Carpet, Vinyl or bedliner?

I've got to replace the carpet in the boat I just bought. Problem is, I don't know what to replace it with.

I can get a tintable, 2 part bedliner that should be fairly good quality and that would be the easiest fix but I'm afraid it would flake off after time.

Vinyl would be easy to keep up, but I have no experience with it in a boat.

Carpet is comfy on the feet and looks good when it's clean, but who keeps clean carpet in a boat? I know it's the traditional boat interior....

All advice appreciated...

I have an older boat (89), and it needed carpet, plus had a soft spot. We repaired the spot, and expanded the deck. I bought the roll on Berliner from Walmart, mixed in a few sprinkles of sand for a gritty, less slippery surface. This was a couple of years ago, and all is well. I think carpet feels better and muffles sound, but the Berliner can be cleaned much easier. Bottom line, it was a cheap fix!

A couple pics.Attachment 281888Attachment 281889


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Just remember with vinyl or Bedliner. Make sure you have enough grip if you fish in colder weather. When you bring in fish into the boat the water that drips off will freeze making slick spots. Just a heads up. My last two boats had a spray in coating.

When I had my big Crestliner, I had it coated with Vinyl No-Slip textured paint, similar to what truck bed liners are sprayed with today (Rhino Lining). Precisely because of clean up. Just hose it down and you're good to go. Had that rig for 5 full seasons and never had a problem. A friend of mine had a Lund with vinyl glue-on covering throughout. Kept coming up in the corners. Not good!

Personally, the only reason a person has carpet in a boat is because it comes that way and it looks pretty. Impossible to keep clean and the "pretty-ness" wears off after a few short seasons of heavy use. JMO Folks! :)

I’m curious also because I have got to do the same in mine ! Been looking at the durabak bed linner!

FWIW. The carpet in my boat stays cooler in the summer than the vinyl. The vinyl feels like it could cause burns, though I doubt it would. I just like the go barefoot.

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Originally Posted by ET Fish

I have an older boat (89), and it needed carpet, plus had a soft spot. We repaired the spot, and expanded the deck. I bought the roll on Berliner from Walmart, mixed in a few sprinkles of sand for a gritty, less slippery surface. This was a couple of years ago, and all is well. I think carpet feels better and muffles sound, but the Berliner can be cleaned much easier. Bottom line, it was a cheap fix!

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Auto correct must not like the word BEDLINER!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BAMA S

Just remember with vinyl or Bedliner. Make sure you have enough grip if you fish in colder weather. When you bring in fish into the boat the water that drips off will freeze making slick spots. Just a heads up. My last two boats had a spray in coating.

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Excellent point that I would never have thought of. Thanks

I think it really depends on where you fish and your style of fishing.

In the springtime when it is 30 degrees and we are walleye fishing, I absolutely hate the vinyl. It makes your feet cold and once snow gets on it or livewll water, slime, or other stuff, it gets really slippery.

I like to kneel a lot. My boat is setup for tournament fishing so I only carry two seats. I'm in a hurry, often rough sees, and I kneel for safety and to keep a low center of gravity. The vinyl sucks on the old knees and the bedliner stuff would tear them apart. For these reasons, I like the carpet in my tournament boat.

That said, I also see the advantages of vinyl. Easy to clean and maintain. Our other boat has vinyl. I just don't like fishing out of it as much (identicle boat to my tournament boat). Seems to be a bit louder of a ride (not that it matters).

So, I guess I'm one of the few on the carpet side!!