Inflatable Question

J

JUSTCHILLIN

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What type of floor is the most preferred inflatable or wooden. We are thinking buying a new dink and not shure of which kind of floor is the most durable.
 
I never had a inflatable floor.....but I did have a wood floor (4 section) and hated it. The problem I had was water getting traped between the wood floor and the bottom of the inflatable....and made it too heavy to lift....on to my platform mounts or up onto the dock....a real PITA. The water would not go out the transome drain....because the water was traped under the floor. I had it one season.....and got rid of it.

I recently purchased a RIB.....and love it.
 
We've had an inflatable floor now for 8 seasons now and have no complaints about the floor itself. It keeps the boat lightweight, making it easier to bring aboard. I see no downside as compared to wood. The issue of trapped water is an issue as described by DoubleD. It can hold a lot of water.. If you can keep it covered or upside down the problem is eliminated.
 
Yes....I kept it covered......but it does get in when your using it also. Just hitting waves and climbing in and out ( with the dog ).....it accumulates. IMHO...go with the inflatable floor.
 
I've got a wooden floor, just turn it over and the water drains out.
 
I had three of those RIB's. The last one, the good one, had an inflatable floor.
 
If you are talking about a regular inflatable dinghy and not a RIB, it's your pick. I've used both on 9 1/2 to 10 ft. inflatables.

The high-pressure inflatable floor will cost you more than plywood.

With reduced weight, you may find the inflatable floor boat may handle chop better.

A lighter boat is easier to lug out of the water. And it's faster on the water than plywood. This may matter to you if you are involved in dinghy drags.

The plywood floors are much easier for standing up or stepping around on the boat.

A plywood floor (especially with metal floor strakes) is more rigid than the inflatable floor and may get up on plane quicker.

On a hot sunny day, dark-stained plywood floors can get very hot on bare feet. Some plywood floors come with light-colored antiskid covering materials. Or, you can wear something on your feet.

If you can brush on some varnish, you can keep a bare plywood floor looking like new for just about forever. An inflatable floor and white tennis shoes can look about the same after a couple of seasons of use.

A plywood floor will never get an air leak. I've known a couple of boaters who had air leaks with high-pressure floors.
 
A lot depends on your intended usage. If you're going to inflate it once a season, getting the wood floor will save you a few bucks. If you want true portability, get the air floor, they're great, no hassle setup/breakdown and a 2 wheel dolly can get you launching most anywhere. The floors in the wooden inflateables are a pain to assemble, and more of a pain to break down. I've busted a few nails trying to get the longitudinal side channels out, and I don't have long girly nails, a block of wood and hammer is handy for freeing these pieces. Sit on a wood floor and the water beneath will soak yer azz, the air floor lessons that chance (2" thick vs 1/2"). Air floor is great for lounging around in, my dog has sharp claws and I haul gas, batteries, dive gear, ect. Air floors held up well. Course mine's hypalon (Achilles), pvc is more delicate. For planing, the wood floors may have a "slight" edge, but if the air floors up in psi, it's close. Hope this helps, heck they're all fun to own! :-)
 
Thanks for all of the information, and opinions. We made the choice of a inflatable floor. We had a wood floor but never a inflatable one. Not worried about getting on plane real fast getting older so the lighter weigh is a big factor.
 
I agree with Capt. Bill1. After a lot of shopping we just purchased an Achilles aluminum roll-up floor. It weighs about 20lbs more than the air floor but is much more ridged for entering and exiting and is supposed to handle better than the air floor. It is more durable than an air floor. And something that the dealer pointed out is that the aluminum floor has much more interior height between the floor and top of the tube. This is better for us as we have small kids that will be sitting inside the dink making it harder for them to fall out.

Since the aluminum floors are made of 3" wide hinged panels, all you have to do is roll it out and inflate the side tubes. No inflating the floor which I have been told requires higher pressure and regular adjusting/topping off due to expansion/contraction.

For us, the aluminum roll up was the way to go. Just my 2 cents.
 
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