First impressions upon unboxing, were that the team at Savage Gear have not missed out one single thing when it comes to attention to detail. It is all there, from the super comfy air chair with twin rod holders on the back, right down to puncture repair kits and air pumps. Construction wise, the High Rider 170 is equipped with two air chambers on the main body of the tube (0,9mm armored PVC sheet) split 60/40, an air deck and a removable air chair.

It wasn't long before the day came that I got to try out my new toy. I got to the water and had it set up and ready to rock within ten minutes. The first thing I noticed about the 170 once in the water was the stability. It is phenomenally stable! This is not recommended, but I even managed to stand on the seat with incredible stability! 

Second thing that stood out was the seating height, the top of the seat sits about 150mm above water level which means you only get wet from knees down, great for the colder months and this also means you can get away with wearing waist waders.

I know some anglers use the high rider 170 without fins and solely rely on the oars, but I prefer to use fins also. It is almost impossible to use both at once. I've found using the oars for getting you places and then using the fins to slow your drift down or keeping you stationary works best.

No float tube will ever tick every box, but the high rider 170 comes closer than any other! Super high luxury tube, slightly on the heavy side (14kg) but with that comes very high-quality material the type you'd expect to find on a good tender dinghy and stability from the size of it. From small estate lakes to giant wild lochs the high rider 170 will smash it!