Welcome to RIBs ONLY – The Exciting Number 1 Home of the Rigid Inflatable Boat

My Passion for the Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB)

I’ve always been fascinated by the Rigid Inflatable Boat. Their form, style, lay-out, toughness, seaworthiness, safety and sportive way of navigating are the unquestionable advantages you’ll rarely find combined in any other type of boat.

What’s a RIB

This type of boat has a solid V-hull, inflatable tubes in a U -form and an engine on the stern. Basically that’s it. All the rest are variations.

And that’s what it makes them so interesting. They come in all sizes and widths. Some have engines with only a few horsepower, others have multiple engines and many, many horsepower.

They are being built for many different purposes.

Type of RIBs

This type of boat is also known as the 4 x 4 of the sea. Rescue services, military, police, port staff often use RIBs because of their excellent behaviour, stability, seaworthiness and solidity. Others are fitted put for pleasure, fishing and racing. A RIB is indeed a very special type of motorboat.

• Family outings
• Speed
• Ultimate luxury
• Weekenders and such
• Racing
• Work beast
• Rescue
• Military – tactical
• Epeditions
• …

Buying a RIB is a serious decision. You need to know what to look for in order to get the best boat for your requirements and needs. Know what to look for when buying a RIB.

Social media

RIBs ONLY has a Facebook group. Become a member of this great RIB community: it’s free and you get to meet great passionates! And if you’re looking to buy or sell, check out our RIBs ONLY Sales Facebook group.

Each an every purpose has certain requirements as far as the hull is concerned.

It’s good to do some research yourself. That’s where RIBs ONLY comes in. There is a lot of knowledge here and in our Facebook group. Pop your questions, we’ll be glad to help you. RIBs are our passion.

The history of RIBsONLY.com

Below you can read some history, the reasons to believe and how it evolved.

From forum to blog

RIBsOnly.com started as a traditional Flemish forum way back in 2008. I got a lot of questions and wanted to share a sort of database that I could fill with information like dealer websites, types, brands and videos.

In these days (2004), Facebook wasn’t all that popular yet and I doubted the relevance of a Facebook group at that time. It was said that TheFacebook was for the adolescents.

It was a hell of a job to maintain my forum amongst my day-time job and other websites. Videos went offline, brands stopped building boats, new models arrived and others were terminated … It was a true nightmare.

Nevertheless I kept it running ’till the last day of April 2017. I admit that the last years, I didn’t had the time to keep it up to date anymore. Members signed off and I needed to take action. Should I stop with RIBsONLY.com or should I change course?

The Blog

I decided to go on with it. I believed that by taking another approach I still could make it work.

I did some research on blog software. Finally I came across WordPress and that was exactly what I needed. I got a boost and the new blog was a fact.

Media are key

My goal is to promote RIBbing and share information with as many people as possible. I understand the need for owner groups that are brand bound. It could be fun but the group stays in the small circle in my opinion.

This blog is about the passion for the RIB and everything that has to do with it.

I believe that videos are a good way to achieve this goal. For those who are looking to buy a RIB, I want RIBs ONLY to be their premier source of information.

The Power of Visuals

According to marketing industry influencer Krista Neher, the human brain can process images up to 60,000 times faster than words.

The point is with a picture, you can convey so much more information than you can with words. In fact, it can take a thousand words just to describe what is in one picture. And, pictures have the ability to convey abstract and complex concepts such as facial expressions.

As is often the case, videos tell a lot more than just texts. So RIB videos are key.

Challenge: Selecting the Best Videos

There are a million RIB videos out there, literally millions. From very, very good videos made by pros to uncle Buck’s 15 second video taken with an outdated smartphone with a view that’s all over the place. Many of the videos are too low quality and do not provide information at all. I had to find a system to select good videos.

I turned to YouTube as my main source for content.

Scope

I want to offer as much information as possible about RIBs. If you think there are a handful of brands, think again. I already gathered 230+ brands here on RIBsONLY.com.

Sometimes there is a discussion about a certain model if it truly is a Rigid Inflatable Boat. You know, some producers offer inflatable tubes of foam-filled tubes. And there are even catamaran-like ones.

The more I dug in, the more fascinated I got. It boosted my passion more and more.

So, this said, welcome to the Home of the Rigid Inflatable Boat, RIBs ONLY!