Airhead Hot Dog Towable | Multiple Models, Tube for Boating and Water Sports, Neoprene Seat Pads, Double-Stitched Full Nylon Cover, and Boston Valve for Convenient Inflating & Deflating

Holy crap this is awesome. I bought it after we all rode the Banana Boat at the beach, and was not disappointed. This is an excellent alternative to a tube, the kids love it. Our kids like to be thrown, and while this offers a smooth, stable ride, it's easy enough to put them in the water. Exactly everything I hoped it would be. The side tubes should have the same valve as the main tube, but aside from that, it's perfect.UPDATE AFTER 4 YEARS OF USE:I bought one of these in the summer of 2013 (I think?), we're going into our 5th lake season with it. Some reviewers complained about wear and durability, but I haven't had that problem with mine. We use it every other weekend from May to late October every year, and it's held up. We did have a hole in one of the pontoons, but that was from the kids ignoring my suggestion that they not jump on it while it was laying on the ground at the camp site. It patched up, and has made it two seasons since then with the patch still holding.The hot dog is versatile, it's an easy smooth ride if you choose to do that. My wife has fallen asleep on it riding, as has my daughter. If your kids like to be thrown, it's a little harder to sling people off the hot dog than a conventional tube, as the pontoons provide a lot of stability. I've found that running a tight figure-8 a few times builds a nice bed of waves in one of the loops, that is sure to launch people off of it.My youngest enjoys riding the hot dog the length of the lake while we're cruising, as well. We have bought 4 conventional tubes since I bought the hot dog, and no one likes them as much, so this year, I'm just going to leave those at home.The only problems I've noticed in nearly 5 years of very extensive use (hundreds of hours) are that the canvas cover has faded from exposure to the sun, and while there are three seats, we've never been able to get it to stay up with three passengers. Even in a best-case scenario with one adult and two 8-year olds, with the adult in the back, the front submarines with a third passenger. And that's with using a stabilizer egg (keeps rope above water and out of the wake) on the rope halfway between the boat and the hot dog.When this one finally does die, I'll definitely be buying another.

My 4 year old granddaughter would not ride on a tube even though she enjoyed riding in the boat and swimming around the boat when it was parked. We finally convinced her to try this tube. A lot of tubes require a planing speed to keep the nose up out of the water, but this one can be pulled at any speed. She rode it in front of grandma. I pulled them about 5 to 7 mph and they loved it. Instructions on the tube recommend sitting on the tube with knees bent and legs back, but grandma rode with her feet in front of her. It worked fine for us and she keeps asking to "ride the hot dog". But don't think this is a boring tube. When adults get on it and you add some speed and some S-turns, it is quite thrilling. Or as my daughter said "It's like riding a torpedo!"

We love it it's strong durable. You may need to top it up after a couple hours. After a couple hours of use we lost a little air through the filler spout. We tested it and there's no leaks in the actual unit itself.Also you need to put the heaviest riders in the rear and if there's only one or two riders they need to be in the rear as well. We found that out the hard way When it did a nose dive

Durable, easy to inflate.

Bought this inflatable the end of May for this summer's boating season. We have used it all season and this is what I have experienced:Pros:- Hot dog uses a heavy durable outer shell to hold the three bladders. Overall, this is a very well-built, quality inflatable.- Though only the center section has a boston valve, the pinch valves on the two outer sections use the same size connector as the fill valve on the boston valve (so if you are using an electric pump to inflate the bladders, you don't need to change the end on your pump). This made filling all three sections quick and easy.- The handles are well padded and comfortable to hang on to. The neoprene seats are also very comfortable.- The boston valve in the center has a high quality velcro cover. The outer ring of the valve is hard plastic and helps keep the bladder from "bubbling" out of the our shell.Cons:- the first 3-4 times using this inflatable, it held air all day without needing to be re-inflated. Now, every time we inflate this, after using it for 10 minutes, we need to add air to it. Usually once we add air to it the second time, it is good to go for the rest of the day. This is inconvenient being that there is not electricity or an air station by the boat landing on the lake we frequent.- The valve area of the two outer sections is poorly designed. As I stated these are pinch valves, which does not pose a problem, however, once the bladder is fully inflated, the bladder has a tendency to "bubble" out of the outer cover's opening. If the side valves followed the same design as the center valve, this would not be an issue. This is probably the reason for needing to re-inflate the hot dog after a few minutes of use. The bladder is stretching out of the outer cover's holes.- the two outer section bladders no longer are aligned properly within the outer cover. I am not able to reach very far inside the cover to straighten them out due to the small hole where the pinch valves are. I also attribute this to the fact the two outer bladders have stretched because of the poor side valve cover designs.- prolonged use will cause your knees to burn (like a rug burn). Where you kneel on this inflatable there is no padding, so you are kneeling directly on the cover which is made from woven nylon. It would have been nice to see them stitch the same neoprene used for the seats on the outer edges to protect your knees. This would make the hot dog extremely comfortable to ride, but without it, your knees will burn after a while.Other thoughts:- this inflatable is very fun to ride. It is not a wild ride as getting outside of the wake rarely happens.- This inflatable offers a smooth ride even in rougher water. We own several other inflatables that are wild, especially on rough waters, so this is a great addition to our collection.- it is a little tough to get back on this in open water. This is not exactly a con, but this does sit higher in the water so it may be difficult for larger adults to get back on it. After a few times, once you figure out how to get back on it, this is not an issue.We have had a blast using this all summer and it has held up very well. We look forward to using through the end of this season, and many more seasons to come. This inflatable would be almost perfect if it didn't have the bladder "bubbling" and stretching issues on the two side sections as having to re-inflate this twice is very inconvenient. Also, if they added some pads for your knees that would be a HUGE plus.I gave this rating 4 stars because aside from the few flaws, this is a very good inflatable and is very well built. Kids and adults alike have really enjoyed riding it. I anticipate that this will be durable enough to be used for many more seasons.

Kids and adults loved this on the lake.

Great for small kids under 10, but I wanted one for older kids bigger one. It was too small for my use.

Great mix of towable tube fun for all ages.... not as nimble as some others, but works great and kids from 10 - 60 loved it