Float bags
tunaddict
2015-02-01 18:22:22
I made new float bags for some friends and I. Willing to make more for others. #2's #3's and #4's straight and shears. All stainless and heavy duty everything else. Send PM with phone # and will send pics. I only have 2 more weeks before starting work on boat. When that starts, that's it. $320,$340 and $360. Can color etch boat name in foam for $20.
gumpucky
2015-02-02 05:42:08
Are these prices per pair? R pics available ?
tunaddict
2015-02-02 15:24:41
Yes prices are per pair. Pics are available. Send phone # in Pm. Thanks
Those look really well-made. I'm interested & will send you a PM.
Furuno
2015-02-03 20:40:09
i'm very interested! Sent you a PM yesterday. I'll send another today.
Furuno
2015-02-03 21:05:19
PM isn't working for me. Call or text 907 738 5819. Pics please
Johnnyt707
2015-02-03 22:09:54
I sent you a PM yesterday with my info did you get it?
gumpucky
2015-02-03 22:35:48
I sent you a PM a couple days ago no reply...PM me what I need to know
joeman79
2015-02-04 00:26:54
Me too probably just busy.
Johnnyt707
2015-02-04 02:21:00
he just called me!!!!!!! he is a super nice guy that got swamped with guys wanting an excellent product!!!!! cant wait to get them Thanks a ton tunaddict
tunaddict
2015-02-05 02:58:52
Thanks for all the replies about the bags. We are making them as fast as we can. If I haven't contacted you back about Questions or orders, please try again. I was caught off guard as to all the responses I have received. Thanks again Don S.
gumpucky
2015-02-05 06:14:48
So refreshing to see someone step up to the plate and produce a reasonably priced quality product to compete with the overpriced garbage we've been having to deal with for lack of an alternative. Specs on these sound good.
I received a call from Don last evening. He called to follow-up check and be sure I wanted to order a set of his floatbags. I told him that I did and he thanked me for my business and I thanked him for providing his time and effort. He's been busy - I have 13 people ahead of me on his schedule. I have a lot of respect for someone who works to improve on marginal equipment already on the market.
joeman79
2015-02-06 19:49:42
What JKD Said!! He called I ordered, I changed my mind on style and called and left message. He called backed and confirmed changes great guy with a great story!!!
BoldVenture
2015-02-06 21:00:32
I concur that everything available is overpriced garbage and that the troll fishery is in desperate need of some decent floatbag production, including myself. However, is nobody concerned about the stainless rod being used chaffing its way through your wire? It's why bronze is the standard.
just rebuilt my floats, Don. They're not going to last too many seasons. Are you going to build floats in 2016?
tunaddict
2015-02-07 02:03:14
I have a guy that is going to build bags during the summer while I am fishing if needed. I will post his contact info on here next week. As to the chaffing issue, the other guys use brass I think. I bought a pair last summer, used them for two weeks before one broke. At the end of my season, the other one was wore a third of the way thru. The original design I went off has been around for 70 years. I looked it upon U.S patents. A fella that ordered a set mentioned that his were the same design and he had them since the 70's. That has to say something for stainless and that design. One thing I did notice on an extremely old set that came with my boat, someone had put heavy rubber over the ends of the stainless rods. I will try to incorporate that in deliveries. Having written this long post about stainless, if anybody that has placed an order and wants to try bronze I am willing to try anything that would make these better. Thanks for the nice words
Hans2
2015-02-07 16:58:53
Don - please keep mine stainless. I plan on using a plastic sleeve as chafe gear and holding it on with heat shrink, replacing as necessary.
Furuno
2015-02-07 20:30:17
I bought a pair of Kellys floats in 1979. The hardware was all stainless. I've used those damn things every season since. (36 seasons if my math is right). Yes, I've rebuilt them inumerable times replacing foam and plywood, but the stainless mechanism has never been touched except when my deckhand tried to run them through a block. There's been no noticeable damage to the wire which I try to get 2 seasons of use. Some will no doubt debate the benefits of brass vs stainless, but I'm looking forward to using a new pair of Tunaddict's stainless floats. I'm on the list and glad to see someone stepping up to manufacture decent troll gear.
BoldVenture
2015-02-07 23:00:05
Did you use stainless floatbag hardware all those years with no noticeable wear with 50lb leads?
tunaddict
2015-02-09 15:46:26
Float bag update. After acting like a production company since I put this add up. I Just finished all the pieces for the first dozen orders. I found boxes to ship them in, which was a major task. Picking them up today. I will be contacting people thru out this week to confirm shipping info for a small truck load of deliveries on fri. Thanks for all the orders, I think
tunaddict
2015-02-14 14:24:10
Delayed shipping. I showed my Dad these bags I have recreated, looking for a little praise I guess. As a father he said nice job. As a retired fisherman, he made a suggestion. Crap. His idea made the nut and bolt heads disappear from the top mechanisms. So because I want these to be the best and most durable out there. I am redoing the top pieces of wood. Sorry for delays, still should start shipping soon. Looking forward to some responses as to what other guys think of these. Thanks
tunaddict
2015-02-18 02:11:40
Shipping Day has arrived. Will ship first batch out on Wed morning. Sorry again for delays. Thanks
Check your PMs, Don. It looks like you may have gotten me confused with another fellow's order.
fvbounty
2015-03-01 19:04:27
I would love to get a 50lb set of these floats, but I'm a new member here and can't pm anyone yet, so if you could get a email to me at fvbounty@comcast.net I would appreciate it!
Johnnyt707
2015-03-02 23:55:01
just got mine in the mail havent towed them yet but they appear to be nice and well thought out.
fvbounty
2015-03-03 14:40:05
What size did you order? I just ordered the 4's, hope they work as well as they look?
Johnnyt707
2015-03-03 23:03:39
i ordered a set 0f #2 shear and #3 straights
fvbounty
2015-03-04 16:01:53
Thanks for the info, how's the build quality, it looks great in the pictures? Are you going to put a piece of tubing on the parts that clamps on the wire?
Johnnyt707
2015-03-04 22:51:15
quality looks good. no im not gonna put any tubing on the clamps.
tunaddict
2015-03-05 04:10:23
Hey just a thought. The tubing is not a bad idea if you think it will protect the wire. I don't think its necessary, but cant hurt. The latches are heat bent, so they are tempered. I can say that because once heated they were hard as hell to cut with a band saw. They will not wear. They are going to be much tougher than the brass style. The ends are not meant to clamp tight to the wire. they just hold the wire to the board. The pressure plate in the middle holds the wire in place. I'm even going to make #5's and try them myself. We can now get 70 lb cannon balls here on the Ore. coast, so I thought I would try it. That is if I ever get to go this year. We are trying to get the bags in our marine stores here, but their mark up is ridiculous. I'm on the fence about that, so we'll see.
fvbounty
2015-03-05 16:01:39
The plastic tubing wouldn't hurt, my old Scottys have a plastic clip on them to protect the wire....you should have my check today, can't wait to get them!
Furuno
2015-03-13 01:55:58
Just got mine. Haven't fished them yet, but they look great. Quality looks very good. Thanks for making a quality piece of fishing gear!
Please give me a follow-up call on my cell number. Thanks.
fvbounty
2015-03-22 18:28:50
Has anybody been able to get a hold of tunaddict, I can't PM him says he's not a member, haven't got my floats yet....just wondering???????????????????
joeman79
2015-03-22 21:09:13
I have received several Pms from Don.
Once and Future
2015-03-22 22:35:41
Bounty: Just scroll up this page until you see "tunaddict" in blue. Left click on it. A new page will come up. Look down a few lines, and you will see a link to click if you want to send him a pm. Although, didn't he say something about being gone fishing, and people should contact someone else in his absence?
fvbounty
2015-03-22 22:59:51
Thanks guys, I did get a hold of Don, and he's been having trouble with the site....hopefully he'll get it straightened out!
fvbounty
2015-03-28 17:19:44
Don if you can call me you sent the wrong floats, you sent me a set of sharing #4 with the name Last Wish on them, you had another person's name with my address on the box? Mine are supposed to be #4 straight!
fvbounty
2015-03-28 22:37:57
Is there a Ted Lorenz here and is your boat name Last Wish I have your sharing floats, and you probably have my straight #4's with yellow paint...
fvbounty
2015-03-31 02:45:54
OK I didn't want to do this, but do not buy floats from Don....what a absolute disaster, I've called him about 10 times he never calls back, He must be seeing my calls, 510 area code and won't pick up, I had a friend call him in his state and he picked up right away....he sent me the wrong floats (look at the post above), I hope there's another reason for him not replaying to my calls or PM's but at this point I give up...I have a set of his floats...#4 sharing that has the name of Last Wish on them that I would like to get get rid of for $390 delivered.... bought a ton of stuff online and this is the worst. Ken Hill, F/V Bounty....
Hans2
2015-03-31 05:12:08
I have to say I'm surprised by this. My deal with Don went exactly as planned. In fact, in spite of it bring less convenient for everybody, he arranged for me to pick up the floats at the shop he and his buddy Jeff fabricated them up at in Olympia. I never met Don in person, but we spoke on the phone for a bit and discovered we knew a lot of the same fellows. I believe he is working on his boat full time now and might be harder than normal to get ahold of. Granted, it would be frustrating that you can't get ahold of him.
Would you mind if I reached out to Jeff at the shop on your behalf to see if there was a mix up at his end that could be fixed relatively easily? Our community is too small to sell a reputation that cheaply, and I think Don knows that... You can PM me some details if you'd like.
Chris
fvbounty
2015-03-31 12:42:54
Would you mind if I reached out to Jeff at the shop on your behalf to see if there was a mix up at his end that could be fixed relatively easily? Our community is too small to sell a reputation that cheaply, and I think Don knows that... You can PM me some details if you'd like.
Chris
Trust me Chris the last thing I wanted to do is make that post, and being busy is part of the game, I'm hauled out right now so I'm a little busy too, I've been trying to get a hold of Don since March 11th...I sent you a PM and thanks in advance for any help!
ironwood1
2015-03-31 15:27:12
Hey Guys
This is Ironwood1 AKA Geoff
I am the fabricator that will be making the float bags in Don behalf. I have not been given any access to the PM message capability being the new subscriber.
I can receive PM's just cannot reply.fvbounty if you could PM me with a number I will call you to get this squared away. Don was going to put up new postings for the float bags with my contact info, but the last I talked to him he had to hall his boat out with major problems.
So P me and I will get it taken care of.
Thanks, Geoff
joeman79
2015-03-31 19:07:54
Ken,
I just sent you a PM with Don's new helpers phone number he wants to get you what you ordered. Remember this is new to Don and he is getting his boat ready also. Aint like he meant for it to happen or wants bad publicity. We are all human and make honest mistakes.
fvbounty
2015-04-01 02:23:10
Thanks guys, got every thing figured out, my new floats are on there way....for what its worth the floats I did receive they are really nice....ken
joeman79
2015-04-01 14:52:07
Glad you have thin gs going in the right direction
fvbounty
2015-04-01 18:31:34
Thanks to you!
Ironwood1 - I was glad to hear that Don has someone stepping-up to get his backlog taken care of. I just sent you a PM - please give me a call at the cell number I listed for you. Thanks in advance, Geoff. Joe
joeman79
2015-04-02 17:48:37
My fishing Buddy just received my Floatbags and said he was very impressed by the quality!! Thanks Don and Geoff!!
gumpucky
2015-04-02 18:36:50
Don was gracious enough to hand deliver my floats to me because of a holdup in design he wanted to make sure was taken care of before he signed off on em....Thinkin the guy is straight up and wants to make sure his customers are happy. BTW the quality is there.
Once and Future
2015-04-03 19:22:33
My floats were lost in shipment to SE 6 weeks ago. Don was unable to get to the bottom of it in the window of time he gave himself. I got in touch with Ironwood as per the posts above and gave him my story. He understands, but currently he cannot contact Don because Don's voice mailbox is full. He has to wait for Don to call him. They can't tell me where my floats are now. Ironwood doesn't have the tracking number.
I paid in advance because I didn't want to use Paypal. Sometimes you take a chance in a small community. Ironwood sounded helpful, and I expect this will get resolved properly. But this is aggravating. It just shouldn't be this hard.
My floatbags arrived here in Juneau yesterday. . .thanks for your help, Geoff. I am impressed with the quality of work and now I am looking forward to trying them out in a few weeeks. They make me wonder why we are paying as much as we are for the current crop of production floatbags. Some quality competition will be welcomed by the troll fleet.
kjwelder
2015-04-04 17:26:17
Does anyone have a new set of these float bags in Sitka that I could look at?
kjwelder - I sent you a PM.
fvbounty
2015-04-08 13:13:35
Got the right float bags yesterday and it took a while but they are worth the wait.....thanks Don and Geoff
tunaddict
2015-04-10 19:07:55
Hi folks. This is Megan, Don's daughter. I will be assisting in whatever way I can. Long story short, Don is out fishing, did not realize his voicemail was full. (Not to mention his usual deckhand, my brother, broke his leg in two places last week and had surgery yesterday, so the girls of the house have been focused on that!) As you all know, the reception out in the ocean is not great to begin with and I would suspect that it is probably why some calls where not even seen in the first place. We have just gotten in touch with him today, and will continue to sort out the issues until resolution. For now, you may either contact Geoff, or you may PM this account, and we will make sure that your concerns and issues are heard and resolved.
Thank you very much,
Megan.
Once and Future
2015-04-22 11:45:57
My update is that Geoff had to make a new set of floats for me because he could not contact Don to find out what happened to the old set. I am out of town right now, but my friend in Wrangell says he has received the set of floats and they look good.
Furuno
2015-06-25 04:12:56
I've been using my new floats for the past month. Very happy with the quality and workmanship. Also, the price was right!
joeman79
2015-10-06 00:03:01
Really Love my new floatbags!!! Only issue is locknuts on handle seems to tighten up frequently but no big deal. Carved out hand holds and got along great.
Once and Future
2015-10-06 23:31:33
Joe - where did you carve out a hand hold? I never got efficient with these because, to me, the latching mechanism required a third hand.
I gave sent Geoff an email with the feedback he requested, but he did not answer me, so maybe he didn't see it.
On old style float bags, I attach to wire by holding float in one hand, and the other hand closes and locks the latch in one motion because one handle does both operations. These new float bags are superior quality, but the latch and the lock are two separate levers. And I never mastered it. So I wonder if I need a tip, or am just clumsy.
Also, another nitpick, is that the little locking "crank" ends up pointing down where it can snag passing debris, rather than laying back like the old style.
For those unfamiliar, the new floats have a "U" shaped lever that folds the hinge shut, rather than an "L" shaped handle like the old ones. This U shaped lever drops over a little crank handle, which you then rotate 90 degrees to lock the hinge down. And, unless I was doing something wrong, the wire has to cross the latch in a very precise place to be captured properly. Anybody else struggle?
joeman79
2015-10-07 00:04:15
Just below the latch maybe inch or 2 below I carved out a Slot big enough to get my hand through for just what your talking about. You need a thin bladed knife as u have to get below mechanism or block unseen from outside of foam. I will look through my pics and see if I can post a pic. Makes it 10 times easier by having your hand to maneuver float with control. On port side I put my right hand in slot and starboard my left hand with board hanging down and latch up. Don't know if that makes any sense to you or not.
Once and Future
2015-10-10 13:02:01
I kind of follow you, but need a picture to go and do likewise.
lone eagle
2015-10-10 22:46:56
My deckhand asked what the slot was for and I had no answer. I know now and look forward to next year to try it out......hate losing floats, Thanks
joeman79
2015-10-19 20:04:49
I'd send a pic but Boats in Thorne Bay I'm in Kansas So I will try and draw it out and take picture and post.
joeman79
2015-10-19 20:04:54
I'd send a pic but Boats in Thorne Bay I'm in Kansas So I will try and draw it out and take picture and post.
joeman79
2015-10-19 20:17:46
I don't know if this helps or not. Cut out is about the size of an IPhone 5 so I suppose about 3 1/2 x 6. Might want to stick an Ice pic in below latch to find bottom of installed hardware. The. Just took super sharp thin filet knife and carved out but u could use some type of coarse grinding wheel I am sure. Makes putting bags on and off much easier.
Picture is upside down don't know how to correct.
joeman79
2015-10-19 21:22:44
Here is a pick a buddy sent me of his
Once and Future
2015-10-21 02:00:48
For once, a picture makes me more confused. Your friend seems to have modified an old-style float. I thought you had come up with a modification to make the new style floats work easier. It now appears that the modification works on both types. But the old style float doesn't have any hardware in the foam in the way of your slot, does it?
joeman79
2015-10-22 09:41:52
Your right the old style floatbags do not have the hardware underneath the latch. But the hardware is only about an inch inch and a half below the top of the float bag so you can carve the handle in the same way you do on the old-style you just have to be below it. I dropped the floatbag one time before I made the cut out and it makes it so much easier to handle putting on and off the wire.
Tunaddict, I've tried to connect with you via the PM route. Maybe you'll see this post. I'm ready to buy a pair or two of your floats. Please respond. thank you.
Jambrosier
2016-01-21 04:29:40
Are you still making float bags this year. I'd like to buy a set ifyou are.
joeman79
2016-01-26 21:57:04
I left a message on Don's phone
joeman79, please leave a personnel message which helps connect me with whomever builds the floats. It's getting close to troll season
Portigee
2016-02-21 05:13:26
I would like to order a set. The ones used for 50 pound leads
Thanks. Dave Silva
P.O. Box 602 Wrangell
Hm. 907-874-4602
Cell. 907-305-0142
Big Chinook
2016-03-06 04:59:00
Does anyone know if they are still making them?
Flyer
2017-02-11 10:17:50
I'm late to the party.... are you still making these floats? I'd like a set.
Flyer
2017-02-11 10:24:07
I'm late to the party.... are you still making these floats? I'd like a set.
Are you still making these? I could use some! Let me know
Thanks
Anonymous
2019-04-03 22:32:11
Is it to late to order two sets?
i need them before May 1st
cheers...Tal
707-480-2843
Anonymous
2019-04-25 22:10:38
Snow float tube mk2 inflatable seat and back rest used 6 time . Comes complete as it was when purchased with pump flipper and bag. This also come with a full set of new bladders. ?120
Anonymous
2019-05-07 11:25:13
Im about 63 and 80-85 kg. Im after a 3mm or a 5mm suit. I dont do a whole lot of diving over winter but I plan to. Would 3mm keep me warm enough for short dives in winter. Im from the Wilsons prom area.
New or second hand I dont mind As long as its in good condition.
Also after a dive float setup too
Looking to spend 250 - 350 on the suit. Is that realistic?
And maybe 50 - 100 on the float.
Cheers
Anonymous
2019-05-08 20:02:35
Hey guys i have this float tube just lying in my room, i got it a few years ago and have never used it. I dont really plan on using, so i am willing to trade and or sell it, ill get a pic up of it, if anyones interested send me a pm
Anonymous
2019-05-13 18:23:48
Hey guys i have this float tube just lying in my room, i got it a few years ago and have never used it. I dont really plan on using, so i am willing to trade and or sell it, ill get a pic up of it, if anyones interested send me a pm
Anonymous
2019-05-14 11:13:22
Hey guys i have this float tube just lying in my room, i got it a few years ago and have never used it. I dont really plan on using, so i am willing to trade and or sell it, ill get a pic up of it, if anyones interested send me a pm
Anonymous
2019-05-15 05:19:42
Hey guys i have this float tube just lying in my room, i got it a few years ago and have never used it. I dont really plan on using, so i am willing to trade and or sell it, ill get a pic up of it, if anyones interested send me a pm