Air Floor or Rigid Inflatable

Jeff and Julie · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:23 pm Post subject: Air Floor or Rigid Inflatable

We are going to place our order tonight (hopefully!) for an inflatable. We have finally narrowed it down to 2 choices:
1. Mercury 270 Air Floor
2. Mercury 260 Dynamic RIB

Price and weight wise they are both comparable. Does anyone see any real drawbacks with either? We would be storing it on top of the boat and not really needing to deflate it to store.

Also, does anyone have experiences ordering online with either Defender or Buster's? I thought I may have seen a negative post regarding Buster's?

Thanks for your help!
Jeff and Julie

colobear · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:31 pm Post subject:

We bought our dinghie from Defender with good results and remember a negative post about Buster's.

Alyssa Jean · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 9:33 pm Post subject:

I ordered from Busters and had no problem at all.

colobear · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 9:40 pm Post subject:

Correction. We ordered from Outlaw, not defender. Sorry. Embarassed

Valkyrie · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:15 pm Post subject:

Both of the inflatables you mention are made of PVC, which does not hold up well in UV and keeping it inflated on top of the boat will make sure that it gets plenty of that. The life of a PVC inflatable not bagged, but stored inflated in the sun is reported to be about five years.

Hypalon is much more UV-resistant than PVC and my original Achilles lasted me almost twenty years, including being inflated and towed behind my sailboat in the Keys and Bahamas for nearly two years.

We bought an Achilles LT-4 last year as a replacemnt. It has a hinged wooden floor and soft-tail (uses a motor mount), which folds up much smaller than a wooden transom model. It slide right under the tall radar arch on Valkyire and is easily powered by a Honda 2 HP.

Pictures are in our album.

Nick
"Valkyrie"

SeaSpray · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:26 pm Post subject:

I have ordered from Defender many time and don't remeber any problems.

Steve

Jeff and Julie · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:38 pm Post subject:

Nick,

I think we can order either one of the inflatables with PVC or Hypalon. We will have to look at both choices. Our boat is stored indoors and it seemed that Hypalon added more weight?

Julie

Adeline · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:51 pm Post subject:

Sarge · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 2:17 am Post subject:

Julie,

I too ordered from Defender and had no problems. I ordered a Mercury 240RU.

If you have a West Marine catalog handy, they talk about the two types of materials (PVC and Hypalon) advantages and disadvantages.

Valkyrie · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:34 am Post subject:

Jeff and Julie,

The Hypalon is a bit heavier, as stated, and more robust.

Our LT-4 is 8'6" long and weighs 56 pounds, which we find to be vetry manageable. To put it on the top I pull it from the water while standing on the foredeck and then slide it, bottom up, onto the top, with oars and motor mount attached, which negates the need to store those elsewhere.

Defender currently has the Achilles LT-4 priced at $999, which is less than we paid for ours a year ago.

I have never had a PVC inflatable, so can't speak about their life from PERSONAL experience, but as I said, our previous Achiles lasted almost 20 years, 18 to be exact, with hard use every year.

Best regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"

El and Bill · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 12:19 pm Post subject:

Our son and grandson just rowed ashore, to explore Matia Island, in our air-floor Seyvlor -- very light, very easy. El and I last week finished a kayak trip down a portion of the Colorado River in our air-floor Seyvlor kayaks -- easy, simple to fold, deploy, and use.

Swee Pea · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:18 pm Post subject:

I ordered a Mercury Air Floor from Busters. They did everything they said they would do. They shipped on time. Got a great price. Shipping was messed up by Fed Ex and was shipped to Fredericksburg, Texas instead of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Busters filed a claim on my behalf and reimbursed me ALL the shipping when they got it from Fed Ex. Buster's took care of the $75 mail in rebate from Mercury and it arrived within 6 weeks. I have no complaints and would do business again with them.

John
Swee Pea

Jeff and Julie · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 3:07 pm Post subject:

Well, we went up to Inflatable Boatworks in Seattle to check out the Mercury air floor and the RIB.
We ended up placing an order for a Gary King Alaska Series today with Jim King!!
We just couldn't believe how "beefy" and strong the Alaska Series seemed compared to the Mercury. Of course, it cost more but we hope to have it for many years to come!
We ordered the 8' 10" Seward in Royal Blue. Our boys aren't getting any smaller, so we hope this one will be sufficient for all of our needs.

I really appreciate all of the input and help from everyone!

Thanks,
Julie

Doryman · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 7:23 pm Post subject:

thataway · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 9:26 pm Post subject:

I own (and in the past have owned a number) of both PVC and Hypalon boats. If I am going to roll it up and store in the garage, then PVC is fine. if you want to keep it out in the weather, the Hypalon is far better.

An RIB will ride better than an Air floor, it will be much better on the beach and rocks--a soft bottom is fine on sand, but not on rocks or barnicles. I would think that an RIB is heavier--and you may well consider a davit to hoist it. We currently use an air floor, and it is about 60 lbs. Also what type of engine and how far you want to travel in the inflatable is a factor--the larger engine will give greater capacity and longer range--but that may not be necessary for your plans. If you have an engine much larger than the 2 to 3 hp units, you may want to consider a davit for taking it on and off of the dinghy.

We prefer to deflate our inflatables, except RIBS--when traveling any distance. Then store them in the cockpit.