How to Buy an Inflatable Boat

WHICH IS THE RIGHT INFLATABLE BOAT FOR YOU?

First, you need to consider how you intend to use your inflatable. This will influence the design and size of the boat that best meets your needs. Such considerations should include:

• Number of passengers and gear you will normally carry to estimate the weight capacity.
• Room needed for bulky equipment and supplies.
• What type of conditions and elements you will expose your boat to Ultra Violet (UV), etc.
• Do you intend to use the boat as a tender, sport-boat, or for fishing, diving, hunting, charter, etc.?
• Would the performance and low maintenance of a Rigid Inflatable Boat be more beneficial or the easy of Rolling and Storage of Roll Up or Collapsible needed?

Categories of Boats

Four (4) main categories of inflatable boats exist on the market:

1. Rigid Inflatables Boats (R.I.B).
2. Performance Rigid Roll Up.
3. Collapsible boat with floorboards
4. Flat-bottom boat with slatted floor and no keel (often wrongly marketed as a performance Roll-Up.

1.    The RIBs offer higher performance capability and stability as a sport boat. In comparison to traditional power boats, there are lighter in weight, allowing them to deliver higher performance with a smaller size engine. They also offer virtually maintenance free use and are very popular both as tenders and sport boats.

2.    The performance Rigid Roll Up is designed to provide ease of storage and its full-length floor allows the addition of an inflatable keel. This model can be rolled up and stored with the floor system still inside the boat. Allowing you to inflate the boat in any position or area.

3.    The Collapsible with floorboards, although often accused of fingernail breaking, offers a more rigid floor system. The floor system is typically made of wood, which requires maintenance, and assembly and disassembly time increase, because the boards must be removed every time the boat is collapsed. The boats accept more horsepower than roll ups, but less than R.I.Bs.

4.    The flat-bottom boat with a slatted floor offers easy storage and assembly, but at the price of several drawbacks! These boats are extremely difficult to stand in. In addition, they cannot have a keel and, therefore, will no track or plane, thereby greatly reducing performance, stability and enjoyment.

PVC materials are cheaper, lighter products that can be machine welded. However, they have much less resistance to UV rays and will become brittle upon contact with chemicals such as oils and gasoline. Do not be confused by fancy names given to PVC by some boat manufactures, they are all part of the PVC family of products. PVC is PVC!

We recommends Hypalon for a tough material that give extended durability.  If Hypalon® is required by Navy, Army, and Coast Guard, etc; why not by you?

Middle Layer – Polyester or Nylon?

Polyester reinforcement, although more expensive than nylon, has definite advantages. The higher resistance to stretch allows the boat to maintain a uniform shape, thus improving both performance and stability. Its high tensile strength increases its resistance to punctures and ensures that it will retain its shape for years to come under pressure, especially for the Roll Ups improving Rigid duty. Polyester and nylon reinforcement are measured in Denier or Decitex. The higher the Denier or Decitex number the stronger the material. Denier is used in the United States, while Decitex is used in countries using the metric system. However, some manufacturers are now using Decitex in their U.S. brochures, which can confused the costumer on the quality of material, the Decitex numbers are always higher than the Denier references. Please do not be confused, just remember:  1,100 Decitex approx.=1,000 Denier.

Inner Layer-Neoprene, Hypalon, or PVC?

Good Quality inflatable Boats have an inner layer of neoprene. This proven closed-cell elastomer has superior qualities for making material airtight and seams perfectly bonded. This ensures that the tubes remain airtight for a longer period of time.

Seam Construction

All Hypalon boats require a hand-gluing assembly process. Although time consuming, this process is used by all high-end inflatable boat manufacturers, and requested by commercial and military customers. We believe that hand-glued seams that are overlapped and taped are highly superior to those that are not.

Innovation in design is important for a good inflatable boat. Boat Manufacturers should constantly strive to improve the performance and reliability of boats while maintaining a superior value for the price. Certain design features are important to the customer in their search for a boat. We have outlined these features and recommend that you make the comparison.

Interior Space

The overall exterior lengths of Inflatables boats are measured tip to tip. Almost all manufacturers build boats with a long cone at the rear.  This is a cheap method of finishing off the stern of the boat.  The cone adds to the overall length without increasing buoyancy or the usable interior space of the boat and, therefore, gives a false impression of the usable capacity of a boat and value.

The Best Inflatable Boats are constructed with rounded ends and, consequently, have a shorter exterior length than their major competitors. We build our boats with rounded ends despite the additional cost because we want our tough rubbing strake to extend around and protect the stern of the boat. This shorter length eases storage on davits or dinghy racks.

Beware of Boats with points on the wrong end!

In addition, when choosing a boat, it is the interior space of the boat that is key. Some boats are more pointed than others, some include extended cone ends, and all have various widths.

Tubes

One thing is certain with tubes: bigger is better!

Larger tubes: Increase buoyancy, thus allowing higher payloads. Create more stability Provide a drier ride by keeping water out of the boat. Create more interior depth and space inside the boat.

Inflatable keel

The keels allow the boat to plain and change direction faster, while providing more directional stability and less leeway drifting.  For collapsible boats, Roll Up a keel is must to provide tracking and planning

Floors, Transoms

For fully collapsible models, floors are generally made from wood or aluminum. The wood must be marine grade.  Some wood floors are varnished. This may have a nice appearance when new, but can create more maintenance afterwards.

Good Quality Inflatable boats are made with marine grade plywood transoms and floors protected by 2 layer of 2 components epoxy barrier and then a layer of polyurethane. We use a light Grey paint to better resistance to fading under UV.

Roll Up Technology

Certain manufacturers, have models, which allow the boat to be rolled with the floor in place, and to have an inflatable keel.  These models usually have a hinged, segmented floor that combines rigidity for performance and stability with ease of handling and storage. Do not confuse these floors with slatted floors, which are not full-length floors.  Such floors cannot compare with roll up floors for rigidity, stability and performance, and do not allow for a keel. Remember with polyester reinforce fabric the tube

Other Important Features

Rubbing Strake

The rubbing strake is the tough rubber strip that goes around the boat to protect it from abrasions, and from splash & spray keeping you dry.  Make sure that this streaking is made of a thick, tough material in a light color. Dark colors attract more UV, heat, dirt, and will deteriorate faster leaving marks on other vessels.  Good Quality Inflatable boats boats have a tough, raised, light Grey non-marking strake for better protection.

Valves

These should be recessed to avoid objects catching on them.  The larger the size, the faster inflation and deflation.  Good Quality Inflatable boats recessed valves have spring-loaded diagrams to allow for one-way airflow when desired.  These valves can be easily removed for maintenance.

Towing Rings

Collapsible models should have two large D-rings attached with heavy duty material located under both sides, forward of the boat for towing with a bridle. RIBs should have an U-bolt through the fiberglass hull in the bow. Good Quality Inflatable boats have towing rings or U-bolts standard on all models.

Oars

The oars provided must be comfortable to use.  Therefore, tenders should come with oars that can be adjusted to the needs of the user and pinned oarlock system that locks the oars in place and allows for feathering of the oar blades.

Other Accessories

Handles - For transportation, handles are a great help. The boat supplier should provide one on each side and another in front. Lifelines: Make sure well placed, heavy-duty lifelines are provided.