Bladder construction: ODC420 vs SFC

[mkim]

I am looking to replace my Kennebec which has served me well for the last couple of years. Am looking at the ODC420 and FatCat. Big difference in price is due to bladder construction, urethane versus pvc.

I looked at ODC today and its bladders are very heavy duty PVC. Makes the tubes on my Kennebec look like a kiddie pool toy. Can anyone tell me how the SFC bladders stack up? Is the difference between the ODC and SFC as great as the difference between the ODC and the Kennebec?

Matt
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[zonker]

Hi Matt,

Welcome to the forum.

I'll chime in here because I've only recently spent time comparing the ODC with the Fish Cat 4, the FatCat, and Super Fat Cat.

As you've already noticed, the ODC has pretty good quality. It is far ahead of the Caddis Navigator II that I have used for several years. (My mind goes to pool toys when I think about the bladders on that boat just as yours did with the Kennebec.) Yet I felt quite safe in stillwater with that craft and it still floats nicely if I want to take a boatless friend with me. While I have not actually disassembled the SFC's to compare bladder quality with my eyeballs, I have observed, since I bought the ODC, that it has good quality bladders.

I figure it this way... I have never encountered anything on stillwater that would threaten a tube like the ODC. Limbs, brush, stumps, stickups, yes, but very rarely, and nothing that would actually puncture a bladder like the ODC. I have dealt with pinhole leaks in other boats and stitching that came loose on one of my earliest tubes but never a puncture in stillwater - ever. So I don't see it as a safety issue. To me a puncture situation is so unlikely that I feel I can disregard it.

But how about wear from long term use? The SFC bladders will probably be around for a long time, no doubt about it. But there are other things that wear on a tube. I figure if I can get two or three years out of a reasonably priced tube, I have my money's worth. If I can then keep it for a loaner or backup, I've maximized my investment.

That leaves me with this... I can buy three ODC's (at the current sale price on the Creek Company website) for what I could buy one Super Fat Cat. This means I could get a new one every year for the next three years and still be at even money. To me its a no-brainer. As long as I'm pleased with the performance of the ODC, and I want that particular tube design, then its the tube for me.

zonker
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[mkim]

Zonker,

Thanks for the feedback.

100% of my tubing is done in saltwater (San Diego Bay). Just about everything you catch has nice sharp spines. I've punctured my Kennebec on a couple of times, but nothing that prevented me from getting back to shore with time to spare.

What makes the decision more difficult for me is I have someone willing to sell me a FatCat that has only been used once for $200, so its not all that much more than the ODC. So if you were presented with the same option would you still have gone with the ODC?

Matt
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[zonker]

Hmm. Good question, Matt. Guess I spoke too quickly. I don't fish salt (the thought of fishing where there might be something big enough to take me and my tube in a head to tail rise is unsettling) and I seldom catch anything with sharp fins or teeth so your situation is very different than mine. Guess my trout fishing advice doesn't apply in this case.

Would I choose a used-one-time Fat Cat for $200 over the ODC if I fished where the tube might get punctured? Yes. It was the $375 price tag that I choked on once I saw that the quality, for the purpose I use it, was not really worth the extra $. I didn't need the more expensive bladders.

The only thing I might add is that after reading Tubedude's comments about his Super Fat Cat with the inflatable seat, I would only buy the foam seated Fat Cat.

Surely someone else can contribute something here. ATFishing owns several ODC's and fishes the salt in So. Cal. You there, AT?

z~
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hey Matt, welcome aboard. Let's see if I can add some meaningful input. I jockeyed a Kennebec for about a year and a half. I have been floating a SFC for a little over 2 years. Before those, I have gone through many other craft. Been there, done that.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also lived in San Diego and have fished both the bays and the open water off La Jolla (no white sharks). I have actually fished all the way from about the middle of Baja on the Pacific Side to Puget Sound. In the Sea of Cortez, I have fished both sides, quite a ways down both coasts.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I know all about teeth and spines. I have had lots of "exposure", both to my flesh and to my air chambers. No matter how creative I have been with protective aprons and fish handling, I have gotten spine punctures in my bladders. Goes with the territory.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The air chambers in the Kennebec are vinyl (pool toys). The single long air chamber in Fat Cats is urethane...thicker and stronger than vinyl, but still "stickable". The urethane bladders in Fat Cats is tough and should last for many seasons, with proper inflation and care.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As you have no doubt discerned from my past ramblings, if you have read through any of the other threads on Fat Cats, I like my SFC better than anything I have ever used, but I still have a lot of issues with it. I have disliked the seat since day 1. The low backrest gives be a backache, no matter how I inflate or adjust it. I have had to devise two or three different "modifications" to raise the back support. And, the bottom cushion has "welded" seams that develop pinhole leaks. Bad quality for the additional $100 you pay for inflated seats.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Although I do not use the "apron" for holding stripped in fly line, I do appreciate having a good apron for tackle tinkering and fish control. The SFC apron is wimpy, as is the one on the ODC 420. In fairness, the short "front deck" makes it a challenge to provide a good apron. That was one of the things about the Kennebec I DID like. I did not like the stabilizer bar, but it helped provide a good apron attachment.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After that, I really like the way the SFC floats and fishes. You sit high out of the water (more than the Kennebec), and the pointed bow (stern) really makes for better handling in chop or wind. The ODC has the same design. You will love that feature after having to fight the round pontoons on the Kennebec in sloppy water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Both of the models you are considering have good pocket space. I never did like the Kennebec. A large pocket area, but divided up into several small compartments. I actually cut out the inner dividing panels to create one big pocket for my lure boxes. I have really appreciated the large pockets on the SFC.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]$200 for a "gently used" SFC is a good price. However, it is a decision only you can make, based on your personal preferences, budget, etc. We are still evaluating the ODC 420, but so far the consensus is that it is definitely a great value and the craft is overall a good substitute for the Fat Cat, at a lower price.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As Zonker and I agree, we do not plan to have and use any ride longer than about two years anyway. If you can get everything you need and want, for less money, and get a couple of good years out of it, then you done good.[/#0000ff]
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[ATFISHING]

MKIM AS ZONKER SAID I DO FISH THE BAYS AND HARBORS OFTEN AND LIKE TD SAID WHO HAS FISHED ALOT MORE WATER THAN ALL OF US COMBINED, THERE'S ALOT OF TEETH AND SPINES OUT THERE I THINK THE WORST OFFENDER WOULD BE THE HALIBUT (OR A BERRY). IF ITS BIG ENOUGH IT CAN PUNCH A HOLE NO MATTER WHAT KIND OF BLATTER, BUT THEN AGAIN A HALIBUT THAT BIG YOU DON'T WANT FLOPPING ON YOUR LAP ANYWAY. WHAT I WOULD BE MORE WORRIED ABOUT IS THE INFLATABLE SEAT ON ONE OF THE FC MODELS. IF THAT'S THE ONE YOUR THINKING OF I WOULD HAVE TO GIVE THE EDGE TO A FC WITH FOAM SEATING OR THE ODC. I THINK IF YOUR CAREFUL YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE ANY PROBLEMS, IN FACT I WOULD BE MORE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR WADERS SPECIALLY THE THIN BREATHABLE ONES. GET YOURSELF A BOBA GRIP TO HANDLE THE CRITTERS, A MUST WHEN FISHING THE SALT, AND YOU SHOULD BE OK. NICE TO KNOW SOMEONE WHO FISHES SAN DIEGO BAY, I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO FISH IT, I MAY HIT YOU UP SOMETIME.

AT
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[smallmouth89]

I have been using an Outcast Fat Cat since 2000 and am very pleased with it. The fact that the Creek Company ODC uses the foam blocks and the same configuration, I wouldn't hesitate to pick one up for $110 U.S. The company however has restricted their shipping to the U.S. so us Canadians can not take advantage of this great deal. Anybody who is considering a purchase should definitely have this craft at the top of their list.
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