Let me give you my down and dirty.

The inflatable boat biz is changing. Lots of players, many using each other's fabrics......some even building at the same factory.

Lots of new players coming to the US market. Some Korean production (not so great), some Chinese production (depends which factory is doing the building) and some from Croatia (Grand & Brig).

With Avon gone, I feel that Achilles has moved into the #1 spot from a service/quality/value perspective.
AB is doing better, but you really have to want an AB to pay for what they cost today.
Novurania bought Nautica's assets and I hope that leads to some smaller RIBs, but too soon to say. My all-time favorite RIB was the NU 320TR.
Mercury uses Achilles fabric on their CSM-Hypalon boats.
Zodiac Cadet RIBs in CSM-Hypalon are now being built with Achilles fabric.
Defender RIBs are also built with Achilles fabric (but I like a matte finish, so I went with that over the gloss used by others).
The above three brands are all built at the same factory now.....the best one in China. I have sold about 5000 boats that came out of that factory.
Lots of confidence in their ability and continue to find them excelling at what they do.

Lots of new players that are offering RIBs from the Pacific Rim, but few have a service network. Most do not have liability insurance and most are brands that will not likely be around for support when you need it.

West Marine. I understand that Zodiac and West are going down separate paths (that is all I will write here). West will go with another Vendor for their inflatable boats, probably the South Korean one that they have use for a couple of their existing models.

Caribe. The old Caribe boats may not be available in the US. Old distributor went with a line out of Korea (Highfield). Though they look nice on the showroom floor, I have owned and sold painted aluminum RIBs in the past......and simply put, cannot suggest that anyone buy one uless they like peeling paint. AB is now offering most of their RIB model in an unpainted aluminum and that is the way to go for an aluminum hull. Though, as stated above, be prepared to pay for it.

If you want to discuss over the phone, feel free to give me a shout.

To me, the best value in a lightweight RIB is my Defender boat (but, hell yeah, I am partial and I have a horse in the race).

Best value for a flat deck RIB with bow locker is the Achilles HB series, hands down.

New Zodiac Cadet RIBs and Mercury RIBs with flat decks are nice, but wayyy too heavy.

Happy Holidays to you all.

Stephan Lance