GizmoTube© Review

Thanks to Jacob for this entry in our July writing project Write a Review. Today is the last day of the project so if you were planning to enter, do it now. Full details at Write a Review.


This review will focus on the GizmoTube©, a device (patent pending) about to hit the small-boat market. Thanks to my 'industry' connections, I have had the opportunity to try a prototype of this novel device and obtained permission to share my early findings. In case you are an early adopter, I have been told that the GizmoTube© will go on sale at your favorite boating store this coming fall*.



Laser sailors know that it's good to have the weight outside of the boat when the wind pipes up. Unfortunately, not all of us are built that way. In fact, it has been my observation that a sizeable number of 'mature' sailors have accumulated extra mass, but it is centered around the midriff. No help whatsoever on those windy days. Well, the GizmoTube© allows you to shift this blubber to the shoulders. After swallowing the device, not an easy feat, I might add, one simply opens the valve when about to hike out. With the body roughly horizontal, mass from the midriff area will flow to the shoulders. At least ten pounds outside the boat now. It sure made hiking a lot easier for me. Wow, I could actually keep the boat flat upwind in 15 mph! Once around the windward mark, you just sit up and all that mass flows back downward..



Did the Gizmotube© work? Well, it certainly did for me; I finally moved out of the bottom pack during this evaluation. But the initial swallowing was a bit hard and will get some getting used to. And yes, the GizmoTube© will be class legal. But if you are in doubt, ask yourself who really IS really going to look down your throat at the the Skippers' meeting?



* I have just learned that the FDA insists on reviewing the GizmoTube©. This is likely to postpone the official launch by a few months. An official press release regarding this development will follow shortly.



PS: This review was intended to be unbiased; but after a few Dark and Stormys, provided by the manufacturer, I am not so sure anymore.