Outdoors Winter Recreation
★ 95 score
SNO-TUBE Inflatable Snow Tube
by SNO-TUBE
A heavy-duty inflatable snow tube sold in the early 1990s (notably through the JC Penney Christmas catalog), used for sledding and doubling as a pool float. The brand appears to be out of production, but original tubes are still in use decades later.
Why it's buy-it-for-life
The original poster's family has used the same SNO-TUBES since 1994 and they still hold air in 2025 (12k+ upvotes). Multiple commenters independently report their own tubes from the same era still working — one marked 1994 used the previous weekend, another passed down to kids and nieces — while noting that modern replacement snow tubes routinely pop within a season.
Tags
vintage winter sledding inflatable discontinued snow-gear
Reddit sources · 11 mentions
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“My family has been using the same SNO-TUBES since 1994. Still holding air in 2025!”
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“We just use that same one over the weekend. Ours is also clearly marked as from 1994.”
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“We still use this exact tube, purchased from the JC Penney Christmas Catalog when I was a kid. My kids love it!”
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“We have the exact same ones from the exact same time, and ours still work great as well.”
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“I still have one of mine from when I was young too! My kids were just using it last week.”
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“My parents still have these in the garage from when I was a kid! My nieces used them two winters ago!”
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“We have the same one! Still kicking somewhere in the fam home!”
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“We had the exact same ones! Still kicking also.”
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“I had those same ones. They lasted forever. ... I have to buy my kids new snow tubes every winter because they pop.”
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“They definitely held up with all the Minnesota winters and I wonder if my mom still has it”
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“Used them year round! All winter and in the summer in the pool! Best toy ever.”
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“Mine finally popped a few months. It was a sad day.”
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“I think we also used them as pool floats and the sun eventually ruined them”
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“We popped all of ours jumping off of ramps we should not have attempted”
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“We had one left but it broke when we needed to use it as a winter pool float.”
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“I had one lose air, but as I recall it was more due to the sharp stick that impaled it.”