I have been on a float tube for the last 25 years now and have learned a lot on that time. However one of the things I have never truly understood where the valves that are found on the float tube. I have only really used 2 of the 4 I would like to discuss and I really think this is an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to fishing any personal inflatable boat. I would like to talk to you about a few of the different types of valves you will find when looking at different float tube and personal inflatable boats. If you understand the differences of each you will be able to make a better decision as to what your new boat should have, or at least what your upgrade should be.
First let’s talk about the older style valve the twist lock valve. This valve was a pretty common valve for a long time and really did work very well over the years. The valve on the bladder typically stuck out about 3” from the bladder horizontal and had screw lock on the end of it. By unscrewing it you had the ability to fill the bladder with air using a foot pump or double action pump. You could even use a electric pump or just blow it up with lung power like your pool toys. The down sides as I see them where if the valve was
damaged in anyway you pretty much lost the bladder all together. Also the were open inside the pockets in the float tube, my fear was accidently opening the valve when I was moving items around in the pocket. This never really happened but it was always in the back of my mind. The Twist lock valve is still used today on some older cheaper float tube models found in most common companies producing float tubes.
Our Float Tubes and there Valves