12-23-2005, 07:32 AM
Right you are, Flygoddess. And the urethane bladders are definitely better. More than double the price, too.
Having said that though, I've been floating around on objects supported by vinyl bladders for at least 10 years and haven't sunk in the lake yet. Not even a close call. I have found the ODC and Fishcat 4 to have a fairly substantial vinyl bladders compared to earlier model vinyl tubes.
Only had one leaky scare and that was in a round donut Caddis tube in 1986. It was a cool fall day and I was fly fishing in the middle of Manzanita Lake in Northern California. The rubber truck sized inner tube inside my Caddis began to leak through a spot I had patched. By the time I had kicked into a spot where I could stand up the thing had nearly collapsed around me. I was pretty scared but did survive.
z~
[signature]
Having said that though, I've been floating around on objects supported by vinyl bladders for at least 10 years and haven't sunk in the lake yet. Not even a close call. I have found the ODC and Fishcat 4 to have a fairly substantial vinyl bladders compared to earlier model vinyl tubes.
Only had one leaky scare and that was in a round donut Caddis tube in 1986. It was a cool fall day and I was fly fishing in the middle of Manzanita Lake in Northern California. The rubber truck sized inner tube inside my Caddis began to leak through a spot I had patched. By the time I had kicked into a spot where I could stand up the thing had nearly collapsed around me. I was pretty scared but did survive.
z~
[signature]