Rare Air

WE PUT FIVE HOT NEW INFLATABLES TO THE TEST

- JEFF HEMMEL

If there's one towable that has stood the test of time, it's the inflatable. Or, as those of us who grew up riding those literal truck-tire innards around the lake used to call them, tubes.

There's plenty of reasons for their long-term popularity. Unlike most tow sports, tubes have no real learning curve. The right inflatable can also satisfy a vast audience, young or old, large or small, timid or aggressive. And then there's the simple fun factor. No other towable elicits the volume-on-11 laughter (OK, and maybe nervous Level 12 scream) that a weirdly shaped, brightly colored bag of air can produce as it skids its passengers outside the wake in a turn or gets air off a wave. Just sit on the dock and listen. Tube-induced squeals and laughter are some of the most familiar songs of summer.

Ready to meet a few of our favorite inflatables from the class of '23? Read on. But don't forget to look and listen to the accompanying pictures. We swear you can almost hear the shrieks.

WOW Wake Walker ($449.99)