Inner Tubes

Sooo... I was wandering through Canadian Tire this morning looking for a new blender. Our beautiful CuisinArt gave up the ghost over the weekend and we miss our green smoothies. I had visited Walmart, Superstore and Costco before deciding to try Canadian Tire. For the record, Superstore had a fairly good selection while Walmart and Costco were both pathetic.

Anyhow... so there I am minding my own business, clutching the new Hamilton-Beach blender under my arm when I stopped dead in my tracks. There was a beautiful inner tube perched on a display. Wow... that brought back memories... of going to the lake and rolling our two inner tubes down to the beach. Sitting in them and having a blast. I have no idea where we go our inner tubes, probably some tire shop somewhere. I know that some of my friends had monstrous inner tubes, likely from a huge piece of logging equipment. We didn't really think about inner tubes too much... they were just a part of our lives.

And now, here was one in Canadian Tire. Was it part of a beach display? Nope... it was for sale. Yup, you can now buy an inner tube for $33.29 at Canadian Tire. It comes deflated in a plastic bag and is not to be used for vehicle tires. Go figure. Which got me thinking... do tires even use inner tubes nowadays? I know my bicycle tire has an inner tube... but what about those big truck tires... do they still use inner tubes or are they passe?

Short answer - yes... they do still make tires that use inner tubes - tractor tires for one. And they are not cheap... over $100 for a real inner tube. But if I recall, the ones we had when I was a kid came from tire shops and were usually patched. I would suppose that inner tubes have a limited life-span. When they are worn out... they become beach inner tubes.

But now... you can skip the thrill of the hunt, avoid having to bargain with a greasy truck mechanic, and head straight for Canadian Tire... if you want to spend $35 (with tax). The way I see it... our inner tubes were part of the reduce/reuse/recycle movement (before it was even cool and hip). Truck tubes that would normally get tossed were repurposed as beach toys... good for another few years/decades of gentle use. But these Canadian Tire tubes... they have been specifically made to be recreational inner tubes. Somehow leaves me scratching my head and wondering at the waste...