O’BRIEN SOMBRERO

O’BRIEN SOMBRERO

$449.99

Every day can be Cinco de Mayo when you have the O’Brien Sombrero in your inflatable quiver. An 88-inch-diameter bright-yellow party hat, the Sombrero adds classic Mexican-style accents to reinforce its branding but avoids the random, scattershot graphics that seem to cover many inflatables. Riders can choose from a variety of positions. Sit on the Sombrero’s elevated perimeter brim facing inward, hang your feet over the brim and rest your back against the center crown, stand, kneel, face outward or in—the choices seemingly never end. Sixteen padded grab handles, backed by EVA knuckle guards, are spread around the center and perimeter to keep riders secure no matter their riding choice. The perimeter ring offers reinforced seat pads to prevent wear on the Sombrero’s nylon cover.

Such a large tube seemed like it would be a chore to inflate, but the reality was the opposite. O’Brien’s proprietary Lightning Valves let you put the end of a Shop-Vac or large-capacity inflater against the wide valve mouth and hit the power. The large volume of air rapidly inflates the tube, and a one-way flap closes off the air supply to keep things taut once finished. Deflation is just as simple; push in the valve flap, and air literally gushes out of the tube.

On the water, our test crew noted the Sombrero felt quite stable despite its higher center of gravity. Legroom wasn’t always ideal when seated facing inward, but weight shifts allowed a small amount of directional control. Again, however, it was mostly up to the driver, who could send the tube skidding outside the wake by initiating a series of S-turns at the wheel. Once loose, the round bottom slid nicely atop the water, and riders could lean against the central handles to increase the performance.