran the battery wire through a little hole in the bottom of the front and middle pockets into the rear one where I put my battery. In the middle (big) pocket, I ran the wire through a small piece of 3/8-inch PVC to keep it from getting caught in the other gear I put in there.
I went up to the NPS (I think) store with TD a while back and picked up a couple of the smaller-sized 12v gel cell batteries for a nicer fit. I put the battery in the pocket with a few pieces of foam to keep it from stressing the seams of the pockets while in use.
[inline "11 Fish Finder Battery Wire in Pocket through PVC.jpg"]
[inline "12 Battery Wires Coming through Hole in Rear Pocket.jpg"]
[inline "13 Battery Setup for Rear Pocket with Foam Pieces.jpg"]
On the front D-rings of both points of the "V" I put a couple PVC handles to make it easier to carry with a buddy if needed. Last year I had them tied on with parachute cord, but I would occasionally get a hook stuck in them which was a pain, so I resorted to wire this year. It seems to work pretty good.
[inline "14 Handle Close-up.jpg"]
For the transducer, I fashioned a clip out of a 1/2-inch T-connector piece which holds it tight, allows it to slide up and down easily, and makes for simple attaching/detaching.
[inline "15 Transducer Clip (up).jpg"]
[inline "16 Transducer Clip (down).jpg"]
On the front of the right side, I have a trolling rod holder, a vertical rod holder to put the rod I'm working on at the time, a clip for my lip gripper, and a rear-view mirror.
For the rear-view mirror, I took the gooseneck piece from a desk lamp and bolted it into the middle section of a T-connector piece (to be out of the way of the rod in the vertical holder). I got the mirror from the car accessory section at Walmart and used liquid nails to attach it to a piece of 1/2-inch wood I cut to size. I drilled out a hole in the bottom of the wood which was just big enough to push the other end of the gooseneck firmly and I used some more of the liquid nails to secure it in place.
[inline "17 Rear View, Lip Grip Mount, and Trolling Rod Holder (right front).jpg"]
I made this piece and several others on both sides removeable for easier storage.
[inline "18 Rear View Mirror (detached).jpg"]
I have a small bungee cord hooked to the lip grip to keep it from accidentally drowning.
[inline "19 Bungee Securing Lip Grip.jpg"]
Having a sturdy back rest was a big one for me, so I went through a lot of trial and error on that one. I ended up using 1/2-inch schedule 40 PVC bars with 3/8-inch flexible PVC tubing stuffed into the middle of it for added support. I have a couple of bars on either side of the back rest (had to cut small holes in the top material and shave out slits in the foam) which fastened to cross bars that I slid pieces of water noodles onto for a head rest at the top and to support the whole thing on the bottom. The pieces on the bottom do a good job of keeping the back rest foam from falling down behind the seat foam. They also keep the seat foam pushed forward. It came out very sturdy and comfortable!
I also included a horizontal bar across the back that I could strap more gear to. I set it back further to keep it from digging into my back. Here's what I put on it (from left to right): hand pump in the green waterproof bag, life jacket, marker bouys in the red waterproof bag, and a black mesh bag with a couple insulated containers for bait. I actually attached the mesh bag higher up on the thing so I can easily swing it over my right shoulder when I want to get to it.
[inline "20 Bar for Hanging Gear on Back Rest.jpg"]
One problem I noticed last year was that when I stored my tube in the hot garage with the back rest lying horizontal, it woud get hot and bend down (forward) from the weight of the head rest. For this reason, and also to make it so that I can take the whole back rest frame off if I need, I secured the head-rest portion of the frame with pins instead of PVC glue. I also wanted to be able to take the gear bar off if needed, so using the same concept, I drilled a small hole and ran a piece of wire through it.
[inline "21 Pins for Detaching Head Rest.jpg"]
[inline "22 Bottom of Back Rest.jpg"]
[inline "23 Bottom of Back Rest with Foam Seat Showing.jpg"]
[inline "24 Flattened with Head Rest Attached.jpg"]
[inline "25 Flattened with Head Rest Detached.jpg"]
The whole thing flattens down pretty well for storage or transport.
[inline "26 Flattened for Storage or Travel.jpg"]
Inspired by TD's latest set of wheels, I tried something a little different. I made a pair that slides over the sturdy foam seat pretty snug, eliminating the need to attach it with bungee cords. I tried it out for the first time last Tuesday at Sand Hollow and it worked pretty well. I may adjust it slightly, but I think the concept is there. I have a 5/8-inch metal bar running through the cores of the tires themselves and the PVC on either side of them. It fits nicely into the area behind the seat even with all the other stuff I stick back there.
[inline "27 Wheels (alone).jpg"]
[inline "28 Wheels Detached by Tube.jpg"]
[inline "29 Wheels Attached (Front).jpg"]
[inline "30 Wheels Behind Back Rest (alone).jpg"]
[inline "31 Wheels Behind Back Rest (with other gear).jpg"]
That's about it for my tube. Again, any and all comments would be greatly appreciated.
While I'm at it, I figured I'd go ahead an post a couple other minor PVC projects I've been tinkering with. My wife prefers to fish from Creek Company Uboat 2000 (which I must admit, is really comfy). She also likes things a lot simpler than my setup, so here's what I did for her.
I made a combination rod/tool rack for her since she only likes having two poles out with her and doesn't carry quite as much gear. The rack consists of two vertical rod holders, a trolling rod holder, a cup for smelly jelly, and a place for her pliers and bait knife. On the right side, she has a net that tucks nicely into the black strap running around the outside of the whole tube and attaching to a D-ring on the side.
For the rigid apron, it's pretty similar to mine (same lid) but I didn't have to trim it down since the two ends of the "U" stick out pretty far and can support the whole thing. I ran the PVC support bar on the opposite side due to the placement of the D-rings. Works pretty good so far, but there are probably a couple of adjustments yet to be made after our maiden voyage.
[inline "02 Uboat 2000 Rod and Tool Rack.jpg"]
[inline "01 Uboat 2000 Net and Rigid Apron (Front).jpg"]
[inline "03 Uboat 2000 Rigid Apron.jpg"]
And lastly, I made a little rod rack to keep the poles a bit better organized while in the garage. It's all glued together to keep it sturdy except for the four corners so I can flatten the thing for storage or transport. The PVC fits pretty tight so it keeps it from falling over with the weight. I offset the pieces for obvious reasons.
[inline "01 Rod Rack 1.jpg"]
[inline "02 Rod Rack 2.jpg"]
[inline "03 Rod Rack (Flat).jpg"]
Well, thanks for your perserverance. That's all I got for now. I'll post updates as they come. Again, please feel free to let me know what you think. I would love to hear some ideas to make it better.
[signature]
]