Boat Fenders on an Inflatable Boat?

[LonArcvarden]

I got asked at the ramp the other day why I had boat fenders on the side of my RIB. I showed them a picture of a 14" slice on the side of my tube of a previous SIB. It occurred while docking and waiting to load onto the trailer.
A screw or nail was sticking down and not visible from the side of the dock. As we moved forward with a swell it ripped a long hole in the tube. We spent many hours on the repair and the integrity was questionable until I had used it a number of times. Had to do both an internal and external patch to make it strong enough to be trustworthy. It looked unsightly too.

Anyway, I have 2 or 3 fenders on my RIB every time I load, unload, or dock, because this.

[princemeraj]

I'm with you on this, for the time it takes to sling them overboard and for sake of £30/40 quid, why wouldn't you?!

[MichaelSavan]

I keep fenders on my RIB too, just to save the tubes from surprise scrapes, and adding covers helped a lot with chafe and noise. I’ve been using boat fenders covers because they’re soft and don’t rub the fabric the wrong way, especially when docking against rough pontoons. They’ve held up well and made the whole setup feel a bit more worry free.