Sun-Tan Lotion for Inflatables?!?!
 

Seriously! NRS sells some kind of spray for PVC boats...how necessary
is this? I thought PVC was a environmental hazzard or something! But
I guess it melts after a few years of sun and fun???

NYC XYZ wrote:

: Seriously! NRS sells some kind of spray for PVC boats...how necessary
: is this? I thought PVC was a environmental hazzard or something! But
: I guess it melts after a few years of sun and fun???

Anything plasticy does... who doesn't use 303 or something similar on their
boats?

--
John Nelson
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Ah, sorry...I'm a near-complete noob to this sport!

If it was hardshell plastic, I wouldn't bother. But being that it's an
inflatable I have...I don't want a hole to develop one day -- on the
water, no less!



Chicago Paddling-Fishing wrote:

Anything plasticy does... who doesn't use 303 or something similar on their
boats?

--
John Nelson
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Area Paddling/Fishing Page
http://www.chicagopaddling.org http://www.chicagofishing.org
(A Non-Commercial Web Site: No Sponsors, No Paid Ads and Nothing to Sell)

NYC XYZ wrote:

: Ah, sorry...I'm a near-complete noob to this sport!

: If it was hardshell plastic, I wouldn't bother. But being that it's an
: inflatable I have...I don't want a hole to develop one day -- on the
: water, no less!

I have a inflatable with a foam floor that I take with on vacation because
it's lightweight... once I pumped it up and was about 100 yards out on Lake
Michigan when I started really getting wet... water temps had dropped enough
that the air was condensing... made a quick path for shore (and before I got
there, the side tubes were solid again).

I use 303 on my hardshell stuff as well... I think they spend as much time
on the roof of the car facing the sun as they do in the water (I store them
in the garage, so there isn't sun there). I have 5 hardshell kayaks and 3
hardshell canoes in addition to the inflatable (which I won kinda by accident
in a auction... I was always being outbid, so I'd bid low every time I saw
one... and eventually won... nice foam floor whitewater kayak...)

If you take a camping tent, set it up and leave it up for about 3 years...
see how the material feels afterwards... UV is hard on stuff...

--
John Nelson
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chicago Area Paddling/Fishing Page
http://www.chicagopaddling.org http://www.chicagofishing.org
(A Non-Commercial Web Site: No Sponsors, No Paid Ads and Nothing to Sell)

NYC XYZ wrote:

Anything plasticy does... who doesn't use 303 or something similar
on their boats?

If it was hardshell plastic, I wouldn't bother. But being that it's an
inflatable I have...I don't want a hole to develop one day -- on the
water, no less!

I'd say 303 is a waste of money for a PVC boat. PVC outgasses and
becomes brittle after about 5 years, so UV damage is inconsequential
in comparison to that.

I do use 303 on the latex gaskets of my drysuit, and it seems to make
a huge different in longevity. I tried 303 on the nylon fabric of
my PFD, and it faded anyway, so its UV resistance might be overrated.

If you put 303 on a boat before going out, it'll wash off anyway.
Maybe it will keep PVC soft for longer than 5 years, but if that's so
I never heard anyone mention it.

On 6-Jun-2005, Bill Tuthill wrote:

I tried 303 on the nylon fabric of
my PFD, and it faded anyway, so its UV resistance might be overrated.

FWIW, nylon fabrics, especially coated ones, won't hold anything on their
surface very well. Hence, the 303 is gone pretty quickly. This isn't
a valid test of 303's UV resistance.

Mike