Sea Deck... Does the $500 ebay stuff work?

[DeathBySanity]

I am trying to eliminate my carpets with grey sea deck. Unfortunately, I also don't want to spend $1K. Has anyone tried any of the ebay stuff? It's labeled as Blacktip Powersports, but a fraction of the price.

ebay Link

If you have something you recommend, leave a link or add pics, please!

 

[Thats]

Spend the money for the custom fit. I promise you it'll be worth it. In my old AR210 the SeaDek was the #1 thing everyone commented on.

 

[Yammi]

Spend the money for the custom fit. I promise you it'll be worth it. In my old AR210 the SeaDek was the #1 thing everyone commented on.

This….

 

[drewkaree]

I am trying to eliminate my carpets with grey sea deck. Unfortunately, I also don't want to spend $1K. Has anyone tried any of the ebay stuff? It's labeled as Blacktip Powersports, but a fraction of the price.

ebay Link

If you have something you recommend, leave a link or add pics, please!

I don't have that stuff, but Marine Mat, that Blacktip stuff, SeaDek...all stick-down padding. I've seen the Blacktip more often used on fishing boats, but it appears to be quite similar to Marine Mat, which is the OEM stuff used by Yamaha on the swim deck, at the very least. If you're handy and resourceful, you could do it yourself with actual SeaDek for about that same price, but it's going to be far more work than just buying that stuff you found. It's not terribly difficult to DIY, as I've done to my boat, but it WILL be time consuming, and the cost of the SeaDek is likely due to the custom cut work. Look at JetBoat Pilot's stuff, and you'll see what I'm referring to - the lines meant to mimic a teak look are not something the average DIY guy can duplicate.

If all you're looking to do is a solid color, that ebay deal is going to be hard to beat, considering the cutting is already done for you. I went with a non-standard color, which meant no group buy discount, and EVERYBODY was quite pricey - I had access to someone who could get me a deal on what I used, and I saved a boatload doing it myself

https://jetboaters.net/threads/my-diy-of-the-seadek-sheet-material-i-got.29521/

From what I could tell, the Blacktip felt more firm when comparing identical thicknesses. I've also heard that it cleans up better when dealing with fish guts and the like, which would explain the more prevalent use in fishing boats. If you decide to go the DIY route, Amazon was the cheapest place around. E-bay was equal in pricing to Amazon, but the sizes were slightly different, so I'm not certain the savings would have been the same. If you decide to go DIY and want some tips, hit me up. It's really not that difficult, but you have to realize you don't have the interior plotted out for you boat to cut the stuff on a CNC or laser cutter, so you'll have to do templates.

The adhesive would be the only thing that I would be concerned with in your case. SeaDek uses 3M, and I'm pretty sure Marine Mat is the same. Not sure with the Blacktip, and I most definitely wouldn't trust the Chinglish knock-offs you'll find on Amazon or E-bay. If they're not using a good adhesive, your hard work and money will be wasted in short order, and I'd bet it'll be just as big a PITA getting that adhesive off after it's failed on you.

Good luck on your decision, we're here to help.

 

[Ronnie]

I’m pretty sure that blacktip is west marine branded hydro turf or at least it used to be. Initially, a few years ago hydro turf was the material that black tip was most like and you could buy kits customized for specific yamaha jet boats for less than half the cost of a seadeck kit from jet boat pilot. There are some members here that bought and installed such blacktip kits.

I’ve custom cut my own hydro turf before, it took days to make the templates and some time to get the patterns of the long parts to match eachother. If yiu Have more time than money, it’s the way to go, otherwise ….