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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/04/2018 in all areas

  1. This drifts s little off topic. I posted a year ago about slideouts and the horrible crash performance of RVs in general. The industry has safety minimums that manufacturers must meet, but they are all focussed on plumbing, gas detection, and fire protection. Not a thing about safety during a crash. It’s perfectly OK for a structure to explode into kindling during a rollover, or for the builder to cut four gaping holes into an otherwise (fairly) sturdy cabin to fit multiple slides, and to locate one directly behind the driver so that he is crushed when in flies forward. It truly is insane from this perspective. http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/recreational-vehicle-standards-and-why-is-the-average-build-quality-so-low/ I have been researching power boats recently, an old interest rekindled after 30 years, and I am appalled at the designs. Boating has been in a huge slump and the makers are desperate to bring new families into the sport with innovating and affordable designs. These boats are almost universally “bow riders” with a large open seating area up front, instead of an enclosed deck, so you can pack a few extra people onto a small design. They look cool in the showroom but are stupid and deadly in reality. Even the larger boats are coming with this feature. They are safer due to their extra size and mass, but still..... does this make sense even to the novice? Do they consider what happens in even a low speed accident? https://www.wavetowave.com/home/2017/9/19/bowriders-the-death-of-safe-design We used to have a SeaRay 250 Sundancer that we would take out on Puget Sound. That was not a small boat.... I can vividly recall the time we plunged into a very steep FOUR FOOT tall wake from a laboring cruiser going through the fast current of Deception Pass. A wall of green water swept over the closed deck of our boat and exploded into the windshield. Loose objects crashed to the deck. With an open deck we might have gone to the bottom. As it happened we swore but nothing broke. I’ve been thinking about going to the Boat Show next week, but, like RV shows, I will probably be absolutely disgusted with what I see and I will most likely make rude comments to the poor sale people. They can’t help it if all they have to sell is junk. Olivers are amazing trailers. One thing that really impressed me during research is how focussed the company is on real world safety. I have heard stoies of how well they survive crashes, but have never seen actual pics. Neat trailers! Comments are welcome, as always. EDIT. This neat trailerable pocket cruiser from France caught my eye. They do stick a small seat up front for lounging at anchor, but no huge cavities with couches. John Davies Spokane WA
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