Marking Infaltables

[Oldhand]

Can we have the forum's views on the best way of marking the inflatable dinghy with the T/T "Boatname" which is an insurance company requirement? I have used black paint and black indelible marker on the tubes up to now but am looking for better ideas for my replacement dinghy.

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[david_e]

Vinyl sticker on the transom? Create your own design at wet and wild dot com(?)

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[BarryH]

If you go the vynl lettering route, get them to use banner grade. It will fold with the dinghy when you deflate it. It won't peel off like the normal grade. There is a paint for inflatables if I rember correctly. Not sure who does it, but a call to Inflatable Boat centre in essex should give you that info.

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[peixe]

Top Cat Graphics (01952 728522) do self-adhesive woven polyester fabric lettering for inflatables. I have them on my Avon - entirely satisfactory.

Tony

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[snowleopard]

felt tip fades and can be scrubbed off easily, stick-on lettering can be peeled off. i believe there is a special paint but i'm still looking for it myself (i bet it only comes in 750 ml tins!)

p.s. having a prominent name on the tender tells the bad guys which boat is unoccupied, some people paint the name on the bottom to satisfy the insurers, i use my ssr number instead of the name.

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[discovery2]

I have used ordinary white undercoat on the underside of my inflatable. This has lasted for over 12 years, with only some touching-up about 5 years ago. Chose the underside due to the relatively flat surface. Don't know how durable this method would be on the tubes though.

Having recently purchased a new boat, I originally intended to keep the inflatable, and tried to scrape the paint off to repaint the new name. This took about an hour, and the 'shadow' of the old name is still visible.

David

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[Dean]

Hi,

I don't know where you are but look for a local bouncy castle manufacturer as the paint that they use is a shoe based dye on a similar material to inflatable boats.

This paint sticks like the proverbial Sh*t to a blanket but is very expensive and i believe only available in 5 litre containers.

There are two types, water based or oil based.

Hope this may help you.

Dean

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[pvb]

Liquid Letters...

"Liquid Letters" is the stuff to use for marking hypalon inflatables. It comes in little 125ml tins, in a choice of black or white. You can get it from inflatable specialists or by mail from someone like Suffolk Sailing in Ipswich (01473 833010). If your inflatable is made from PVC, you need a similar product called "Letterflex".

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[Oldhand]

Re: Liquid Letters...

Thanks for all your helpful answers. I think I will search for Letterflex and use the good idea of putting the name out of "afloat" sight on the bottom.

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[charles_reed]

It does depend on the material of the tubes but I've found Snowpake (the stuff your typists used to use to correct mistakes) absolutely ideal.

It lasts better than inflatable marking paint, costs less than anything else and comes in the right size to do one annexe.


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