(Some) anglers and their money are soon parted!

[arawa]

I first saw float tubes being used by fellow guests at Scourie some years ago. I really fancied one until I picked up the rucksack of one angler about to set off for the hills! Massive and just too heavy for me to manage any distance.

I have posted previously of using an ultralight packraft to paddle out to islands and shallows; this has been excellent. However, while easy to carry and perfect for my intended use, the packraft is hopeless to fish from as it just swirls around when casting and drifts quickly in the slightest wind.

One loch I know has plenty of good trout but is almost impossible to fish because of bogs, reed beds, steep banks and thick woods. Although a bit of a slog it is not too challenging to reach so after being driven mad by trying and failing to reach any of its rising trout I bought a float tube a few weeks ago – a Vision Keeper. It was love at first use and I was delighted at how comfortable and manoeuvrable it is. I did not catch as many fish as I had dreamed but did not do badly 

The trouble is that it was such good fun I wanted to use it on other, much higher and further, lochs! Although the Vision is one of the lighter UK float tubes I just could not manage to fit everything I needed (tube, pump, waders, boots, fins, tackle etc) into a rucksack and carry it to where I wanted to go. Wearing waders and wading boots to reduce the load, especially on the hot and muggy day I tried, was no fun at all on steep slopes. So.......

Today, a Wilderness Lite float tube arrived from the US. Including pump it weighs less than 4lb, and, although it came in a small stuff sac I suspect it will not easily fit in again, it packs into about ¼ of the space of the Vision. It looks well made and sufficiently robust. The only downside compared with the Vision is that you sit in the water rather than above it. But that is a small price to pay for the ease of carrying.

All I need now is some decent weather. Wind and rain all next week is the forecast.

[johnny boy]

Once you tube you never look back, been using one for 20 years now. The inconvenience of carrying it is offset by the great day out you have.

My current version is 6 lb with carry straps, not including all the gubbins I have in the pockets  :roll:

Go get you some arawa

[Bobfly]

I have had 4 tubes and use now a Steve Parton Cruiser as the bomb proof heavy boy. The other in use is the Parton designed Expedition which is a light version. Bothe have four bladders and all 4 are lifevest valve mouth inflated so no pump required. Best way to fish a loch, particularly ones with weedbeds 

[Wildfisher]

I used to enjoy float tubing and carried the tube to some very high lochs.  I eventually found it a bit of a faff to be honest and just stopped using them. They were a real fad in the mid 2000s.  I had 3 tubes, a  Parton designed Expedition and a Caddis 3 piece suite  which I sold plus  the original Snowbee death trap which I just binned last year when clearing out the loft.  I would not have sold that to anyone it was an accident waiting to happen.

Wrote a bit about it here

http://www.wildfisher.co.uk/wildfisher/index.php/articles/articles-index-newest-first/293-float-tubing-on-wild-lochs

[caorach]

Today, a Wilderness Lite float tube arrived from the US. Including pump it weighs less than 4lb, and, although it came in a small stuff sac I suspect it will not easily fit in again, it packs into about ¼ of the space of the Vision.

That is a great weight for a float tube, tubing never took my fancy but the huge packs I saw people carrying just put me right off but a 4lb solution must be great. Certainly with the tent gear I found that a reduction in size was also a big plus as it enabled carrying a smaller, and lighter, rucksack so it actually reduced overall weight as well. You'll have to file a few reports.

[arawa]

That is a great weight for a float tube, tubing never took my fancy but the huge packs I saw people carrying just put me right off but a 4lb solution must be great. Certainly with the tent gear I found that a reduction in size was also a big plus as it enabled carrying a smaller, and lighter, rucksack so it actually reduced overall weight as well. You'll have to file a few reports.

Like others, I used to roam the hills with a 75L  Bergen carrying a weeks worth of camping gear. But in my mid-60s and several stones heavier, that is no longer so much fun

Philip – it was bulk as much as weight that was the problem for me. I could just get the Vision in a rucksack but there was no room for anything else. Climbing in waders did not suit me and I could not manage the inflated Vision plus a rucksack containing all the other gear.

[attachimg=1]

The WL has gone back into its stuff sac along with the pump. Just 12" long.

[attachimg=2]

This is my 48L rucksack containing the float tube and pump, chest waders, wading boots, flippers and basic tackle. No food or rod. According to the bathroom scales the whole lot weighs 13 ½ lb. The ultralight fins were out of stock and the pair I have are quite bulky so there is room for further improvement :roll:

[attachimg=3]

[caorach]

Philip – it was bulk as much as weight that was the problem for me. I could just get the Vision in a rucksack but there was no room for anything else.

Going by the photos it is impressively small, much smaller than I imagined to be honest. It certainly looks ideal for the job.

If you are looking a slightly bigger, but very lightweight, rucksack then I've been using a 60l Exped for a few years now, it appears in all those videos I've been posting recently. It is very comfortable and despite the light weight and rather delicate appearance has survived a few years, maybe 3 - 4 now, with no sign of wear. Comfort is probably its main feature. That would give you just a bit extra in capacity without adding to weight as I think the Exped is 1Kg or close. The Exped is just one big compartment but you'd probably be packing stuff in their own bags anyhow and it isn't waterproof but again when you are mixing wet and dry stuff that is an advantage as you'll have dry bags.

http://www.exped.com/international/en/product-category/backpacks/lightning-60-terracotta

[arawa]

Thanks for the thought Philip but the (excellent) Osprey rucksack has plenty of room for everything if I put the fins in the outside pocket instead of internally. It also has a removable pocket that fits on the top.

I was delivering a boat this morning and I was going to try the float tube while I was at the lochside. But the car thermometer showed 13'C, the wind had whipped up white horses and it was driving rain  :shock: :shock:. I did not bother!

[burnie]

I remember the first ones being used on Thornton reservoir in the late 1970's, all homemade from lorry/tractor tyre inner tubes, really thought they were dangerous and never fancied one, but have to admit, there's many a day when I have stood by a water and wished I had one. A pal had a very early production model and tried it on The Eyebrook reservoir, he told me he hooked a 15lb Carp on a buzzer and was towed some distance by it before he subdued the fish and netted it, he thought it a right laugh, I'll stick to a boat I think.

[Robbie]

Neat looking bit of kit. How many bladders does it have? Do you have to use a pump or is this more for convenience?