Inflating boats in the rain.

[Willisbrow]

Hello All
Im a new to this forum and a1st time raft owner. I have my raft in the back of my truck and am going to use it this weekend. The problem is that i have just bought an electric pump and there is rain in the forecast. The warnings on the box says "Do not use under wet conditions, please keep away from water" and "To avoid electric shock, do not operate pump under wet or moist conditions". The pump is a NRS blast inflator with alligator clamps for the car battery.

How do I inflate my raft in the rain?? is it safe to have someone hold an umbrella while i inflate under it? Do need to buy an expensive hand pump? and how long does it take to hand pump up a 15 ft raft.??

I dont know anyone where I will be going, so going to a friends garage is not an option.
I was thinking to bring the raft and trailer to a parking garage and inflate the boat in there.
I will only be inflating it once cause i will be buying a trailer prior to inflating.

Thanks in advance.

Will

[randomnature]

Close the hood of the car gently--don't latch it. And have someone hold an umbrella over you. Its DC so not as big a concern as AC.

[River Malt]

If you ever needed to use a regular hand pump, it should only take about 15-20 minutes to pump up a 15 ft raft. The hand pumps are pretty efficient.

[DB81301]

If you dont have a hand pump you should get one there are situations where your raft will need air and you wont have your car.

[Mut]

I haven't used an electric pump that actually inflated my boat all the way. As someone said, you need a hand pump for when you don't have electricity. If you pop your raft and have to fix it on the river, how will you inflate it again?

I'd buy a hand pump.

[Ture]

Yes on the hand pump.

I got a raft last year.

I have no plans to ever get one of those electric pumps. With one of those big cylinder pumps I can pump up my raft very quickly. I'd rather get a workout too. It doesn't take me 15 minutes... more like 5. Rafters are pretty close to being the bowlers of outdoor sports... I intend to buck that trend.

I find the electric pumps to be WAY too noisy for my liking. Multiply your wife's 6 AM hair drying noise by about 10 and you have the annoyance factor of an electric pump at a putin. I hate them.

[Stiff N' Wett]

You always want to top off with a hand pump.

[Willisbrow]

thanks for the responses. I do own a K-100 for topping off but pumping the raft up with just that pump would take a LONG TIME...
I talked to the guy building me a trailer and he said he has a compressor in his shop that i could use to inflate my boat. So its looking like thats the route im gonna be taking.

Thanks again for the quick replies

[Rapid Resolver]

River Malt knows his hand pumps, so I would listen. The guy has a left forearm as big as his thigh!

[Skyman]

Originally Posted by River Mediator

River Malt knows his hand pumps, so I would listen. The guy has a left forearm as big as his thigh!

Are you sure its from pumping up his raft?