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Ever wonder where the first Inflatable Boats were made? Imagine making an Inflatable Boat from animal pelts and making them air tight then blowing them up by mouth. Yes, it is true. There are ancient images on cave dwellings depicting these one man inflatable watercrafts long before the days of compressors. These depictions were sometimes mistaken for scuba diving gear when in reality, they were the origin of the Inflatable Boat.

Back in the year 1839 the Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington tested the first inflatable pontoons while he was Leader of the House of Lords. Shortly thereafter in 1900 to 1910 the advances of rubber manufacturing made it possible to attempt rubber Inflatable Boats. These crude creations were only usable as inflatable rafts using paddles. There were inherent manufacturer defects as they tended to split at the seams and folds due to less than optimal manufacturing processing of the rubber.

The loss of the Titanic in 1912 and the ensuing WW1 and the losses of many war ships that fell casualty to the indefensive tendencies to the submarine torpedo, Rubber Rafts gained popularity. The main reason for such a loss of like on the Titanic was due to the unthinkable fact that there were less than half the necessary lifeboats aboard her than were necessary for each person aboard to have a space.

The SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships. The first version was adopted in 1914, the second in 1929, the third in 1948, and the fourth in 1960. The most prominent focus was to ensure that ships had sufficient lifeboats so that every person aboard the ship had access to a place on a lifeboat. [http://www.imo.org/Conventions/contents.asp?topic_id=257&doc_id=647#1]

War ships and Passenger Ships had the hardest time to comply with this policy as there were so many people aboard and deck space was not available. Many times they had to stack the Life Boats on top of one another to have the correct number of Lift Boats. Cargo ships had a lesser issue with the compliance as there was plenty of room on the ships with the low number of personnel aboard

Goodyear had discovered a way to better manufacture the Inflatable Boats in between the two World Wars but unfortunately, the conservative though of the time held back its production. The inflatable boats that get produced were life rafts of square-shaped inflated rubber cylinders with a rigid floor. These inflatable rafts were stacked vertically aboard warships on deck.

Then came along Pierre Debroutelle with his 1937 design of the Inflatable Boat. It was the first known to have the now traditional U-Shaped inflatable tube. It was so revolutionary that it was the first boat of its kind to gain certification from the French Navy. Later in 1943 a wooden transom was patented on 10 August 1943. Today, you can see the similarities in this version as compared to today's inflatable sports and pleasure boats.

As with many things, World War II changed the need for and thereby the industry on Inflatable Boats. Submarine attacks in the Battlefield of the Atlantic created escalated numbers of casualties among merchant ships as well as the many warships.

It was at this point that the US warships really started to use rubber life rafts. With the further advances in the rubber processing and manufacturing process over the last 35 years, the Inflatable Boat was accepted and here to stay, and now it was shaped like a boat.

Today's modern Inflatable Boat is no longer just a Life Saving device, it has now crossed over to the recreational side of things due to its low cost of entry and it varied use. If you are looking for a boat on a budget, you definitely need to check out an Inflatable Boat!

Don't even think about Buying an Inflatable Boat without checking out Wyatt Crouch's editorials on Inflatable Watercraft so you do not get Sunk buying the wrong one.