In praise of bicycle inner tubing...

[DaleC]

I'm working on gluing one end narrower to make an emergency condom catheter but, quite frankly, I haven't found an inner tube wide enough yet. I'm swinging by the Kenworth dealership later on today (and I do mean swinging) so maybe I'll pop in and see what they have.

Lynne, I was thinking of you DIR types when contemplating one of the more common uses but left it out in case someone else wanted to play along (with pictures).

 

[sschlesi]

Dale,

Your going to have to watch your back from now on. I've heard the Duct tape manufacturers don't take kindly to people promoting the competition, and they make the teamsters look like a bunch of pre-schoolers.

 

[Rescue Diver68]

Impressive use of innertubes but a bag of rubberbands would also do the trick in a lot of your examples. I love using the ones from my asparagus.

 

[BradnerBoy]

In lieu of?

Inside joke, buddy.

 

[Teamcasa]

Thanks for posting those picture Dale. How's your zip tie collection??

 

[Adobo]

I'm of the opinion that you can get a good read of a dive shop based on their response to the following question - "Do you guys have any inner tube and bungy?"

Great shop: what size do you need?
Good shop: Inner tube and bungy? We don't carry it. How do you use it for diving?
Mediocre to crappy shops (most): Inner tube and bungy? This is a dive shop not REI.

 

[Hank49]

In the Philippines I learned the real value of innertubes. The real value starts AFTER it's no good for a vehicle anymore.

 

[knowone]

Spike Milligan ran one out his tent during the war. Downhill hopefully. Rubber bands are shxt.

 

[101recon]

I'm working on gluing one end narrower to make an emergency condom catheter but, quite frankly, I haven't found an inner tube wide enough yet. I'm swinging by the Kenworth dealership later on today (and I do mean swinging) so maybe I'll pop in and see what they have.

Just go to a local farm tractor service center.They'll usually give you old tubes for free.Just be sure to wash them thoroughly as some farmers use things like calcium chloride or antifreeze to prevent freezing.This can cause some rather nasty burns or rashes.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I generally prefer truck inner tubes because they are stronger, but bicycle tubes do have some applications. I use truck inner tube to make elastic weight belts, mask straps, knife sheath leg straps, snorkel holders, a regulator necklace, rubber strips for securing the smb and line in a bundle and back when I used SP jet fins, I used a double layer of truck inner tube to make an excellent heel strap that was more eleastic and stronger than a store-bought rubber strap, plus the double layer provided some redundancy. I also use a strip on the stage bottle to secure the regulator. I think I even made a DIY exhaust tee for a regulator after I lost mine.