Scadden's "Carbon Lites"

[jmach]

I have a Renegade, use it a lot, and love it. So, I am a "Scadden basher". But, I went to a fishing show in Sacramento and saw his new extremely light float tube and kayaks. The material seemed so thin that the watercraft were almost translucent. No skid pads, no real nose cone on the tube. I think they would be extremely susceptible to punctures. I'm interested to see what others think.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Haven't seen the new line but minimalizing too much, in the guise of saving weight, doesn't sound good to me. I fish a lot for fish with spines and sharp gill covers...and sometimes take my craft into brushy areas. Fishing from an overinflated balloon would make me nervous.

Having extra protection on potential wear points is like having a coat on a warm day. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
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[jmach]

Tube Dude,
Thanks for the reply. That's how I see it. These ultra lightweight seem like balloons to me. I fish for a lot of hours when I go out. Sometimes I pull my Renegade up on shore to sit and eat lunch, etc. I would be worried about pulling a Carbon Lite onto one of these rocky shores, or one that has branches.
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[tubeN2]

I am along with the same sentiments as TubeDude. I fish the big salty in my tube and all I get is fish with spinyfinitis and sharp gill plates.

A floatation device like that would only fit the Trout angler that has the pleasure of launching or landing in soft sand.

I can see where the elite fly fishing person may benefit from this on a back pack trip in the mountains and wishes to minimize on weight and bulk for the haul but for all practical purposes, the audience would be limited to the aforementioned.

On a normal day in the big salty, I may hook into different species of Rock Fish, Sting Rays, Bat Rays or even fish that just love to tug the line for what it is worth. At any rate, when those fish come up and are willing to go toe to toe or toe to fin, the wafer thin floatation device usually loses out. [shocked][pirate]
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[pontoonman]

[quote jmach]I have a Renegade, use it a lot, and love it. So, I am a "Scadden basher". But, I went to a fishing show in Sacramento and saw his new extremely light float tube and kayaks. The material seemed so thin that the watercraft were almost translucent. No skid pads, no real nose cone on the tube. I think they would be extremely susceptible to punctures.

PM- If formulated correctly and with good seams CF it is many times stronger and abrasion resistant than steel threads. My fireline seems to wear much longer than others. So a balloon of a tube of the stuff would be fine for me. Scadden does not have anything to gain with something dangerous. Lightweight and strong pack tubes of this material can be adapted or designed to do anything that the heavy clunky battle tanks tubes can do and where they go, but the opposite is not true. The demand for this type should increase with the pattern of heavier, weaker, wealthier, safety conscious senior citizens. I resemble that cept for the wealth, so Scadden may be out due to price for me and others.....

That said, I'm never one to go buy the first model of anything and would want a very comfortable and adjustable integrated seat with storage behind.

PM

[flygoddess]

Looks are deceiving. I have asked Dave these questions and he is firm that they are solid.
Due to the lack of weight, no need to drag them.
I have the Predator and have had it for going on 4 years.
I have caught Walleye and very large Carp in this boat. Can honestly say I have "never" had a leak.
The new Carbon is tough. Lack of weight big bonus.
He offers such an extreme warranty for a
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[jmach]

Flygoddess,

Thanks for the post. I value your opinions. A quick point:
In my original post, I meant to say "I am NOT a Scadden basher".

Because I like the Renegade so much, I'm not in the market to replace it. But I will keep looking closely at the carbon lite. The way I fish stillwater, it probably will be necessary to drag my pontoon when I take a temporary shore break (I carry a 7lb. anchor and have a triple rod holder and a few pounds of gear in the side pockets).

I'll continue to consider it as a "pack in" boat.

Thanks again.
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