Tandem Cycling - KaBoom!

Out on our usual 20 mile tandem toot this afternoon and about 1/4 mile from home: KaBoom!
Rear tire blows! Why fix it alongside the road; walk the rest of the way home and check it out/fix it in the garage workshop.
Found a 1 inch slash right through center of tire casing of our Maxxis Detonnator rear tire. Checked the tube and found 2 rips in the tube. Double checked tire, and sure, there's another 1/2" cut through the tire about midway between center ridge and sidewall of the tire. Double blowout . . . a first time for us.
What the heck did we run over?
We are quite conscious of where we ride and avoid debris, whether it's glass, potholes, or alligators (treads ripped off from truck tires). Not a clue!
Replaced the Detonnator with a Maxxis Re-Fuse, a model that is more punture resistant.
Dissected an old Re-Fuse a while back, and it has a mesh layer of Kevlar in that model that defies most punctures except the tiniest sharp things like big cactus needles and tiny slivers of glass. So, disected the Detonnator we just blew to compare; no such Kevlar layer.
Checked mileage in our log and the Detonnator blew after 1,097 miles; previously a Re-Fuse rear tire on the tandem wore out after 2,478 miles.
Not only is the folding Re-Fuse tire puncture resistant, it weighs 15 grams per tire less than the Detonnator and rolls every bit as nice. Price is the same.
Have you had any similar experiences?
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Around here there are narsty "3 sided thorns" [like an inch long sharp nail] so I never ride any of my bikes without "tuffties" liners in.
Only one blow out in the last 18 years and that was me knowing I should of changed the tire but didn't :)
2478 miles dosen't sound to bad... but may you get 5000 out of the next set.

Zona,

When I first saw the thread title, I was amused and thought to myself about all those retro grouches that say no to Carbon Fiber. You know, carbon frames instantaneously combust! Maybe you found the product feature that led to the Maxxis DETONATOR product name. Otherwise I have no clue.

Waldo: We are a couple retrogrouches (to some degree) that love carbon fiber! We think it's the greatest thing since radio! And that tire did Detonnate!
Leigh: living out in the Sonoran desert in Arizona, we do have some similar nasties: we call them goatheads . . . multi-spiked seed pods that can make a tire/tube look like a pin cushion! Of course the usual cactus thorns that blow around are no help.

I had maxxis detonator's on my tandem. They didn't last long, maybe a little over 1000 miles. I think "detonator" has to be about the funniest or most ironic name ever given to a tire.

Anyway, my rear tire gave out at the end of a 60 MS tour here in NYC. As we were at in the last 5 miles I started to notice a slight "bumpa bumpa bumpa" feeling coming from the rear. Upon inspection, we found a bulge forming. So we rode as gingerly as possible, but within the last half-mile it had become quite pronounced--a huge bubble in the rear. We didn't want to finish the ride walking, so we did the last couple blocks about 5mph, and by the time we hit the finish line, there was maybe 20 lbs of pressure left in the tire. The casing had just given out where the bulge had formed. So I still have the front hanging around as a spare. I replaced the detonators with Panaracer Paselas (I think--can't remember for sure).

Funny thing though, despite the huge bulge, the detonator didn't detonate (sorry, I couldn't resist one last laugh).

No clue here either. I've had a number of blowouts - but only one hole. And twice we had the RIM of our rear wheel explode - a six-inch section of the sidewall blew out. But never TWO holes!!