My UL tube project...

[SHigSpeed]

Funny how things come full circle sometimes. Literally.

A few days ago someone posted a link to a search engine that allowed you to do a wide search of all classified sites including Craigslist and ebay.

Well, on a whim, I typed in "float tube" and guess what popped up!?



WHAT!? New with tags Del Canty Lunker Hunter - and for a RIDICULOUS price. After contacting the seller, and finding out they still had it, we worked out shipping and...



WOOOHOOOO!!! Full circle indeed, like the iconic donut float tube.



I still can't believe my luck. Sure, I may be specially appreciative of this particular boat, but to find one manufactured in 1986 that had never been in the water is simply unbelievable. No, it didn't come with his hand-stitched, polyvinyl hat (oh wait, that's for the Woody doll) - er, inflator bag, but still...



Though I was hoping for it to be an "old" one, this one turns out to be made only 43 after my original DCLH - and serialized on the same day, March 6 of 1986. Crazy...

So, I had to know...



A full 20 ounces heavier than the tubes in the first customer run of my tubes, but still damn light relative to anything else out there. Considering it uses a much heavier fabric and some pretty burly gluing and stitching in it's manufacture, it's not too bad really.

Here are some photos of the "manual" in case anyone wanted to know:




I'm sure I'll NEVER get this puppy wet, so though I feel a little silly buying it, I feel happy knowing that I own it. It's a piece of history, and a big inspiration to what I've managed to create myself.

Funny, I JUST finished my latest personal tube the other day and had it out on the lake on rainy Labor Day. Yes, it's that color as an homage to the original!



Now to find some clear wall real estate and some way to hang it...

_SHig
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