swim rings

[heaviest]

Re: swim rings

So that 49 inch lemon slice float seems to have become unavailable so I can't get more.

I'm looking for something that ordinary people will find comfortable to sit on outside the pool. Something sturdy enough and natural enough that they'll sit on it, but not so sturdy that it isn't fun for me to stress the hell out of it.

Intex used to have what they called a pillow backed lounge, which was a 48 inch tube with a pillow sticking out the side of it to lean on, and vinyl covering the hole so that small people don't sink right through it. Basically, a really low chair. But these seems to have become unavailable, too.

[craggy2012]

Re: swim rings

I had one of these floats, but tossed it as it was just too small. The joy’s of buying off Amazon- no sizes, doctored, edited photo (that or they’d shrunk the model lol).

[heaviest]

Re: swim rings

I've had a lot of 36 inch rings fail with a slow leak lately, and that's very disappointing. But 303 pound girl popped one for me today. Sat to one side of it, bottomed out almost immediately, added air, then got rough with it. Squirmed around, made all kinds of boomy skin-on-vinyl noise. Love seeing heavy-ish women on these. 303 pounds looks like it's way too much. Flattens one side of it while the other side bulges, and then to squirm and abuse it just looks awesome. She did that until she was feeling winded. Gave it a rest, then got back on it and it popped immediately.

I got on one but kept my weight evenly distributed. It lasted about twenty seconds and then popped. She got on another one and kept her weight evenly distributed, except to squirm and make boomy noises. That ring survived a half hour of moderate abuse that did not include unevenly loading it like we usually do.

[heaviest]

Re: swim rings

Was hooping to have an inflatable to sit on outside the pool and thought the jellyfish was the one. Looking for something people wouldn't expect to hold a lot of weight but does hold a lot of weight. Something smaller than an island inflatable but sturdier than a normal ring with its one fragile inner seam.

I got my hands on some inflatable chairs. They're like beanbags, but have two concentric circular support veins in the seat, like the old bubble furniture chairs and sofas. The seat back is a little higher than the rest of the chair, but its still more beanbag-like than chair-like. There are some pretty crappy ones available for an inexplicable $30 each, but there are also some better, adult ones. I got one for $25 and liked it enough to buy six more.

There's a second air chamber that is much smaller and just runs around the bottom of the chair, to add stability. Your weight is still pretty much all on the main air chamber. It's rated for 250 pounds. It's almost sturdy enough to be uninteresting to me, but I figure I can leave these around the pool even with super heavy friends attending.

Because of the bulge in the chair at the back, the support vein seams run a bit up a slope, which means they're loaded not evenly. So while they feel super sturdy, I'm satisfied that 600 pounds might just burst these things unexpectedly, so they aren't totally boring. And I can add more stress sitting forward to load it unevenly.

I haven't gotten my partner on it with me. I always eventually pop my inflatables, but I want to actually use these at pool parties. I did sit on 200-pound girl's lap in this thing, and she said the seam at the back of her butt felt like it pulled so tight it would burst, so we didn't stay on it.

[heaviest]

Re: swim rings

Intex used to have what they called a pillow backed lounge, which was a 48 inch tube with a pillow sticking out the side of it to lean on, and vinyl covering the hole so that small people don't sink right through it. Basically, a really low chair. But these seems to have become unavailable, too.

I stand corrected. I don't know where to get them, but there were a couple at the pool today. Lots of people using them, too. Several instances of two, three and four people at a time on them. Rated for 220 pounds, if I recall. Women were taking selfies with a guy who was apparently a bigwig in this group. They'd sit side-by-side when there were two on the chair, or he'd sit in the center with women balanced on the sides when there was a three-some.

At one point they had two fairly heavy women who were more on top of him than to his sides, because they didn't fit to his sides, and to get another guy on there with them, they all got up and the guys sat to the sides, on the ring, and the women sat on their laps. At least 900 pounds between the four of them. They hadn't expressed concern about popping the thing until they got all four of them on it. It was super stretched when they got up.

They weren't my chairs so I didn't sit on them, but I wanted to. I told my partner to grab her phone and go get a selfie with the guy but she didn't do that LOL.

[heaviest]

Re: swim rings

More fun with swim rings at the pool. The woman I've called Tall Girl, who I'm told weighs just over 600 pounds, and a woman my partner's size, about 450 pounds, were there. The smaller woman was a champ at dropping onto a 47 inch ring and landing it without falling off. She'd stand on the top stair and put the thing behind her and just drop into it. She didn't really fit in the hole, but got partially into it enough to hook her butt into it and sit almost normally, with the part under her thighs submerged. When she got bored floating like that she'd lean forward slowly, sinking one side while the other side popped out of the water, until she'd slide out of it, and then she'd take the thing to the stairs and drop into it again. She could also land reliably face down, by falling far enough forward that she'd hook her belly into the hole.

Tall girl tried the butt drops and had substantially more trouble staying on it. It was way more unstable, and she didn't come close to fitting in the hole, so she was more on top of it and not so much in it, and it sunk a lot more and spilled her a lot. But she did manage to float, with her legs far under water and just a part of the tube under her back not fully submerged. And I got to see her drop on the thing several times, briefly submerging it completely. I also looked from underneath with goggles on. The tube under her legs was flattened against her skin like it is when a heavy person sits on it out of the water. Pretty cool to see in the water. So much of it was flattened that I thought it had leaked and would be partially deflated when she got off it, but it was just stretched normally and still mostly inflated.

I also floated in the rings, and when I leaned forward to submerge one side as much as I could, basically sitting on the ring rather than in the hole, it felt really tight against my butt and legs, like it would burst. But it didn't. Tall girl didn't get to see herself dropping onto the things, but was impressed when I did it. "OMG I m musta sunk the thing even more, didn't I?!" She then did some gratuitously hard butt drops, and mostly fell off.

[heaviest]

Re: swim rings

One more day with a brief period of private pool access before I head home. Mostly a working visit, and it's ironically too hot for gathering at the pool. And just a couple people with me. Tall girl is just over 600 pounds, there's another woman of about my partner's size, and a guy who says he's exactly the person his 500+ rated float is made for, Mr "not a lot more than that".

The high quality pool float is a rainbow-bottom 45-inch tube rated for 500+ pounds. He's super proud of it, but I prefer flimsier floats LOL. It's large-ish, so it's probably 45 inches inflated. It does, indeed, float him just fine. Tall girl doesn't really fit in it, but it floats her, too. The weight rating means it likely won't burst, but a ring even that size still looks overloaded with that much weight on it, so it's still fun to see even if it's unlikely to pop. We have popped one of these before, though. Thick vinyl, not very stretchy, reinforced inner seam. If it was mine I'd sit on it outside the pool to make it interesting. If it was mine I'd want to get two of us on it.

But my rings (I have two) are un-rated cheap things and Tall Girl knows I'd totally love to see her pop them. We drop into them and they take the abuse just fine. I watch her sit on it, one side loaded more heavily than the other, from under water with goggles again. Flattened under her legs a surprising amount, and bulging under her back. We've done all this before and I won't be able to keep her interested. What she hadn't already done, though, is drop into the water with one leg through the tube. The whole thing goes under water briefly, and about the third time she does this she is able to stay in it. Basically, sitting with the tube between her legs, just about submerging the thing. From under water it looks like she has so much of it flattened that it must have popped. But nope, she got out of it and it's stretched to hell but still holding air.

We add air, she gets one leg into it and floats in it with one side squashed and under water again and the other side bulging out of the water. She squirms and twists the thing, and her skin makes popping noises against the wet vinyl. Then...pow! It's a lot like the other popping noises she's been making, but this one's louder and she screams, and it's definitely leaking air this time. The bulging side deflates and the whole thing goes under water.

The other ring, and the heavy duty one, survive the fairly short pool session.

Those Intex inflatable chairs are still here and apparently abandoned, so we're able to use those. They are basically a 48 inch ring with a bulge sticking out of them to lean on, and they have vinyl covering the hole. There's a small hole in that piece of vinyl so that it doesn't trap air. They hold me just fine but I wonder how durable that vinyl over the hole is. It stretches a lot with me on it. Tall girl's butt is wider so she doesn't load it so much. I sit to one side, on the tube, so 450 pound girl can join me on the other side. She's freaked out about popping it but it holds us. 500 pound guy and tall girl try to both get on the other chair, but they have less patience than I'd like and they don't figure out how to balance. I can't see what I and 450 pound girl look like on a 48 inch tube, but those other two make the thing look tiny. I wish she'd just sit on him, but they instead give up and she takes that chair. Drops into it really hard and the other woman kinda screams and laughs, but the chair doesn't pop.

I asked who the chairs belonged to and was told they were abandoned and that I should take them with me, so I did. There's a third that was almost completely deflated. The one I was on with the other woman seemed really soft when we got off of it but I've tested it and it is not leaking. The third chair does have a leak.

[VickyLynnVixen]

Re: swim rings

Are they the old "Turbo sport tube" or "Fun Tyre" printed ones? They were awesome, the new ones aren't so good

What I like doing with black ones is sit on them out in the sun - they become so soft that you eventually touch the ground and the sides expand, so you just keep adding air to them and eventually you end up with two massive bulges either side of you. Gets you some interesting looks at the local outdoor pool!

HA! That's how I came to have some of the largest in my collection. Mine expanded evenly, so not too disfigured.

My prize is the sun-stretched Intex black River Rat, and a crystal clear.

[heaviest]

Re: swim rings

Has anyone noticed that some rings of the same model have been made both with a slim inner seam and a wide seam? I've been calling these a single seam and a double, but I'm not sure what the difference in construction really is, other than one is hardly a ridge and the other actually sticks out from the tube. From a marketing perspective the slim seam could potentially be called a smooth seam.

I'm not sure the "double" seam actually prevents a leak any better. I think it reduces the likelihood of a pop if there is a leak. And I don't know if it's an older design or if both have been made at the same time at different factories. I'm thinking it's an older design.

[heaviest]

Re: swim rings

I currently have a "double" seam 36 inch intex that 205 pound girl has been on, sitting exclusively on one side. A small amount of air has been added, twice, to keep it from getting too soft. I didn't think to measure before we started, but I think these tubes are normally 26 1/2 inches around, fully but not over inflated. It is currently 27 3/4 inches on one side and 29 1/2 inches on the other hours after she got off it, which seems like more than usual permanent stretch. When she first got on it it was a couple minutes before she bottomed out. Even with additional air, it now bottoms out immediately, so the vinyl has gotten softer. And it stretches to 33 inches when she bottoms out, for 6 1/2 inches of stretch.

The most stretch I've seen on a 36 inch ring has been 9 1/2 inches, 26 1/2 inches to 36. The most stretch I've seen on a 30 inch ring, not including the one that developed a huge permanent bulge, is 6 3/4 inches, 22 inches to 28 3/4. Both of those were with way more than 200 pounds.

The 30 incher that developed a permanent bulge with nearly 600 pounds unevenly loaded on it, which is a fluke (it normally pops), grew from 22 inches to 37 1/2 inches, a 15 1/2 inch stretch! People with air compressors get that kind of stretch, but loading inflatables with weight normally doesn't.

To summarize what I've learned about weight stretching rings...

They develop leaks or pop when loaded modestly over time, and they'll take a lot more weight for short duration. For example, a 30 inch ring with 200 pounds unevenly loaded on it will develop a leak or pop 100% of the time, eventually, but it will also take 300 pounds for a short duration without damage, other than a small amount of permanent stretch.

An overinflated ring will develop a leak even with no weight on it, and it can takes days for this to happen or it can happen overnight.

An unevenly loaded ring is more stressed than a ring with the same amount of weight on the one side and additional weight on the other. For example, 300 pounds on one side of a 30 incher will pop it in minutes at best, but put another 200 pounds on the other side and it will hold for a lot longer. Weird and fun.

And the vinyl gets softer when weight stretched, even if it mostly recovers under no load. That is, the next time you load it it will bottom out more quickly, even if you've added air to make it just as hard or harder, fully inflated, than new.

[PBK]

Re: swim rings

I presently have a black River Rat tube sitting in our backyard pool. Forecast today is sunny and 34/93 degrees. I also have an Intex orca in there. I'll add air to them periodically and see how big they get. I'll post pics if I achieve anything mind-blowing.

[heaviest]

Re: swim rings

Not really a swim ring, but I don't want to start a new thread...

600+ pound "tall girl", I, and 205 pound woman all got on a pegasus pool float on the concrete. One ring plus round center in the main body, plus wings, tail and head. It was a tight fit. Tall girl and I sat with our backs to each other, 205 pound girl to our side. Just the weight of our feet not on the inflatable. We were on it for quite a while, and when we got up it was so stretched the head didn't stay up. It took a lot of air to reinflate, but it seemed to hold air, so I don't think it leaked.

Tall girl and I got back on it a while later, but with air added and the vinyl recovered and the thing now overinflated it felt like it would burst, so we didn't stay on it. With more privacy I definitely would have stayed on it.

Sitting on a thick float with someone heavy is a lot of fun because you can really feel each other's weight. As it stretches you start to bottom out, and then they get on it and it lifts you again and feels tight. It never stops feeling tight again with that much weight on it, even as it stretches.

[georgebayer_1]

Re: swim rings

Hello all,

what are your experiences with inflatableworld.de giant swim rings?

https://www.inflatableworld-wsp.de/catalog/product_info.php/grosser-ring-gelb-glaenzend-p-202

I received my order today and I can say, they are simply wonderful! How big have you inflated it? And did you tried B2P of it?

[meidolooner]

Re: swim rings

Joining into the discussion, I really love swim rings! They are some of my favourite inflatables.

I mostly have experience with the 36 inch Intex rings. I like laying on them and sitting in them, it feels pretty nice.

Swim rings are really fragile inflatables in my experience though, I've gone through 5 of them in the last year I think. It's always the inner seam that rips apart. I don't even weight that much, I am only at around 125 pounds, but it's enough to pop them. Most popped as I was laying on them, and one popped as I was inflating it. I really like my inflatables tight but swim rings don't really allow that. x)

The last one I popped was one of those Intex tyre swim rings. I inflated it tight, played with it and left the room for a bit only to discover it lost a lot of air when I returned. It made a slight hissing noise so I knew it developed a leak somewhere. I got quite angry, inflated it by mouth until the pressure grew quite high and laid on it, it exploded straight away. Felt nice to see the mischevious ring laying destroyed under me x)

[heaviest]

Re: swim rings

I've gone through 5 of them in the last year I think

I feel accomplished if I get one to last into a second day I'm okay with buying lots of them.

A 36 inch ring will take a crazy amount of weight for a short period of time, but it's unpredictable, and even a modest weight will eventually break that inner seam. Even just leaving them overinflated they'll eventually spring a leak.

I like to see them loaded unevenly. They'll usually take 200 pounds loaded unevenly (sitting on one side of the tube) for ten minutes to maybe an hour. They'll take 300 pounds for a few minutes to maybe twenty minutes. And they'll take 500-600 pounds loaded evenly for a few minutes to way more than an hour.

But they always spring a leak or pop, and with this much weight, it's a day or two of short sessions.

I've been meaning to reinforce the seam.