Ali or v air floor

[Fishfinder]

Hi, think I’ve got my choice of first sib to go for down to 3 different makes, honwave, waveline , europa, my next headache is Ali with inflatable keel or v air floor? I’m drawn towards the Ali floor simply because I’ll be only using it for fishing, so am a bit worried about hooks and spiky bass! Also the Ali floor would be nice and flat inside whereas the v wouldn’t??? Decisions Decisions? What do I do????

[Andy]

You'll have a hard job to pierce the tubes while fishing, so your gunna be back to the standard arguements of ali floor being better as a floor, but heavier, better trailered, or inflatable floor being very lightweight and capable of being thrown into the back of the car.
If money is no object, go for the biggest, as you'll need the room for fishing if you really get into it. You'll find you want as much as possible close to hand, and you dont want to be standing up, or walking around when your out.
Oh.... and a very decent seat. As your arse will start to sting after about an hour, summit well padded !

[Fishfinder]

It’s not the tubes getting pieced I’m concerned about as I’m quite able to land a bass over them onto the floor, basically I’m concerned about the build quality of a v air floor, ie climbing around with crap etc on the bottom of my boots,(resulting in punctures), and also the time and hassle of fixing together of a Ali floor, as it will definitely be travelling in the car boot every time,

[Windsurfer]

If your packing away all the time then i would certainly get a air floor , if you have room for a trailer or storage somewhere i would get the ali floor and a trailer it.

Cheers

[Windsurfer]

You could put a rubber mat in the bottom of the air floor to give extra protection, it its pretty solid when at the correct pressure.

[Mattallica]

I really struggled with this when trying to decide which sib to go for. In the end I read tonnes of reviews and advice and watched several videos setting up both air and aluminium floors and went for the aluminium. I will be mainly fishing from the sib and having a solid platform to stand on and fish from really appealed to me. The extra setup and weight I don't think will bother me too much even Kayak fishing I faff about and take ages to setup. Generally when I go out I make a day of it and I live about 15-20 mins drive from where I will be launching in Portland harbour so if it takes 20-30 mins to setup its not a big deal for me. I am also planning to take 2 11 year olds and a 6 year old out most times and they are bound to have stones and sand on their feet etc and also a dog is on the cards for the future so the hard floor will just save me moaning at them to be careful all the time. Good luck deciding.

[Fishfinder]

I really struggled with this when trying to decide which sib to go for. In the end I read tonnes of reviews and advice and watched several videos setting up both air and aluminium floors and went for the aluminium. I will be mainly fishing from the sib and having a solid platform to stand on and fish from really appealed to me. The extra setup and weight I don't think will bother me too much even Kayak fishing I faff about and take ages to setup. Generally when I go out I make a day of it and I live about 15-20 mins drive from where I will be launching in Portland harbour so if it takes 20-30 mins to setup its not a big deal for me. I am also planning to take 2 11 year olds and a 6 year old out most times and they are bound to have stones and sand on their feet etc and also a dog is on the cards for the future so the hard floor will just save me moaning at them to be careful all the time. Good luck deciding.

Thanks for your comments, I really want to buy something buy this weekend but tbh I still don’t know what to go for!!!! Seen some really good deals on the waveline v Hull but also attracted to the Ali floor honwave, but it will definitely be going in the car boot every time I use it so considering I’m a lazy bast##rd it will probably be the waveline

[Andy]

I was in the same position as you, not sure what my first buy should be. After buying a Honwave T40, because I thought I could carry it in the back of the car, well you can in theory, but you really wouldn't, cus its dam well too heavy for one person. Even when inflated and on a trailer, its still heavy for one person.

This had an ali floor, and was great once on the water and very capable, but took ages to build. I built it once and never again! It spent its life on a trailer. The engine wasn't lightweight either. However, my thoughts after using it was, if I am going to buy summit like this, I might as well have a rib !

After much thinking, my personal thoughts now, would be if i wanted a throw in the car boat, then i would go for a lightweight blow up floor type, or an Frib.

[ChrisParish]

If you are anything other than 100% motivated all the time then get an airfloor otherwise the alu version is just too much work.

[Windsurfer]

I have the 3.2 Honwave air floor and its a great boat , i wouldn't want to be setting up and packing that up all the time so can imagine what the alloy floor would be painful.
Don't be fooled by the you tube set up videos , as they have everything laid out and ready to go also there just setting the boat up.Think about all the other kit you be taking with you, wetsuits ,life jackets , fishing kit, wake board, fuel , oil , tool kit etc.