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44 NEBRASKAland • JUNE 2014 JUNE 2014 • NEBRASKAland 45 hometown of Spalding. "We had done it up there as a family, and I'm like, 'Man, this would fly down here,'" Steve said. They've taken note of tanking outside of Nebraska, too. At least two outfitters are offering trips in Iowa, one, ironically, on the Cedar River and another on the Nishnabotna. A businessman who picked up a tanking flyer in Nebraska recently launched his own business on the Yadkin River in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. But not everyone who hops in a tank and heads downriver is looking to relax. If there is enough water in the river, about 50 teams of four will bring their own tank and paddles and race for cash in the annual Republican River Tank Float at Guide Rock on July 19. Prizes go to the top finishers and the best-decorated tank. If you're more of a winter person, you can sign up for the Polar Bear Tank Race on the Middle Loup River in Mullen. It was a balmy 0 degrees and snowing for last year's event on March 1. Started by Glidden Canoe Rental, a 12-year veteran of tanking outfitting, to draw attention to the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway, next year's race is set for March 7. But most folks who go tanking just want to kick back, soak up some sun and sip on a cold something. Many are now paying for the experience. But no doubt there are still some who, like Weitski, have an empty tank of their own, and when the chores are done on the ranch, kick off their boots and slide that old tank into the water. That's the Nebraska way to float a river. ■ For the most part, however, when the steel or plastic tanks hit an obstruction, whether it is the bank, a snag or a sandbar, they usually spin right off and keep floating downriver. The tanks are practically impossible to tip over, so the biggest worry is overhanging tree branches. "You hope someone watches your back," Suelter joked. "It's just different than anything else," Suelter said. "It's kind of hard to imagine unless you try. With canoeing, you're always working. You've got to worry about tipping and you've always got to steer and paddle. With tanking, you're on the water and you don't have to do nothing. You kind of sit back and let the river take you." Suelter is now one of four outfitters between Spalding and Fullerton running tanks on the Cedar River, a narrow, winding stream that starts in the Sandhills and flows into farm country before joining the Loup River at Fullerton. Tanking outfitters can also be found on the Calamus, Elkhorn, North Loup and even the Niobrara. Most offer 8- or 9-foot diameter tanks with room for 6 to 8 people. Rich Mercure of Little Outlaw in Valentine started offering tanks alongside his canoe, kayak and tube rentals about eight years ago after seeing the popularity rise on other Nebraska rivers. When he did, he found out just how much the "Redneck Yacht Club" reputation, and the euphemism "getting tanked," was tied to tanking. "A lot of my competition looked at me funny," Mercure said. And the first thing the folks at the National Park Service, who manage 76 miles of the Niobrara below Valentine as a National Scenic River, said was "imagine how big of a party they can have in that thing." Mercure found himself having to stave off an attempt to ban tanks on the Niobrara. He had been in the river outfitting business since the late 1980s, which is about the time the popularity of floating the Niobrara River, mostly in canoes, exploded. In recent years, he had watched much of the business shift to tubing, especially in the heat of July and August. The party in a tank would be no bigger than the one on a raft of 10 tubes rafts tied together and floating downriver, he contended. And like outfitters on other rivers had discovered, Mercure found that tanks give people who have no desire to get wet and would never get in a canoe or on a tube a chance to experience the river. "Generally the conversation with people who want to rent tank starts with, 'We want to bring grandmother with us, and she's 78 years old,'" he said. "Grandma can go on this trip, and so can young kids, even toddlers, who are happy to hang their hands over the side and splash in the water. "If we didn't have tanks, those people never would have gotten on the river. This is of more than family thing than a party thing." Tanking trips on the different rivers range from two to six hours. All of the rivers get some or all of their flows from groundwater seeping from the Sandhills, meaning their flows, while tapped somewhat by irrigation pumps, are almost always high enough to float. Jill and Steve Evers started offering trips on the Elkhorn River above Waterloo about six years ago after booking trips with Suelter on the Cedar when they were back in Jill's T A N K I N G I S M O R E O F A F A M I L Y T H I N G T H A N A P A R T Y T H I N G Calamus Outfitters, Burwell 308-346-4697 Calamusoutfitters.com Broken Arrow Wilderness, Fullerton 308-536-2441 Brokenarrowwilderness.com Cedar River Runners, Spalding 308-223-9525 CedarRiverRunners@gmail.com Crazy Rayz Tanking, Spalding 701-690-4285 Crazy Rayz Tanking on Facebook.com Get Tanked, Ericson 308-653-5469 or 308-750-5974 Get-tanked.com Tank Down the Elkhorn, Omaha 402-709-8693 Tankdown.com Glidden Canoe Rental, Mullen 308-546-2206 or 888-278-6167 Gliddencanoerental.com Little Outlaw Canoe, Tube and Kayak Rentals, Valentine 402-376-1822 Outlawcanoe.com Tanking Outfitters in Nebraska Nick Robertson of St. Paul takes his turn jumping into a hole on the Cedar River on a float trip with Get Tanked of Ericson. Tankers float toward Waterloo on a trip with Tank Down the Elkhorn.