Shock Mitigating Flooring?

[Ross Champion]

Full disclosure here. I have a business that makes soft non skid marine products. So if you guys don't mind being used purely for my own selfish reasons...I've got some questions for ya.

I've spent the last 7 or so years developing a removable shock mitigating flooring system. It is durable, light, great traction, fully waterproof, we can CNC cut any size/shape. And we can do it for a reasonable (at least compared to some other products) price. Currently we have some military boats testing with it and feedback has been great. We have kicked around the idea of marketing this toward the civilian market as well (we have had one commercial tour/camera boat operator testing with a non removable version for over a year.) And since you guys here seem to be the preeminent site for all things RIB I figured I would humbly and graciously ask for some feed back and advice.

Have you ever considered or used a shock mitigating flooring product in the past? Thoughts where that is concerned?

What if anything are you using for shock/impact absorption now?

Do you guys (especially commercial operators) have a need for shock mitigating full deck covering? Or I guess the questions is, would it be a benefit to you to have a flooring system that absorbed impact and would give protection in the event of a slip and fall of you, your crew or passengers?

How about just smaller sections like for the helm and crew area? Or maybe just helm pads?

If full deck covering is something you might be interested in and assuming this product really does make a big difference in your experience (and that of your crew/guests) on the water, what do you think would be a reasonable cost for such a product and how long would you expect it to last? (I realize cost is a tough one especially when you know nothing about this fictional product.)

Because this is such a diverse market with most all of the retrofit boats being different, we would need customers to create their own templates. Does this seem like a reasonable thing to request? Would it make a difference if we provided the template tools?

We would probably offer this product with a 1 year warranty, but expected life cycle would be 5 years+ depending on how the boat is used and cared for. Does that seem like a reasonable length of time?

And last one for the pro sector guys in Europe. How much of an issue is the whole Vibration Directive situation for you guys?

I really appreciate anyone who has taken the time to read this far, and would like to extend a huge thanks in advance to anyone who is kind enough to help me with a response.

[boristhebold]

I looked at this last year, eventually found a product called Skydex which looked interesting but wasn't interested in doing the entire floor of the rib, they do a individual mat but I found the mat dimensions were not suitable as it needed to be bigger to cover the area infront of the two console seats (side by side seating) and was finding it hard finding a UK distributor.

I use my boat for leisure only but do find 'I' take some pounding when it's reasonably rough and want to cover distance in a reasonable time. The sea state in the UK can often be a pain in the backside. (Pun intended) LOL

If ive been out all day in variable conditions I find I suffer from a few aches and pains in my ankles and knees and a few aches in my back. My Rib can take far more of a pounding than I can.

So as to your product, yes I think there is a market, something which could be cut to measure would be ideal, in my circumstances I would just cover the area where I stand, in front of the two console seats would be ideal. And of course cost would be an issue, for leisure users it should not be costed at military grade specs.

So I wish you well, if you want a few 'testers' of your product I would be happy to volunteer and fit a suitable area where I stand with it and give you some feedback.

[Ross Champion]

Boris,

I appreciate your taking the time to reply and the feedback. Do you remember off hand what size it was that you needed? If we do wind up launching a product like that I would love to have you test one...

[Crusher]

Sounds like an exciting and potentially very usefull product.........
Only concern I have in everything you have written is 5 year life........ No idea what this is gunna cost but if it's only going to last 5 years it needs to be very reasonably priced to convince Joe public it's a good investment. I can obviously see far more use for the commercial guys who have a responsibility for their skipper and passengers.....
Looking forward to hearing more and would love to see / test some !!!

[Anchorhandler]

I'm intrigued...

What is this flooring like?

I'm struggling to get the image of that type of rubber flooring McDonalds use around their childrens play zone out of my head.....

IMHO, the way to go would be to create a second 'upper' deck at the build stage. This upper deck would cover the whole usable horizontal surface of the vessel as the original 'lower' deck did but would be suspended on resilient mounts sandwiched between the lower and upper deck. A flexible skirt would need to be installed around the edge of the upper deck to maintain watertight integrity.

Admitedly not cost effective in a retro-fit situation though

Many large commercial craft have been using this system for 20+ years such as the large cross channel cat's as pictured.

What you dont see is that the whole of the accomodation and bridge deck is actually 'floating' on resilient flexible mounts. Makes a massive difference to both noise and vibration levels throughout a wide frequency band.

Simon

[boristhebold]

Originally Posted by Ross Champion

Boris,

I appreciate your taking the time to reply and the feedback. Do you remember off hand what size it was that you needed? If we do wind up launching a product like that I would love to have you test one...

Im going out on my Rib later today so will measure up and take a picture of the floor area im thinking of and post.
Boris

[Ross Champion]

Crusher,
I appreciate the positive feedback.
Longevity is a tough topic and one that I don't want to over estimate, so that is why I'm figuring 5 years. And we are working on being able to build it at a price point where this would make sense.

Simon,
Thanks for the interest and information. As to what the flooring is like...I can't go to far into the exact composition of it right now. But I guess the closest thing I could liken it to is having a really supportive, comfortable pair of shoes all over the deck that will progressively provide more resistance as loads are increased.

Boris,
Thanks...looking forward to seeing that.

I really do appreciate all the feedback so far.

[Ross Champion]

It's pretty late over here on my side of the world. But I'll check back with you guys in the morning.

[CornishAvon]

Now I may be wrong here but I am almost sure this product already exists here in the UK and is called "Shock Mitigation"

I test drove an Avon SR4 that was owned by the chap who goes under "HMS" on here and is the editor of RIB magazine. This SR4 was used for the round Scotland or England race in 2003 maybe?

It had "Shock Mitigation" stickers all over it and had this flexible shock adsorbing flooring. I know this because it was a strange feeling walking on it and it was green as hell under the matting where it was difficult to clean....

I Google'd the company name and came up with a military supplier of shock mitigation boat products.

Whether this company is still in business and if "HMS" originally put this flooring in - I don't know - but it sure as hell exists already.

Simon - it looks like normal black matting but underneath it looks/reminds me of the soles on Nike Air trainers - lots of round cushions so to speak.

HTH?

http://www.shockmitigation.com/

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by CornishAvon

Shock Mitigation - Reducing Injury, Improving Comfort & Interpreting Legislation for RIBs

That's just a directory and consultancy as far as I can see?