Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
There is somebody, somewhere, that has floated for the longest period of time on the planet. And given how recent the popularity of floating is, it’s likely that the person who floated the longest is alive and that Graham and Ashkahn have met them.
The guys share one of their favorite stories from floaters at Float On, which involves the longest float they’ve ever run. Are you listening Guinness? We’re making history!
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: And we have a question for you today. I mean, you have a question for us. It is, “what’s the longest time anyone has floated in a tank without getting out, to your knowledge?”
Ashkahn: Without getting out? How do you answer that? I mean they’re in a room by themselves, it’s really hard to know if they’re getting in and out.
Graham: First of all, there’s no Guinness World Record for this.
Ashkahn: Yet.
Graham: Yeah, yet. Wait, were we planning on setting it?
Ashkahn: Yeah, I haven’t told you yet, but-
Graham: Good. So, none yet. How do you monitor whether or not people have gotten out.
Ashkahn: Yeah. I mean there’s the camera feeds.
Graham: Are there hidden cameras in the room? Here’s a stupid tangent. That was a question that one of our customers asked me at one point, was how could we verify that our employees weren’t hiding hidden cameras in the float rooms? When my answer wasn’t to his satisfaction, he refused to come in to float.That was the single most paranoid person I’ve ever talked to. Anyway, he obviously knew about the cameras.
Ashkahn: Yeah, he was right. Paranoid, but right.
Graham: So we know people who have floated with us, who haven’t come out of the rooms, we know that.
Ashkahn: Here’s our record. Someone floated, someone did a 24 hour float with us. Yeah, which is awesome. I mean, he definitely got out of the tank at some point, probably a few times. I mean, we heard the shower turn on a few times over the course of it, and he had to pee at some point. I think it’s pretty hard, unless you’re seriously dehydrated to go that long without having to pee.
Graham: Mm-hmm.
Ashkahn: He never came out of the room, and he took snacks into the room with him in case he needed them, and he said he just didn’t need them. He didn’t get hungry the entire 24 hours.
Graham: He got out, and what he said was he could have stayed in for another 24 hours.
Ashkahn: He got out because we played the music. His float was done, and we had another customer coming in. It was like, “All right, buddy. Time’s up.”
Graham: We know of many things that are a little bit shorter than that, of 12 and 13 hour floats, and even 18 hours, and things like that, but that’s the longest one that I personally know of. I actually haven’t even heard stories from other float tank centers of any longer floats, either by the owners or them. So definitely, feel free to write us in and correct us. We’ll do a whole other episode correcting the longest length of float.
Ashkahn: See, I don’t know in terms of specifically not getting out of the float tank. That’s a really hard thing to answer.
Graham: Yeah, thanks, audience.
Ashkahn: Yeah, jeez.
Graham: Anything else? I guess we could tell the full story.
Ashkahn: So yeah, it was funny. This guy came in, this was some years ago. I was working the shop, it was kind of later in the evening, and this dude comes in, just like walking with a staff in his hand and comes up to the front desk and goes, “I was wondering if I could book a 24 hour float.” I was standing there like, “Absolutely. Boy, have you come to the right place.” So we found a day, and I think I totaled up what all the floats would be, and gave him 60% off or something. I just gave him a really good deal for floating that entire time.
Graham: Which you should totally do if people come in with insane proposals at your float center.
Ashkahn: Oh, yeah. Definitely.
Graham: Absolutely encourage people to float as long as possible.
Ashkahn: So what I found out was his plan was to walk from Portland to the Oregon coast, which is maybe like a two hour drive, right? So, huge walk, and he wanted to do the entire thing without sleeping, in one go.
Graham: So just obviously a very intense dude.
Ashkahn: Yeah, this guy was really into doing things to the extreme. So he told me afterwards that he made it, I think it was 36 hours of walking before he just actually had to pitch a tent on the side of the road and sleep for a minute, and then got back up, continued walking to the coast, to this little shipwreck site that he knew about out there, and then immediately took a bus back to our float center and hopped in for a 24 hour float.
Graham: He got out and said he could have done 24 more hours. There’s the full story. So, if you have any other difficult questions for us, that we might not know the full answer to, feel free to send them our way. Go to floattanksolutions.com/podcast and email them over.
Recent Podcast Episodes
Cool Obscure Stories from Early Float History – DSP 215
If you’ve ever met one at the Float Conference, you’ll know they have some of the best and most bizarre stories in the float industry.
Graham and Ashkahn share a couple of their favorites from the old researchers that they’ve heard.
Who to Trust in the Float Industry – DSP 214
The float world is a confusing place. The industry is known to disagree on construction materials, ideal float techniques or frequency, and even the benefits of using a float tank. How does anyone in the float industry know who to trust?
Graham and Ashkahn discuss why the industry often feels like it’s full of misinformation and how it compares to other industries. They also offer solid advice on how to find the best information available.
What is Chamber REST? – DSP 213
Every once in a while, during a talk that a researcher is giving, or when pouring over old data about sensory deprivation, it’s easy to come across something called “Chamber REST”. The REST part is an acronym for “Restricted Environment Stimulation Therapy”. But what is it and how does it relate to floating?
Ashkahn and Graham take the time to fill us all in on the nuances of old sensory deprivation research and how it helped influence float tank research, as well as the important differences between them.
Should People Wear Bathing Suits in Float Tank Ads? – DSP 212
Most float centers have people float naked as the day they were born, but most ads and promotional videos and stuff show floaters in bathing suits. What’s up with that? Well, obviously fully nude images on Facebook or something will probably get flagged, so how do you deal with this situation? Nude models? No?
Ashkahn and Graham break down the problem, their own frustrations with it, and how they’ve dealt with it at Float On.
Checking in on Float On’s Annual Summer Sale – DSP 211
Recently, Float On ran a big discount for the summer season. It’s become a bit of a tradition and the mailing list every year that gets this notification is really large.
In this episode, Ashkahn and Graham share the success of the sale, as well as comparing it to the previous few years. They dive into the real numbers from the shop and the impact of changing just a few words and numbers on the sale to get it to perform as best as possible.
Latest Blog Posts
What Time of Year Is Ideal to Open Your Float Center?
Like most businesses, a float center will experience seasonal slumps. Be sure you’re planning to open your center at a peak time of the year. Find out the pros and cons of opening a float tank center during different times of the year.
What Happens When You Give Out 700 Free Floats?
We’re all about giving out free float sessions as a marketing strategy. However, when you give out 700 floats, there can be some concerns. Find out what happens when we set out to make Float On one of “The Top Things to do When Visiting Portland.”
Wanted… Blog Topics!
We’ve written on a large number of topics about opening / running a float tank center… BUT we want to make sure your questions are getting answered. Use this form to send us blog topics to write about.
Building a Float Business Through Blogger Outreach
Floating is great for a vast diversity of people, but it is really great for travelers. Hours sitting on a cramped plane, surrounded by stimulation, going through the dreaded airport processes, disrupted bio-clock rhythms… the list can go on. All of these things can easily be mitigated by the float experience, wiping away the tensions of travel, and leaving people energized and refreshed for the next adventure!
