floating foam pads

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slag

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My wife is wanting to get one of those 12x18 floating foam pads that everyone is using now. I balk at the extreme price of them, about $600-$1000 dollars.. for foam. Surely this foam is used in some other type of commercial application and is super cheap by the cubic yard. Is this something made specifically for boating where they can charge obscene prices, or does it have a more common name or is otherwise used for something commercial and could be super cheap?
 

Scott Danforth

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material specific to the market they are in.

the lilly pad brand 18' is $490 (12' is $425) on their site, cheaper at places like Target
 

slag

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See, I think thats still too expensive. I can buy a whole used boat engine for $490, I'm not going to buy a piece of foam for that. To me, that's just insane. Looks to be around $80-$150 tops for something like a piece of foam that is super easy to make.
 

Scott Danforth

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boating is an expensive hobby. infact BOAT is an acronym for Break Out Another Thousand

I personally wouldnt trust a motor for under what a good set of gaskets costs.
 

slag

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Going off topic here, but boating isn't that expensive when you do your own maintenance and take care of your things. Accidents happen, but if you maintain your equipment and don't rely on dealers or super expensive markups on "boating" equipment that has the automotive equivalent, it can be done on the cheap and safe.

At any rate, until prices go down on the foam, I'll not be a buyer. I'll continue to use inflatables that work almost as well and take a whole 2 minutes longer to get out on the water.
 

poconojoe

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Funny, my wife and I have been seeing those things rolled up on passing boats. We were wondering what the heck they were and how they were used. We figured some sort of flotation device, but we thought that would be dangerous if it were to wrap around you. Thinking like the bubble wrap solar cover on our pool. There are warnings on how someone can drown if they get tangled in it. So, enlighten me....how are these things used?
 

Scott Danforth

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joe, a pic is worth a thousand

taken from the Target web site

51003407
 

ajgraz

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I'd prefer individual foam pads. That way when someone wet-farts one, you can still get away.
 

Scott Danforth

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you cant roll the boat up, strap to the front of the pontoon and move to another location and unroll it though
 

Jeffh40

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Bought one a couple of years ago. Used it 5 times or so on the first year, used it 0 times the 2nd year. I guess we'll see if I use it at all this coming year. There are better ways to spend $500 IMHO.
 
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