Good review. The better inflatables will have wooden or ali floor with inflatable keel, gives better ride and more rigid boat but still not as good as RIB. RIB have deeper internal floor which mean your legs are level with waist when sitting on pontoon providing more support in rough, inflatables have flat floor so knees will be above waist height. Watch seating positions in video. I've had both and RIB is far superior sea boat, more durable and easier to maintain. Unless you really need compact storage of inflatable buy a RIB. Once you go over 3.5m the portability of inflatable is lost as they are just too heavy even empty without motor and you need pickup, van or trailer. Need to transport deflated boat, motor, fuel tank, anchor, safety kits+spares. Fishing gear, lifejackets, fish bin, lunch etc. When you get home hull needs to be inflated so it can be rinse and dried before storing deflated. Do it enough and eventually inflatable will endup on trailer or it doesn't get used due to hassle. RIB is easier to clean while inflatables trap fish bits, stones and sand between floor boards and pontoons. This needs to be cleaned out regularly if permanently inflated as it will wear and puncture pontoons at one place they are very hard to repair. Glass or aluminium handle wear and tear of being beached with glass easy to fix. Rigid hauls cut through chop and give far superior ride. Rigidity of haul isn't compromised if air chamber is punctured, been there done that with RIB. Even deflated pontoon still keeps water out, especially if crew are on good pontoon. Inflatable needs pontoons rigid to support transom and its motor. Trail with motor fitted and you risk damaging transom joins if pontoons are to soft. RIB on roller trailer is easier to launch and retrieve than inflatable on trailer with running boards. RIB needs lot less water while inflatable needs to float onto trailer. Winching in shallow water puts huge strain on bow eyelet which can rip out over time. A RIB can have its pontoons replaced, will be expensive. With inflatable its end of life. When it comes to fabric choice hypalon is far more durable and expensive than PVC and as a rule any company using hypalon will be reputable boat builder. Thats not to say there aren't well built PVC boats but its also material of choice for cheap nasty boats. Do your research into builder otherwise you could end up with worthless pile of plastic not a a seaworthy boat. Regards of hull choice punctures or slow air leaks come with being inflatable owner.
There are so many inflatable boat models with an inflatable keel & hard bottom , and you never mentioned any one of those, or V-bottom inflatable boats like honwave T38 ie3. and why would anyone put 4stroke 30hp on a SIB? you want a portable boat,and install a 80kg/180lbs engine on it? needless to say that 2stroke engines in the test are not available in many countries.
I know this video is 2 years old, but even back then they make better Inflatable boats than both of these shown. They also have inflatable boats with Aluminum Floors that would be in the middle of both of these (best of both worlds) and also has some that have a deep Inflatable Keel + aluminum floors. Just an example of a good budget brand. Saturn makes a Triton 488 Rescue boat with 20 inch pontoons on each side with the deep Inflatable keel and Hard Aluminum Floors that is 16 foot 4 Inches long and more stable than both of these shown. It is way more stable than even the SIB shown here. You can have 9 people on it and you can have 4 large men stand on one side of the boat and it is not tippy at all and super stable.
I bought the Saturn. The way I see it, I can buy several Saturns for the price of a quality rib. I have no space for a rigid boat but the Saturn can go in a corner of the garage. With a 30hp Tohatsu I get plenty of speed and it’s silent.
There are sibs with keels and hard decks, I have two and they are a different ball game compared to a fully inflatable sib however not sure how they would fair vs a rib that would be interesting
I got a 5m inflatable with inflatable keel, but solid plywood floor (Ozeam). With 20hp yamaha (2 stroke) i can get to 42kph measured witb gps when it's just me in the boat. Bit bumpy though!
You have nice looking boats, but I can't afford it because I am a senior and low-income it is nice all the way I would be able to get one is by someone giving me one. Thank you for showing us your boats. JOHN E.MAY from USA 🇺🇸 😢😢😢😢😢😢
I could pick so many faults with this comparison but i cant be bothered to type out such a long message. Long story, short... you don't have a clue about inflatable boat variations.
If the skipper is stupid enough,he can blow off the PVC tubes on his first day. With careful use , PVC life span is between 5 to 10 years depending on where you live and how you take care of the boat.
