How to choose a good inflatable boat - practical advice

Material, color, gluing method, sailing category, flooring are of great importance for the durability of the pontoon, especially when our boat will be intensively used at sea, wild lakes and rivers…. How to choose a good inflatable boat (Note - copyrighted text)

Durability of the pontoon
The strength of the material depends on the quality and density of the polyester mesh constituting the "scaffolding" of the coating. The material weight of the sea pontoons is 1100 g / m2. Garden pools, water toys and pontoons have a smaller weave 1000g / m2 and the weakest ones are 950g / m2, often the net in low-grammage materials is made of cotton and after a few years it rots, which makes the sides deform and the pontoon becomes practically useless.

The density of the weave and the quality of the polyester mesh often translate into the size of the engine with which the pontoon can operate, and in particular the working pressure of the pontoon, normally good pontoons have a working pressure of 0.25-0.3 Bar, in the airmat 0.8-1ar. Below 0.2 bar (atm) it is an oilcloth rather than a decent pontoon.

Find more information here: Best Inflatables

The color of the material
The color of the pontoon is of great importance for its durability, especially when our boat will be exposed to long-term sunlight. Lifeboats for seagoing yachts are usually completely white or light gray. The white color reflects the sun's rays, which prevents the chambers from heating up and excessively increasing pressure. In our widths, virtually any color will meet your requirements, except for black. The black color absorbs the sun's rays, which makes the buoys heat up very much, threatening to burn or even damage. Sometimes, after a few years, the completely black glued or welded places become seriously damaged.

Therefore, one should avoid pontoons in which the air chambers elements in the surface part are black - probably no company produces pontoons in this color. For fishing in Polish waters, green, gray, dark gray, light pontoons, but not to a large extent black, do well. For southern seas, I definitely recommend pontoons in light and light shades. Darker additions should not cover more than 10% of a single buoy in the above-water part.

Hypalon or PVC coating
Hypalon is just the top layer of the composite. The middle layer determines the mechanical strength, a good pontoon can be made of PVC but with a good inner polyester mesh. The advantage of hypalon over PVC is its greater resistance to oils, solvents and UVF radiation. The weight of the inflatable boat

We can approximate the quality of the pontoon by its grammage. A good pontoon must weigh about 20 kilograms per meter in length. I know that this is a simplification, but if a standard 3.2-meter pontoon weighs less than 50 kg, it is not worth bothering with it.