New RIB - Hypalon or PVC?

[Bill V]

I have used a Caribe 9.5 ft. for the past 5 years but I finally sold it because it was really too big & heavy for my needs. Wife and I were only ones that ever were in it and was rated for 4 people. I have two outboards that I have used, 4.5hp Mercury and a 7.5hp Mercury, both 2 strokes. Looking for a RIB, either fiberglass or aluminum hulled. Would like a bow locker and be in the 8 foot length range if possible. Price is secondary, length, weight and bow locker are primary. PVC or Hypalon is something I know little about but need something that will last in PNW waters and exposed to sunlight about 5 months a year. It will be carried from my custom built dinghy davit booms rated for 350# and towed at 5-7 knots about 30% of the time.. Any suggestions from the experts?

 

[tiltrider1]

Hypalon boats cost more and last a lot longer. I got 25 years out of my Avon Hypalon dink. I replaced it 7 years ago with a Walker Bay Hypalon that is just now starting to not look brand new.

 

[rsn48]

In our area, you are better off with aluminum, think barnacles and other sharp things in the water. Hypalon will last longer but it is more pronounced in southern climates than in our cloudy winter weather. You can coat your PVC dinghy or use chaps to extend its life.

 

[DavidM]

Hypalon boats cost more and last a lot longer. I got 25 years out of my Avon Hypalon dink. I replaced it 7 years ago with a Walker Bay Hypalon that is just now starting to not look brand new.

David

 

[Comodave]

If you keep it covered PVC will do ok but if price isn’t a factor then definitely go with hypalon.

 

[smitty477]

Hypalon types...
- More rugged
- resists UV better
- more expensive
- heavier

PVC types ...
- cheaper
- lighter
- holds air better
- easier to clean
- affected by UV more

Nowadays there are various quality levels of each type so whatever you buy please research the quality of the boat you are getting.

 

[Maldwin]

I have a PVC Takacat 300 because it only weighs 66lbs, and at $2,000, I would prefer to replace it more often than worry about keeping a more expensive one for longer. The other advantage of the Takacat is that it is very stable because it is a catamaran. I powered it with a Torqueedo, and the total package is only 100 lbs, and fits in 3 bags.
Best,
Maldwin

 

[FlyWright]

I had a hypalon 9.5 ft Achilles inflatable keel w/ wood floor and 15" tubes that was limited to 10HP. It was barely suitable for ship-to-shore with more than 3 aboard in waves. It lasted 4-5 years and was never a problem. Great dink.

After I found the Costco 3.3M/10'10" PVC 2-bench 17" tube dink rated for 15HP for ~$600, I sold the Achilles for about what I paid for it to a dock neighbor friend who was looking at my Costco dink but needed one just that size. (Whew...that was a long sentence...or a short paragraph!!)

I've been using mine hard for about 4 years with photography and gunkholing on the CA Delta. I like it so much, I bought another one this summer and have it stored in a closet at home for when this one finally gives up the ghost. I added 'saddle bags' for about $50 each that adds great storage and comfort. The bags zip off with shoulder straps to carry with you, if needed. It's a very stable, efficient, lightweight, capable and spacious platform for $600.

For the record, I keep my boat and dink in a covered slip in freshwater, benign conditions. YMMV. The dink is stored high and dry either on a jet dock or the swimstep.

 

[koliver]

Hypalon types...
- More rugged
- resists UV better
- more expensive
- heavier

PVC types ...
- cheaper
- lighter
- holds air better
- easier to clean
- affected by UV more

Nowadays there are various quality levels of each type so whatever you buy please research the quality of the boat you are getting.

I have never before this, heard anyone say PVC dinghies hold air, let alone "better" than Hypalon. My experience with Hypalon is that they hold air. Period. I know two former PVC owners who couldn't get their dinghies to hold air, so got rid of them and bought hypalon, just so they would have a dinghy that would stay inflated.

 

[FlyWright]

My PVC definitely holds air better than my hypalon, but not enough to make a difference.

I went about 1 1/2 years without adding air to my larger PVC dink. Never more than 6-8 months on the hypalon.

 

[SteveK]

What replaced Hypalon?
Hypalon was discontinued by its manufacturer (DuPont) and is now sold under its slightly different formula and new name "CSM" or Chlorosulfonated Polyethylene Rubber.

German Mehler-Valmex Fabric seems to be replacing it.
What is Mehler fabric?
VALMEX® boat is a unique material for manufacturing high quality inflatable boats used for leisure, sports and professional applications. Several layers of PVC are combined with a Polyester base fabric of high strength 1100 dtex yarn by melt-roller coating.

 

[ofer]

$600 bucks really

I had a hypalon 9.5 ft Achilles inflatable keel w/ wood floor and 15" tubes that was limited to 10HP. It was barely suitable for ship-to-shore with more than 3 aboard in waves. It lasted 4-5 years and was never a problem. Great dink.

After I found the Costco 3.3M/10'10" PVC 2-bench 17" tube dink rated for 15HP for ~$600, I sold the Achilles for about what I paid for it to a dock neighbor friend who was looking at my Costco dink but needed one just that size. (Whew...that was a long sentence...or a short paragraph!!)

I've been using mine hard for about 4 years with photography and gunkholing on the CA Delta. I like it so much, I bought another one this summer and have it stored in a closet at home for when this one finally gives up the ghost. I added 'saddle bags' for about $50 each that adds great storage and comfort. The bags zip off with shoulder straps to carry with you, if needed. It's a very stable, efficient, lightweight, capable and spacious platform for $600.

For the record, I keep my boat and dink in a covered slip in freshwater, benign conditions. YMMV. The dink is stored high and dry either on a jet dock or the swimstep.

 

[FlyWright]

$600 bucks really

The first one that's still going strong was $479 years ago. I paid $620 for the same thing delivered this summer.

 

[BruceK]

PVC inflatables are good at holding air until they don`t, and once they don`t as the seams start to fail there`s no real remedy. But, they don`t cost much and looked after give good service. Always check the thickness and quality of the PVC, it matters.
For Aussies reading, I`m on my second "Island Inflatables" "IA260", made in Korea(South),handles well, very stable, fair value for $. Handling characteristics can vary, and they matter too. They make (or did make) hypalon versions too.

 

[Peter B]

For mine, the perfect donk would be made of Hypalon or equivalent, and in the form of a RIB, with fibreglass bottom. I had a 9' hypalon sailing inflatable called a Tinker Tramp which lasted us from 1985 to 2018. For about 10 of those years it was folded up in a rather hot shed, yet still was fine to the end. Its only weakness was a tendency to need the occasional easily applied patch on the bottoms of the tubes, (hence my favouring the GRP bottom), and the type of valve Tinker used was of a mushroom type, which did always slowly leak. Other valves most other makes use are far more leak-proof.
It looked horribly discoloured by the end, but there were no craqcks or separations of the joints, in spite of a fairly rough life. Make that 'a very rough life'.

I would never want a rigid dinghy, especially a metal one, because they are noisy when waves lap against their sides, and, but also because of the potential for marking/damaging the hull of the mother vessel when tethered, and they are so much more 'tippy' when boarding or alighting.

 

[smitty477]

I have never before this, heard anyone say PVC dinghies hold air, let alone "better" than Hypalon. My experience with Hypalon is that they hold air. Period. I know two former PVC owners who couldn't get their dinghies to hold air, so got rid of them and bought hypalon, just so they would have a dinghy that would stay inflated.

Have had many inflatbles of either type and the PVC is generally better at holding air - assuming no leaks. Perhaps you might want to visit the internet site
Ribnet where there are similar amounts of posts to this site all of which are about inflatables.

 

[tiltrider1]

So the PVC crowd is trying to say that I need to pump up my Hypalon boat twice a season and they only have to pump it up once a season. The Hypalon crowd is saying that their boat doesn’t leak any more after ten years than when it was new and a PVC boat won’t hold air anymore unless it spent the 10 years living in the garage.

The Hypalon crowd is saying, buy one really nice dingy and keep it for 20 years. The PVC crowd is saying you can buy two low quality dingys for the price of a high quality Hypalon.

Part of this conflict can be some one who has a 12’ rib with a 40hp on the back. Sees the price difference between PVC and Hypalon as being $2,000 more on a $25,000 purchase. Where the person buying a 8’ roll up with a 2hp OB sees a $600 PVC vs a $1500 Hypalon.

Different perspectives completely.

 

[Max Simmons]

Ive added air to my Hypalon dinghy 3 times in 10 years

 

[SteveK]

I have never before this, heard anyone say PVC dinghies hold air, let alone "better" than Hypalon. My experience with Hypalon is that they hold air. Period. I know two former PVC owners who couldn't get their dinghies to hold air, so got rid of them and bought hypalon, just so they would have a dinghy that would stay inflated.

Well it is now true PVC holds air better than Hypalon in new inflatables. Why? Because Hypalon inflatables are discontinued. Like all things, they lasted too long and put manufacturers out of business.

 

[tiltrider1]

Hypalon is CSPE. While DuPont has stopped manufacturing CSPE many others still make it. In fact DuPont stopped because the Hypalon formula was not as good as their competitors formula for CSPE. Nothing has changed but we might see a new generic word to replace Duponts proprietary word for CSPE.

 

[Gdavid]

Part of this conflict can be some one who has a 12’ rib with a 40hp on the back. Sees the price difference between PVC and Hypalon as being $2,000 more on a $25,000 purchase. Where the person buying a 8’ roll up with a 2hp OB sees a $600 PVC vs a $1500 Hypalon.

Different perspectives completely.

I absolutely agree, I bought a ~$600 PVC dinghy from ebay or amazon along with a $500 use 2 stroke 5hp. I use it about 4 times a year and it does the job, if I were buying a RIB for full time cruising or just operating with a higher budget the extra 8% cost would make complete sense and I would expect a much longer life from Hypalon over a PVC tubed boat.

 

[localboy]

The first one that's still going strong was $479 years ago. I paid $620 for the same thing delivered this summer.

Costco.com still sows them on their website for $619.99 but when you click on it, it shows “product not found”. Maybe they are out of stock. With C19 supply issues it wouldn’t surprise me.

The issue with landing dinghys is relevant here. A few times I’ve been very concerned with barnacles or sharp protrusions on our shorelines (PVC boat). We can’t always find a nice “sandy” beach. But weight is definitely also a factor for us.

 

[smitty477]

So the PVC crowd is trying to say that I need to pump up my Hypalon boat twice a season and they only have to pump it up once a season. The Hypalon crowd is saying that their boat doesn’t leak any more after ten years than when it was new and a PVC boat won’t hold air anymore unless it spent the 10 years living in the garage.

The Hypalon crowd is saying, buy one really nice dingy and keep it for 20 years. The PVC crowd is saying you can buy two low quality dingys for the price of a high quality Hypalon.

Part of this conflict can be some one who has a 12’ rib with a 40hp on the back. Sees the price difference between PVC and Hypalon as being $2,000 more on a $25,000 purchase. Where the person buying a 8’ roll up with a 2hp OB sees a $600 PVC vs a $1500 Hypalon.

Different perspectives completely.

There are or were much differing quality levels in both types of materials...just using the type of material is not the best way to determine the overall value. We have owned many RIBs over 12' and some of each type of material.

 

[ssobol]

FWIW, my experience with a hypalon rib was that it started coming apart at the seams. I replaced it when a PVC rib with thermowelded seams (not possible with hypalon) and was much happier with that boat.

Depending on where and how you use it, there are ways to mitigate the UV effects on PVC. If you get a boat with slip on tubes, replacing the PVC tubes when necessary is a simple task.

 

[Peter B]

Have had many inflatbles of either type and the PVC is generally better at holding air - assuming no leaks. Perhaps you might want to visit the internet site
Ribnet where there are similar amounts of posts to this site all of which are about inflatables.

I suspect the differences in terms of holding air, in the absence of a leak in the fabric, is more to do with the type of valve than anything else. My Hypalon dinghy coped with all sorts of rough use, over a period of about 30 odd years, but the mushroom type valves that Tinker used were always a source of slow air loss. We just accepted it and pumped up about weekly.

 

[smitty477]

I suspect the differences in terms of holding air, in the absence of a leak in the fabric, is more to do with the type of valve than anything else. My Hypalon dinghy coped with all sorts of rough use, over a period of about 30 odd years, but the mushroom type valves that Tinker used were always a source of slow air loss. We just accepted it and pumped up about weekly.

There are many very serious inflatable boat 'experts' on the forum "RIBNET" where you will see a large amount of detail on how the fabrics differ and how to take use and take care of any RIB or inflatable. Hypalon style boats definately lose air quicker than PVC boats - we saw that affect more clearly with our RIBS above 18' . Here is the Ribnet site...
https://www.rib.net/forum/

There are also numerous articles on the differences in the materials, here is what one says....
"The seams of PVC boats are heat welded together. This results in better air holding ability compared to Hypalon boats which have seams that are hand-glued. The reason for the slight difference is that Hypalon boats are susceptible to a process called “wicking” which occurs when air inside the boat enters the fabric at a seam, travels laterally through the fabric weave around the circumference of the tube and exits on the outside edge. PVC boats do not have this problem, because the fabric edges are sealed in the heat welding process. While wicking may sound like a serious problem, as a practical consideration, this just means that your Hypalon boat might need to be topped off with air more often than boats made of PVC."
Here is a link to this particular article...
https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Buyers-Guide-to-Inflatable-Boats

 

[Bill V]

When I first posted my question regarding a PVC or Hypalon RIB I hoped for input as to what hard core cruisers use and the ¨whys¨ they buy a certain RIB. My expectations were exceeded in so many areas and I have learned far more then I thought possible. My last RIB was a 2012 Caribe hypalon and needed to have air added once or twice a season. This was never a real issue and took at most a few minutes of my time. As I carry my RIB on boom davits of my own design to have the dinghy ready to go in a minutes notice I prefer a dinghy that is ready to become my ¨lifeboat¨ should the situation occur hence the reason for desiring a RIB with a bow locker. In my process of scouring the internet for possible RIB´s that meet my requirements I find few 8´ to 9´ with bow lockers and as my boat beam is 11´ but only 10´ at transom I need to maintain no longer then 9´ maximum. Thank you to everyone for the replies and all the information I have learned regarding materials used for RIB´s.

 

[akflyrod2]

These are sold by LFS in Bellingham WA or on their website Go2Marine. I see them here in Sitka on commercial fishing boats and they look good quality. They are PVC with aluminum hull and bow locker. also available in a 10 ' 1" model.
https://www.go2marine.com/Kachemak-270AL-Aluminum-Hull-Inflatable-Boat-8-8

 

[ssobol]

... "The seams of PVC boats are heat welded together. This results in better air holding ability compared to Hypalon boats which have seams that are hand-glued. ...

This is not actually true. Quality PVC boats have thermowelded seams (e.g. from Zodiac France). Less expensive PVC boats tend to have glued seams like hypalon boats (e.g. Zodiac Cadet). Apparently the labor rates in China make it more cost effective to glue the PVC than weld it.

The material properties of hypalon preclude thermowelding the seams.

Glued PVC boats can have the same seam problems as hypalon boats.

Yes, Ribnet is a good site for info on inflatable boats. They are much more prevalent as primary boats in the UK and Europe than in the US. There are some very nice ones in Europe that put some hard boats to shame.

 

[Circumnavigator]

We own -- and are selling with Fintry -- a 12' Avon hypalon rollup that we bought in New Zealand (actually we imported it from the UK -- no duty because it was going on a US yacht in transit) in 1996. It had considerable use in the tropic sun on the rest of the circumnav and is still going strong. It got little use on Fintry because we've had larger RIBs, also hypalon, but still, it's 25 years and counting.



Jim