High Lakes

I've gone back and forth with an Alpacka and now a Wilderness light float tube. Picture of my pack from last weekend after hiking down the large hill to that lake. Dry fly fishing next to the logs that surround the lake was great.
I believe the total pack weight comes in at around 8 pounds. That includes float tube, Patagonia ultralight waders, fishing gear, waist belt inflatable life vest, fins, battery powered pump.
The "hands free" movement of a float tube is hard to beat and I now prefer it to the pack raft since I've been able to get the total pack weight down to under 10lbs.
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speyflyfisher said:
One of the things I like least about the wilderness lite tube is the valves. They just suck. I've been thing about if for a long time
and I will probably do it soon is to cut a hole in the opposite storage pouch from the one with the stock valve. Cut a hole in the
cover to accommodate a Boston valve, inflate the tube and mark the position of the hole one the bladder. Cut a hole in the bladder then using the self-adhesive boston valve replacement designed for kit boarding add a second bladder valve being a boston valve. Easier to inflate and deflate and some of the light rechargeable pumps could fill it in short order.

www.flextail.com

MAX PUMP 3 - High Speed 2-in-1 Rechargeable Air Pump

FLEXTAIL MAX Pump 3 is the best camping gear for inflating mattresses and toys, a lightweight, rechargeable air pump for camping, hiking & travel. Fast inflate/deflate in seconds—compact, powerful, and adventure-ready.
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FixMyKite.com Ozone Big Boston Screw Valve Inflate/Deflate | Self Stick Valves by FixMyKite.com

The Ozone Big Boston Inflate/deflate kiteboarding Valve will replace the inflate/deflate on 2011 and newer Ozone Kite. This valve is also a compatable replacement for the Max Flow Valve from Liquid Force Kite (2011 and later) and All Switch kites.
www.fixmykite.com
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I agree deflating the WL is a PITA. I have to let it drain on its own while I pack up the rest of my gear then have to lay on it to get enough air out that I can begin rolling it while forcing more air out to get it into an 11L mesh stuff sack.

The pictures I included above show the vinyl tubing valve adapter for the WL hand pump also fits the Flextail USB electric pump adapter that will also deflate the WL. I just checked that my WL hand pump adapter fits onto my Flextail air mattress adapter, so I can hook it up, turn on the Flextail to deflate, and won't have to lay on it to start rolling it up.
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speyflyfisher said:
Candr, what are those fin/shoes??? Haven’t seen those before.
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Wow interesting. Flexible EVA foam swim training fins; lightweight, inexpensive, and they float!
I use these
They probably offer a little better propulsion against wind, fold flat, accomodate a wide variety of footwear, and are about the same price. But may weigh more. I dont think they float though.
*found some pics of my Redballs, thick neoprene wading socks and the volleyball shoes.
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The 2nd pic was at a lake 8 miles in, and I left the volleyball shoes out of my kit.
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candr said:
I've gone back and forth with an Alpacka and now a Wilderness light float tube. Picture of my pack from last weekend after hiking down the large hill to that lake. Dry fly fishing next to the logs that surround the lake was great.
Click to expand...
I remember a *mid August daytrip to a rather popular 4mi RT 4000' lake near me. Some daytrippin powerbait fishers using bobbers were on the shore. I was catching fish on nymphs out beyond where they could cast and also off to their side closer to shore. Not much later I saw some rises and I had something about the same size and greased it up. I was drifting back towards them as I was changing flies and hadn't seen them catching so I asked if they wanted to tie on flies below their bobbers flies that were working for me. They declined. I finned back to where I had been and tried a few casts.

There was a nice looking gal on the other side further over than where I was casting standing on a fallen log in the water near her campsite. They didn't have any fishing gear that I could see. She called out to her male companion who was setting up their tent, "Oh look, there's a fish !" and pointed to it. I finned over another 20-30 ft and dropped in a cast about 15'-20' off the log. Let it sit and BAM. Hooked up and C&R'd it.

That was a banner day... showing Powerbaiters that flies catch fish 🤠 , AND a pretty gal calling a shot for me. :cool:
 
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Zak said:
Does anyone know if there is an adapter that will let me use my mini K-Pump on my Wilderness Lite float tube?
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My 5ish year old Mini had an adaptor that worked great on my Wilderness Lite. I carried it on a fair number of trips.

That said, I gave it to my son and have a replacement coming soon.

It looked to me like the newer pumps come with the same assortment of adaptors so I’m expecting it to work. I’ll yet you know if it doesn’t.
 
Draketake said:
@Zak
Give K Pump a Call or Email.
Excellent Company with stellar customer service. They’ll help you out with the adapter question. They are local to me and I just can’t say enough good things about them.

Good luck.

Bob
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Thanks, I'll do that.
 
M_D said:
My 5ish year old Mini had an adaptor that worked great on my Wilderness Lite. I carried it on a fair number of trips.

That said, I gave it to my son and have a replacement coming soon.

It looked to me like the newer pumps come with the same assortment of adaptors so I’m expecting it to work. I’ll yet you know if it doesn’t.
Click to expand...
Thank you.
 
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speyflyfisher said:
Candr, what are those fin/shoes??? Haven’t seen those before.
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Aquasphere swim training fins. Eva foam. I’ve had them for a few years and tried to find a backup pair recently and couldn’t find any so they might be discontinued. They are very lightweight.
 
Agh the old guys used to say AHH JUST ANYTHING THAT FLOATS!!!. Ahhhh just get into anything that floats. RIG IT UP!!! Used to see guys with the Big Boots headin' down trail line from up ridge, clunking them boots on the trail!! Guys bragging about the WEIGHT involved. RIG IT UP!!!! AHh just get thru the day with anythung that floats
 
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JimTravers¤£a!!Travers said:
Agh the old guys used to say AHH JUST ANYTHING THAT FLOATS!!!. Ahhhh just get into anything that floats. RIG IT UP!!! Used to see guys with the Big Boots headin' down trail line from up ridge, clunking them boots on the trail!! Guys bragging about the WEIGHT involved. RIG IT UP!!!! AHh just get thru the day with anythung that floats
Click to expand...
What he said 👆😎IMG_9931.jpeg
 
Brian Miller said:
I have a friend I fished with for many years with who didn't pack waders on a trip to a 4000' elevation lake and wound up with a rather uncomfortable case of swimmer's itch for a few days. My waders, neoprene socks and sand booties weigh 28oz and take up very little pack space. The booties and socks can double as acceptable as camp shoes. I've heard that pants or a base layer and socks can help prevent "itch" but have prefered using waders for the extra protection and wamth of dry base layer bottoms underneath.
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I'm fishing lakes mostly above 6,000'. No ducks, few people, no gross bacteria. I'm in a raft.
 
Zak said:
Does anyone know if there is an adapter that will let me use my mini K-Pump on my Wilderness Lite float tube?
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Hey Zak, I used my mini K-Pump to inflate my Wilderness Lite float tube. I will take a pic of it. Please note that unless you have a mini-K-Pump that has an internal check valve, it won't work with the Wilderness Lite as its valve is not a one-way valve.
 
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I just picked up a Flextail max pump 3 today at the REI sale. Test inflation of my wilderness lite float tube. Inflation took ~5 minutes. Also used it to deflate in about 1/2 the inflation time. I’ll see how it goes in the field, but I’m still thinking about adding Boston valve in the opposite storage pocket.

The REI sale brought the pump down to 43.20 $
 
Did my first hike in trip of the year. The rechargeable pump definitely is superior to the alternatives especially deflating. I do need to look at trimming a few pounds. My pack before water weighed 21.4 lb's then add probably 5lb water to the total. Just for my curiosity, after removing the float tube/waders/fins/dive boots, I added my pack raft/inflatable mattress pad/paddles, and the weight was 15.1 lb's. I took 2 rods with reels and spare spools for each which is something I don't normally do. So, some weight trimming if bringing only 1 setup.

Just a couple of additional tidbits, 1) with my 50 L pack, tube/waders/fins/dive boots plus fishing gear, lunch water and a few items was nearly full. Taking much more would require strapping the tube to the outside which is something I try to avoid especially if heading off trail. 2)the rechargeable pump was able to inflate my pack raft in 1.5 min through the boston valve which is an equal or greater volume than the wilderness lite tube. Plus, I had some tubing that adapted the removed boston valve port to the pump and could suck the all the air out in about 30 seconds.
 
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