Runaway Inflation

New business creates original flotation device.

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It looks like an elongated rubber doughnut with a wooden seat suspended across the middle, weighs 26 pounds, inflates in six minutes (with a foot pump), can be propelled by oars or finned feet, and collapses into a neat portable storage pack. What is it? The aptly named Tote 'n Float, patent pending, is the first offering of Innovative Sports Systems (ISS), in Missoula, Mont. According to founder James Ramsey, his product combines the best features of the half dozen or so competing flotation devices now on the market, and he hopes to garner a good share of the estimated 12,000 unit sales per year in that category. ISS is marketing its craft (with a suggested retail price of $695) to specialty retailers and general sporting-goods stores throughout the West and Northwest, with plans to be nationwide by this summer. A motor and a camouflage kit are in the works.

-- Alessandra Bianchi