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That is both a good and bad idea at the same time. We have a hill in the back of our school and we decided to try the tubes out. They work perfectly as a sled but there is no way to really hold on to the tube. Also if you go over any small hill at the bottom of the hill you will fly into the air and smack onto the pavement and land into a puddle. (Atleast this is what happened to one person on our team.) They are really fun though as long as you ditch it before the bottom, or not if you don't mind hitting the road.
And I know that in Pittsburgh they had crates full of new tubes so they definatly had alot to spare, and must have known that tubes would be popped or get worn out fast.

Re: pic: FLR's Ringer Graveyard
 

The holes can be as small as a pin hole. About 2 hours later when we were ready to deflate them all, it didn't look like this, but more of a wrinkled tube yard.

And there are at least 20-30 more underneath all them that are completely deflated that you can't see.

Re: pic: FLR's Ringer Graveyard
 

Boy, am I ever glad we decided not to use eggs as game pieces like I originally suggested...

Re: pic: FLR's Ringer Graveyard
 

They should be Cadbury Creme Eggs. Therefore the broken ones are much better and much more enjoyable to clean up.

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Sweet!

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My siblings got a couple of the used ringers from GLR :)

I wouldn't recommend them for sledding; they even say "Not a Life Saving Device" or something similar.;)

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Tubes and saucer sleds are always interesting to sled on, especially because they can go anywhere. But with a little creative engineering, you can create snowbanks on the hill to "steer" the tubes away from objects., kind of like a luge/bobsled course. (Although the best hills I've found are those that lead right down to a lake. By the time you get a good 12"-18" of ice on that lake, you'll never have to worry about ditching your sled at the bottom of the run!)

Too bad there is nowhere to sled in downtown Hartford, CT. They are forecasting show from Friday night into Saturday this year, which is about the time all the dead tubes from the UTC Regional would start to accumulate. :p

Re: pic: FLR's Ringer Graveyard
 

Good thing I got my hands on some of those that didn’t have holes in them. And oh about the whole costly thing.... One, FIRST gets an amazing deal on all of these, or they are donates. Second, Even if they don't they only cost like two bucks a piece, and there is like 100 per regional, there is like 30 regional’s, so 100x30x2 = $6000 which is nothing considering the fact that there is 50 teams per regional, that pay 5k each, and there is 30 regional’s, which is 50x5000x30 = $7,500,000 so pretty much that is like chump change. Anyway good thing that I got my hands on a couple of those that were left over from GLR! They were handing out the ones that were in "Used" shape. Which mine was brand new. But yah.... I agree it is sad to see them all there. And even worse to think about that at the end of nationals they just get thrown away.... Does anyone else think that it is rediculus that the judges just knife them out of grabbers that dont let them go..... WOW when I saw that I just thought what a waste! No big deal... I guess they have to do what they have to do. This is a great picture though!

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I suggest Peeps - they're more resilient and come in so many shapes and colors!

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Did you ever put Peeps in a microwave?

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Of course the tubes had holes in them - if they didn't they would be disks!

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At the NJ Regional we took the dead ringers, spoilers & keepers and donated them to the audience. Whoever wanted one could have as many as they wish. It's better then throwing them out. A team could patch the tube and re-use it till it can't be re-used no longer. I'm pretty sure FIRST got a great deal and had a lot of these tubes made up. If I'm not mistaken each regional was sent a pre-set amount (probably according to how many teams were competing at each event) and also had a few spare crates full as well. All in All thats a lot of pool tubes. Imagine what the carnage will be like at the championship :)

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Says you.:p

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I wonder how that would work? With all of that splatter we'd have to have the audience wear safety glasses and I don't think that would go over very well...

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At GLR, we gave a ton of the popped Ringers out for judges and crew and whatnot to wear as skirts. Seemed like half of the people there had one on by the end of Saturday!
The slashed Keepers were given to the team who had tried to place it as a 'souvenir'! :D