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Thread: Inflatable Boat recs?

  1. #1
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    Inflatable Boat recs?

    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?

  2. #2
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    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.
    Last edited by mack7.62; 09-03-17 at 21:05.

  3. #3
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    Not sure if the quality is still there, but you could look into Sevylor.

  4. #4
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    multiple units would be fine/multiple boats instead of one big one

  5. #5
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    Anyone have experience with Sea Eagles? They seem to have a lot of options in this matter.
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  6. #6
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    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.

  7. #7
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    X2 on the hard bottom as you will be moving through water filled with debris. Have ridden in a Ribcraft, Rib, boat for a week up and down a big fast moving trash strewn river and it flat out performs. Same with Zodiac. Lots to choose from. Probably can find a deal on a Zodiac faster if you live near Marina's or boat yards. Lots of guys with big boat use them as skiffs. They seem to always be looking to upgrade.
    Just trying to get a straight answer in a twisted world.
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  8. #8
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    Dumb question but wouldn't a cheap jon boat be better? Probably cheaper, can handle banging in to things, shallow draft.

  9. #9
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    Interesting question and perspective.
    I use an Avon (Zodiac) ERB 400 with a 30HP motor at work for water and flood rescue stuff. On one hand is is heavy duty and folds up into a nice package that fits into half a pickup truck bed so it doesn't need a trailer. That would store nicely. But it is expensive - 10-15k for the boat plus around 6k for the motor - plus extras and training to use it safe. Up keep isn't too bad - we had a big expense due to damage in the past - but yearly and day to day stuff is nill - I think a 30 year old boat will still work - but it might leak out over 24 hours.
    Never looked at it from a keep at home perspective.

  10. #10
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    I just priced a 2017 Yamaha 40 H.P. with control box and prop, you are looking at almost $7k.


    Boats are bad, try aviation for a wallet buster...

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