Another reason tubing is stupid

Seems this guy lost his hand tubing. I feel for him. http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,520033342,00.html

As much as I dislike tubers wrecking good water, that is a sad story.

i do not think tubing is stupid as long as the boat persons are considerate. tubers can go someplace else to drive instead of main boarding water. If you have very small kids who cannot board, do you just not go to the lake anymore becuase there is nothing to offer for them there?

Tubing can be dangerous too. I used to do it a lot when the water was crap - mostly an opportunity to talk a lot of crap to the driver telling him that he cant throw you from the tube. haha. That rope always made me nervous when there was slack and I bailed a number of times just to get away from it.

On the other hand - when I played football and baseball in high school we had one player with a prosthetic arm and he still played great.

Tubing is stupid in calm water, but can be fun when you get the crew together, get in the water, and find out the wind isn't cooperating and you get serious chop. I can't believe his hand popped right off. I feeel for him, career down the tubes.

Maybe they should market those shock tube things for slalom ropes to tubers. You could put one on the rope on the tube end and keep the rope away from your hands.

If ever get a tube for some reason, I'll definitely do that.

This can happen while wakeboarding, surfing or anything else.

Sorry folks, but I have before and likely will continue to tow a tube in the butter. That's all my son likes to do right now. He gets scared if it's too choppy, and he gets bored just sitting on the boat.

Everyone has a right to use recreational waterways however they choose - be it fishing, skiing, boarding, tubing...whatever...as long as it's legal.

Sorry, Craig, but "Tubing is stupid in calm water" is an elitist and selfish remark, IMO.

Well, as long as you drive like a wakeboarder would (straight lines, no power turns), I don't care about what you are doing behind the boat.

If you're zig-zagging all over the place, then do it in the chop since you're trying to mess with the tuber anyway.

It's not tubing that is stupid...it's the majority of tube-towing drivers. It's not the PWC that is stupid, it's the majority of PWC drivers.

I try to stay out of the way as much as possible, but he likes to go over the wake! I have to zig-zag a little bit.

I don't weight the boat when I'm towing him, if that helps.

(Message edited by swass on October 24, 2003)

A thick strap or rope at the tube connecting the rope should do the trick.
Nevermind, that won't work. The only way to stop the needless destruction of limbs is to not tube, it's too risky.
Suspend all tubing activities indefinately, effective immediately.

Swass - dont take that from those guys. You sound reasonable enough.

Salmon - he has as much right to the water as any of us. At least he is a wakeboarder too and is likely aware of what he does to the water and minimizes his impact. Most dont do that so cut him a break.

When I pull a tuber I powerturn, zig-zag, whip it at full speed etc, etc. That's how you drive for tubes. Going straight is boring. Tubing is like a game between driver and rider. The driver trys to toss the rider. The rider trys to hold on.


Keep in mind, I'm talking about when the rider agrees to the game. When you have children and less aggressive riders you should pull accordingly.

I do have one admission to make: I'm not above complaining about tubers when I'm not towing one myself.

I get just as frustrated as everyone else when I'm trying to find a patch of butter to ride, but I do recognize (reluctantly, at times) everyone's right to be where I want to be.

You have to whip a tube. For all matters, it all depends on the driver. It goes the same for all. I would get just as pissed off at an idiot driver towing a boarder or tuber. The key is to drive responsibly.

All tubers should have this happen to em at least once, especially those who board and know what it does to the rest of the lake.
Lately one of my favorite things is to power turn in front of a zig-zagging tuber, I try and do it far enough away so the boat driver doesnt realize it and sends their "rider" flying. I really like it when I see a kid fly way up in the air one way and the tube go flying the other.
In fact about 2 months ago we were boarding and a boat full of tubers came up the river zig-zagging and messing up everyones water. There was a TIge wakesurfing near us, when the tubers stopped we went on one side they went on the other...the boat was rocking so hard 2-3 people dove over the side, it was hilarious.

When I pull a tuber, skier, or boarder it's all the same....the rider controls the game.

I'd be careful who you do that @*@!) to, Ya.

My son is four. Would it make you feel like a big man to knock him out of the tube? As soon as I fish him out, I'd be lookin' for you if I thought it was intentional.

I don't know if you said that just to get a reaction out of me, but I'll think I'll take my leave from this thread now.

i drive responsibly and will even stop to let a boarder go by before i damage the water if there is no way around it. i respect the other boats, but if someone intentionally threw my easy driving two year old or my 5 year old out of the tube, i would have a huge issue and thereby the other driver would have a huge issue. RESPECT the other boats regardless of what they are towing.

there are so many tubers on here Dave should create tubeworld.com!!!

Oh yeah I think it would be hilarious...especially if you caught me. I think the only thing that could have been cooler is if the rope popped up and wrapped around the neck of the driver! HAHA

Bottom Line: We're all out on the lake, river, or ocean to have fun. Nobody wants to see anyone or themselves get hurt. We, as recreational boaters, should always respect our surroundings i.e. other vessels, other riders, the law, wild life, the body of water, etc.

It's the drivers’ sole responsibility to keep a safe distance from other vessels, shore, etc. As well as, drive accordingly to optimize to fun factor. Notice fellow tubers, I didn't say fear factor.

It's the riders’ responsibility to have fun and use hand signals to control the speed of the game.

Noneya - That has happened in my boat... But it wasn't the driver, one of the passangers. I was driving pulling a wakeboarder up and the rope shot into the boat and wrapped around someones neck. I saw the whole thing and stopped the boat, no one was hurt... but it was little scarry

I dont mind when I see a tuber get hurt.

Save the butter...swamp a tuber!

thats little messed up

That's what I'd expect to hear from an immature kid, but not a 34 year old adult.

i am not a violent person by any stretch. i will always avoid a scrap when possible and enjoy a nice beer or something because it should be all in fun on the lake. but...if someone intentionally puts my kids in harms way, the last thing you would want is a 235 pound black belt crawling up your arse.

at that note..i feel the love for everyone here but am following swass and opting out of thois thread.

OMG! will you guys listen to yourself! i partake in every part of water skiing wetha it be slalom kneeboarding wakeboarding or low and behold tubing.
who can you say that tubers mess up the water! thats so hypocritical have you guys actually ever tried to slalom over the wake of a fully weighted dan malibu or naughtique??
and yet some of you are complaining that tubers mess it up! wake up and change hands

In my opinion tubers are just like everybody else, they shouldnt be out there when its my turn. But hey, if i'm not in the water go for it.

Tubers don't bother me so much. It's those freakin Jet Skiers that piss me off all the time! They follow you the whole way, and they get real close sometimes. They're the one's who destroy the water.

you guys get worked up about little things... it's just litte kids trying to enjoy themselves on the lake...

I can definatly say tubers mess up the water. I mess up the water also, just by being out there. But when i'm going down the river and some idiot pulling a tuber is weaving back and forth and power turning in front of me that pisses me off. Most of the people i see pull tubers don't care who the hell is by them.

I was at the river about a month ago, and had a problem with some tubers. It was two kooks riding on a Jet Ski, pulling a tube that had two more donkeys on it.

They were in the middle of the river doing power turns when we came around the corner (I was riding). When they saw us coming, they turned and headed the same direction as us. So now they are pulling a tuber, about 100 feet in front of us. They proceeded to zig-zag back and forth across the river. I just went for a trick that I knew I wouldn't make, then I sat in the water for a few minutes to let them get ahead so everything could smooth out. Problem solved, or so I thought.......

After I was up and riding again for 3 or 4 minutes, we passed "Second Beach", where we saw these tubers parked. We rounded the corner and kept riding. About 3 minutes later, I look back, and here come those tubers. They weren't zig-zagging though, they were just coming straight up the river, probably about 30mph. They came by us, while I was still up and riding. I wasn't too mad, because they were just going straight and I assumed they were heading back to the launch. As soon as they got in front of us, they just started zig-zagging again. I was so angry, but really what could I do? I just stopped wakeboarding and waited again.

I liked this one....
" The only way to stop the needless destruction of limbs is to not tube, it's too risky.

Suspend all tubing activities indefinately, effective immediately.

HAHA!

NoneYA...are you talking about Tin Top?

Yup, I think I've seen that X-2 if its the one right there by the dock in Rio Brazos, we are supposed to get a trailer up the road here in a couple of weeks....Yeah I'm just being over the top, of course I dont want anyone hurt but..1 tuber zig-zagging and power turning can ruin the water for alot of other people, wheras boarders even w/ weight can ride a line back and forth and not power turn and board in harmony. Besides how can a tuber get mad at me for sending a roller when thats all you do!