05-29-2011, 09:52 PM
[cool][#0000ff]I had a phone conversation with someone from Outcast a few years ago. His explanation was that the weight ratings were more along the line of suggestions. He admitted that if someone were to lose their life due to equipment failure that the courts would care little about weight ratings and unprovable loads at the time of said failures. The manufacturer would probably lose the suit regardless of evidence presented...or not presented.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As in all things in life...especially tubing...we should always exercise good judgment and not try to grossly overtax our equipment. I have deliberately stacked tremendous extra weight on my tube, just to see how much it could take before blowing up or sinking. I can tell you that it will float two of me with plenty of freeboard to spare. But I can also tell you that I always pay close attention to the hardness of the air chambers when out on a hot day. If the tube gets rock hard I bleed a bit of pressure from it. And the first thing I do when pulling it up on dry land...after being in the cooler water...is let off some air. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That began after witnessing a tuber lose his ride...and almost the contents of his lower intestinal tract...when his cheapie tube blew up a few minutes after he beached it on a hot sunny day. It was a 2 part explosion...first a big rip...of the zipper and then a POW of the air chamber. Not funny if it happens to you. Even worse if it happened on the water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As in all things in life...especially tubing...we should always exercise good judgment and not try to grossly overtax our equipment. I have deliberately stacked tremendous extra weight on my tube, just to see how much it could take before blowing up or sinking. I can tell you that it will float two of me with plenty of freeboard to spare. But I can also tell you that I always pay close attention to the hardness of the air chambers when out on a hot day. If the tube gets rock hard I bleed a bit of pressure from it. And the first thing I do when pulling it up on dry land...after being in the cooler water...is let off some air. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]That began after witnessing a tuber lose his ride...and almost the contents of his lower intestinal tract...when his cheapie tube blew up a few minutes after he beached it on a hot sunny day. It was a 2 part explosion...first a big rip...of the zipper and then a POW of the air chamber. Not funny if it happens to you. Even worse if it happened on the water.[/#0000ff]
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