[ob1coby]

66" vs 72" Cat Yokes

I've currently got 66" yokes on my 16' tubes. I can only afford one boat so since 16' tubes is already pushing it I like it because it seems to be a little narrower for smaller rivers and technical whitewater. 72s would give me more cooler and other gear options, but would it change much for the smaller / technical stuff? Would it feel much bigger even though it is only 6" wider? Thanks

 

[dport]

I have 72" NRS fat cat and a 68" recretect frame, I use my recretect on my Lion tubes now, at first I used the recretect on my 16' maravia tubes. Now I use the fat cat with the maravia tubes. The only real differance is the length of the frames, I did not have any issue with width. I know that is only 4" and not 6' just what i have experianced.

 

[slamkal]

I have a 72" nrs frame (yokes) that I run on a set of Leopard tubes. the frame is 12' long so I don't use it for anything other than about 3 multiday trips I take over the year.

I also have a 66" nrs frame with the drop rails. this can work on my smaller cat and I can even space them out so I can fit a 40" box just on the frme drops.

I don't think the extra 6" wide is going to be a dealbreaker unless you do some extremely narrow rivers or very technical. If you are doing these rivers I'd recommend a completely different frame altogether --- NRS = super heavy.

What you will notice however switching from 66" to 72" is the additional weight you carry from having more storage space.

I would recommend you split your frame into a day/short weekend frame and an extra cargo bay for extended trips. That way you will keep the frame more nimble for fun runs.

the other thing you are going to notice is you probably will need about a foot longer oars just from that extra 3" of length inside the towers. the 72" frame will be extremely hard to ship your oars if you get into a tight spot.

Lou