07-30-2008, 08:20 PM
Got my new/old Fat Cat at the door this morning. I'm impressed at the improvements they have made since my Fat Cat 66 (vintage 1999) The double zippered and velcro pockets are great compared to my single zipper on the old Cat. I can now easily put my finder in the pocket secured to its waterproof battery box and zipper up tight to it exactly as I do on my Fish Cat pontoon.
The seat back storage is a big plus although I spent a minute or so trying to stuff the seatback into the jacket pocket. The heavy duty material on the bottom extending to cover the tips of the pontoons protects the area from prickly fish fins.
My old Cat has two separate inflateable bladders and this one has one with the same valve as used on my Fish Cat pontoons. With foam block seating that is probably a plus. Two separate bladders would make me feel more secure though If I had inflateable seats. This is probably a moot point as I haven't come close to losing the air in my pontoons in the 8 years I've been using the Fat Cat 66.
I have to thank our guru, Pat for his "spot on" advice concerning installing the foam blocks. I struggled so much with my original Cat when I first got it I ended up fishing in it for about a month with the tubes stuffed in the wrong way. Following Pat's suggestions this time I aired it up to full capacity to stretch the material then deflated it to a soft stage. I put the blocks into a sink full of soapy water and they slid in like a "piece of cake."
Now I'm ready to get my son out on the water as my original is still going strong.
God Bless,
Don
P.S. I call this my new/old tube because it is not this year's model and I have the higher quality urethane bladder because of it.. As a long time user of Outcast products I can't believe that they have gone to vinyl bladders and kept the price the same on their Fat Cats and SFC's. I consider myself fortunate to have found the last unit in an on-line store in Alberta.
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The seat back storage is a big plus although I spent a minute or so trying to stuff the seatback into the jacket pocket. The heavy duty material on the bottom extending to cover the tips of the pontoons protects the area from prickly fish fins.
My old Cat has two separate inflateable bladders and this one has one with the same valve as used on my Fish Cat pontoons. With foam block seating that is probably a plus. Two separate bladders would make me feel more secure though If I had inflateable seats. This is probably a moot point as I haven't come close to losing the air in my pontoons in the 8 years I've been using the Fat Cat 66.
I have to thank our guru, Pat for his "spot on" advice concerning installing the foam blocks. I struggled so much with my original Cat when I first got it I ended up fishing in it for about a month with the tubes stuffed in the wrong way. Following Pat's suggestions this time I aired it up to full capacity to stretch the material then deflated it to a soft stage. I put the blocks into a sink full of soapy water and they slid in like a "piece of cake."
Now I'm ready to get my son out on the water as my original is still going strong.
God Bless,
Don
P.S. I call this my new/old tube because it is not this year's model and I have the higher quality urethane bladder because of it.. As a long time user of Outcast products I can't believe that they have gone to vinyl bladders and kept the price the same on their Fat Cats and SFC's. I consider myself fortunate to have found the last unit in an on-line store in Alberta.
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