Inflatable Boat recs?

**voiceofreason** · 09-03-17, 18:52

So... remembering Katrina and watching Harvey...

If wanting to get an inflatable boat to bug out on for the purposes of flooding... does anyone know what are the best ones to get?

Like a person new to guns asking which AR15 to buy... I'm looking for the Glock 17 or S&W M&P Sport/II version of a backpack or larger inflatable boat.

One that is not the uber gucci badass version (Salient Tier 1)... but not the toy that looks like a reliable tool that will sink or fail on me when I need it most.

Would love to have at least one boat for infants/toddlers/pregnant women evacuation, and can be used for rescue purposes after.

Size/# of passengers... I'm open as I would have 8 people to evac including the vulnerables listed above.

Yes, plan A is to evacuate inland but this is also a good thing to have for those "one in a thousand years" events that seems to happen fairly frequently.

Any suggestions?

**mack7.62** · 09-03-17, 21:03

How much do you want to spend? Zodiac makes some good ones, Achilles and others, for your stated use you will need a hard bottom and motor and to handle eight people it will have to be pretty big. And don't forget a air compressor, you won't be blowing it up through a tube to inflate one of these.

**VARIABLE9** · 09-04-17, 12:16

Not sure if the quality is still there, but you could look into Sevylor.

**voiceofreason** · 09-04-17, 15:11

multiple units would be fine/multiple boats instead of one big one

**Moose-Knuckle** · 09-05-17, 07:08

Anyone have experience with Sea Eagles? They seem to have a lot of options in this matter.

**Spin Drift** · 09-05-17, 15:52

Avon, if you can afford it.

They are not junk, extremely well made, and can be serviced here.

Had a RIB, 10.3 with the last NIB 2 stoke Johnson 15 long shaft in the US.

Avon is bad-assed, if you can't swing it, try …West Marine labeled, forgot who makes them, about 2/3 as much as an Avon.

Good Luck.

**fledge** · 11-10-17, 17:20

Originally Posted by Moose-Knuckle

Anyone have experience with Sea Eagles? They seem to have a lot of options in this matter.

I have a sea eagle for fishing. 10’ long. Not big enough for OP but has gone three summers so far without being babied. I put a 3hp motor on it.

**tb-av** · 11-13-17, 17:13

Originally Posted by voiceofreason

multiple units would be fine/multiple boats instead of one big one

If you can afford all that, have you considered a life boat/raft. Granted it has no power, but in that type rescue often what is needed is floatable transportation that could be pulled by ropes, etc.. It's possible an open lifeboat could even access somewhere a power boat can't.

Not only a lifeboat but in addition to other powered craft. ETA: they are cheap and all over ebay. I've seen them for $150 8-Man

**chuckman** · 11-16-17, 12:21

An aluminum john boat is a hell of a lot more user-friendly and less maintenance-intensive than a Zodiac/RHIB. And cheaper. I would not buy an inflatable unless you also have enough people to train in maintenance and service and procedures.