RUBBER - a Natural Treasure from The Jungle

RUBBER - a Natural Treasure from The Jungle

If you have visited our website, you will probably be at least a fan of paddling sports and inflatable boats will be a well-known product for you. However, few people already know that the GUMOTEX company manufactures its boats from materials which it makes itself and which are not made on the basis of PVC, but from natural or synthetic rubber.

Rubber is a polymeric material of natural or synthetic origin, which is characterized by great flexibility, ie the ability to significantly deform under the effect of external force and then regain its original shape. It is therefore a so-called elastomer.

Natural rubber is obtained from the tropical tree of the Brazilian rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), where raw latex is obtained by cutting its bark and then rubber is produced from it by precipitation and other modifications.

Mining of natural rubber

 

Synthetic rubber is produced by the chemical reaction of some unsaturated hydrocarbons and can have various compositions. Rubber is produced from hydrocarbon-based rubbers by the addition of fillers, antioxidants, vulcanizing agents and subsequent vulcanization (a chemical reaction in which synthetic molecules or natural rubbers are crosslinked, thus gaining greater flexibility).

Production and measurement of rubber compound

 

The history of rubber in Europe is really long. Natural rubber has been known in Europe since about the middle of the 18th century. Until the second half of the 19th century, rubber trees were grown for its production only in South America, and later also in Southeast Asia. Decisive for the wider use of natural (and later synthetic rubber) was the invention of vulcanization, which is usually attributed to the American Charles Goodyear and dates back to 1844. The first synthetically prepared rubbers were polyisoprene (1909 in Germany) and polybutadiene (1910 in Russia). The invention of butadiene-styrene rubber, made by German chemists in 1935, was also significant.

At GUMOTEX, as its name suggests, it is primarily a matter of transforming these ordinary materials into extraordinary products. For its long history, GUMOTEX, a joint-stock company, has a really wide portfolio, from rubberized clothing to rubber toys. However, the most important benefit of the company is that it can produce material from rubber tailored to the customer according to his needs and requirements, thanks to his own development and laboratory research.

The most famous product of the GUMOTEX company is certainly the already mentioned inflatable boats. The proprietary material they have developed in the boat making company, which consists of a high-strength fabric and a double-sided coating of both natural and synthetic rubber, is called NITRILON®.

Boats made in our country are characterized by several main benefits, for which we owe the rubber.

  • Durability - unlike PVC, from which most competing products are made, our material maintains its flexibility for a very long time and does not crack. So you don't buy a boat for two seasons, but for a long line of years.
  • Packability and lightness - although most of us imagine a rather massive and cumbersome product under something durable, this is not the case. GUMOTEX boats are very compact and light. When you throw them on your back in a travel bag, you can go literally anywhere with them.
  • Weather resistance - have you ever forgotten to hide your PVC boat or inflatable pool from the first frost after the season and it has ruined everything for you? You can also go with our boats to Antarctica, where they are already helping with research at the Johann Gregor Mendel Czech Scientific Research Station. Our boats can withstand temperatures of -40 °.
  • Ecology - Nowadays, humanity has finally thought about its behavior towards nature and everyone is trying to contribute a little to its protection (for example, by sorting waste). A huge burden is the widespread use of PVC material for the production of a wide range of products, including most boats. PVC products often release phthalates and, when burned, toxic dioxins, which are toxic to the human body. That is why GUMOTEX inflatable boats are highly valued at this time, because the NITRILON® material used for their production is not made of PVC.

 

Thanks to their packability and lightness, GUMOTEX boats are an ideal choice for travel.

GUMOTEX boats add up many other benefits, which are no longer just a work of quality material, but are due to years of experience, innovation and especially people who have been making boats for the most part with their own hands for more than 70 years! 

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