Looking at inflatables and curious if anyone has one of these, the 9'6 version is only 549 after shipping which seems like the cheapest new option. Im just not sure how ridgid the air deck bosts are, obviously its pvc but im only looking for a few years out of it. Other option is getting one from alibaba which would likely be slightly more but have an aluminum deck
Ive been using my excursion 4 for about 3 years now or so. Wife and i use it for fishing here in northern Minnesota, specifically in small pits or ponds that most boats can't go.
That being said, I was wondering if I should get the 5 for more room or the mariner 4 for more durability? We had 2 other brands of inflatables and they had small holes that got patched, this excursion 4 I dont think we had any yet.
My main concerns are, weight and seating.
I have a bad back and sitting on the floor of the excursion 4 with the seat is actually quite comfortable for me. The floor isn't great for standing in but we dont usually stand up except to get out. I see the mariner 4 had a rigid floor which, not so sure it would be comfortable to sit on, maybe take the excursion seats for it?
Second is weight. I think our excursion 4 is 50lbs or so, feels very light, I heard the mariner 4 is 80 to 100! For the bad back reasons, makes me a bit nervous.
Lastly, ease of travel. Our excursion 4 we just toss on the back of our jeep compass and pump it up at a lake. Easy as pie. Same for the mariner 4? Also, we have a 55lb thrust trolling motor. It does ok on ours now, seems to push it pretty good but it almost seems like it will come off if we crank it up to full speed. I hear the mariner 4 is better with a motor, more stable and faster as it has the keel and sits higher in the water, accurate?
Any other advice would be appreciated since its a metter of $200 to go from excursion to mariner.