Throwable Cushions

[muttnut]

Our throwable cockpit cushions are getting pretty ratty looking and I'm thinking of making new ones with closed foam and Sunbrella fabric, with straps. Our old ones are made of vinyl with vented fabric on the sides. Anyone know of any reason why Sunbrella shouldn't be used?

[sapient sue]

I have used both sunbrella and polar tech to cover our cockpit cushions and both materials are quite serviceable. I think polar tech is easier to wash and dries very quickly and so far seems to have the same life as the sunbrella. I have the sunbrella covering a 5" foam cushion on the back seat needing the waterproof protection and used the polar tech covering on the non porous foam on the side seats.

Sue

[rwidman]

I'll bet the folks at Sunbrella would be glad to help you choose which of their many products is best for your project.

Sunbrella fabrics

[Greenhand]

Since you said throwable, I would point out that homemade will likely not meet USCG requirements.


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[JPA Cate]

If you keep a clear vinyl "window" so that the instructions and the CG rating are visible, I believe it's okay to recover with sunbrella, and you can use better webbing straps than the originals. If you're worried about the CG, maybe buy one new one, but the closed cell foam lasts a very long time. I'm still using ones from our first Insatiable, 25 yrs. old, and the sunbrella's still pretty good. Did not bother to recover them to match the color scheme on this boat either: they're blue. And, basically, you can still toss them, if someone needs them, it's more important to help a person than to follow a regulation, IMO.

Ann