[DenverTookMyWater]

Anybody else on here row an old school Hyside Quadcat? I don't know the actual model name and I can't find anything about them online. I believe this one is a 91' and held air for over 3 weeks last time I used it.
How do y'all rig yours up?

 

[jeffro]

Somebody sold the meat hog on here this summer:

SOLD - Hyside Cataraft - Rigged - $2300

15'6" Hyside Cataraft for sale, absolute bomber of a boat.(AKA Meat Hog) Quad Hypalon tubes, military valves. Holds air for weeks at a time. A great boat for getting into floating, dialed in, everything you need for day floats or expedition trips. Just need a cooler and some beers. Comes with...

www.mountainbuzz.com

 

[DenverTookMyWater]

Somebody sold the meat hog on here this summer:

SOLD - Hyside Cataraft - Rigged - $2300

15'6" Hyside Cataraft for sale, absolute bomber of a boat.(AKA Meat Hog) Quad Hypalon tubes, military valves. Holds air for weeks at a time. A great boat for getting into floating, dialed in, everything you need for day floats or expedition trips. Just need a cooler and some beers. Comes with...

www.mountainbuzz.com

Lol I know, I'm the one that bought it. All those pics are Meat Hog. Most are from Hell's Canyon back in September.

 

[Kirks]

Its a game of straps on those flat framed twin tube barges. I suggest lots of loop straps and figuring out a system that works for you. those boats can be fun when not overloaded, as they are nimble and crush big whitewater. I remember the large square vittle vaults did pretty well sitting between the tubes with one strap over them for securing dry storage. There are a lot of cool things you can do with them but the reality is they dont carry a lot of gear well.

 

[richp]

Load them up very much, and think "high center of gravity".

Rich Phillips

 

[MNichols]

Seen a bunch of these on the water over the years, a local author of river guides here in Nathrop, Tom Rampton used to paddle one. They sure do ride up on stuff and carry their loads high, but those that have them seem to like them.

 

[upacreek]

Correct me, if am wrong. But wasn't this quad tube design first called the Argonaut, enshrined in namesake to the company AIRE (Argonaut Inflatable Research and Engineering)? Not sure where the Hyside version falls on the historical side of this, but am curious if somebody knows. Apparently can still get these new from Quadcatt (.com) based on the design of yore! Love that name though..

 

[CU_Mateo]

I agree with @Kirks on this one. After owning the AIRE version of this boat, I will tell you that the boats have a reputation of carrying a lot of gear...but that reputation is not founded. That said they do crush in big whitewater! Do yourself a favor, sit back and take this in...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I92WXoGQxg

 

[sonofdad]

I agree with @Kirks on this one. After owning the AIRE version of this boat, I will tell you that the boats have a reputation of carrying a lot of gear...but that reputation is not founded. That said they do crush in big whitewater! Do yourself a favor, sit back and take this in...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I92WXoGQxg

this is rad, thanks for finding. hyperlinked it for you ...

 

[MNichols]

this is rad, thanks for finding. hyperlinked it for you ...

Wow, talk about a blast from the past!

And even a young Alan Hamilton {owner of AIRE}..

I did note that they were all running the far superior pins and clips oar system, no pansy ass feathering for those hard asses!!

Thanks so much for sharing, you brought many fine memories to me of my early days boating, when I had more testosterone then common sense lol

 

[DenverTookMyWater]

Its a game of straps on those flat framed twin tube barges. I suggest lots of loop straps and figuring out a system that works for you. those boats can be fun when not overloaded, as they are nimble and crush big whitewater. I remember the large square vittle vaults did pretty well sitting between the tubes with one strap over them for securing dry storage. There are a lot of cool things you can do with them but the reality is they dont carry a lot of gear well.

Iyeah I definitely noticed it taking a lot of straps when I had it on the Snake back in September. Took me 15 just to get the frame properly rigged to the tubes. And that didn't include the boards. But it will definitely punch through some rowdy shit.

 

[Rich]

A friend and I rowed Shoshone at 12k many yeras back. He had a twin tube hyside and I had a 12' cat. He was totally soaked from "punching thru" the big waves and I was practically dry from bobbing on top.

 

[Will Amette]

I paddle an "old" Outrage. It's kind of large by today's standards. That Whitesell is HUGE. I kind of want to try one.

 

[Kirks]

I paddle an "old" Outrage. It's kind of large by today's standards. That Whitesell is HUGE. I kind of want to try one.

I also paddle an newer (2012) outrage and would love to get my hands on a whitesell. I wish there was more whitewater canoe offerings these days. I feel like all these people that are now r1ing rafts could be quickly converted to canoers and there would be more of a market.

 

[BryanTBurke]

In 2008 I got invited on a Grand Canyon trip for 2009. A friend of mine who had done several trips hooked me up with a guy who was moving east and wanted to sell an 18' twin tube cat with flat frame and four oars for $1,000. It had a few nicks and patches but held air well. I built new decks using the old ones as templates and took it down Westwater and Cataract in April of 2009, and finally the Grand in June.

It was an amazing boat: fast, super stable, and nimble. Research suggested it was a Chinese copy of the Aire, and probably from the early to mid-90s based on the valves. It charged straight through massive waves, no problem. But it was a wet ride and took a ton of straps - the lower decks between the tubes were hung a couple inches above the water using just straps. I'm not sure it would have been easy to right if I flipped, but I never came close to that.

Here's the boat at Lava, coming in at 0:40. Lava Rapid Grand Canyon June09 - YouTube and Bedrock at 1:05, Bedrock Rapid Grand Canyon June09 - YouTube, Crystal at 0:38, Crystal Rapid Grand Canyon June09 - YouTube Upset at 0:41,Upset Rapid Grand Canyon June09 - YouTube . I carried my share of the group stuff and picked up my girlfriend at Phantom; there was plenty of room for gear and I felt the boat was a lot less vulnerable to flipping than a raft with less tube for a wave to grab onto. They just came right through and out the back. I had to rig a strap up front for my rider to hang on!

I loved the boat but it was a bitch to rig, so for most rivers I used my 14' Otter. The big cat was set aside in a garage in Arizona for several years, and the heat and dryness ruined the glue. I tossed the tubes but kept the frame, decks, and oars. Someday I want to put it back in service. The only tubes I see that would work are these: Cataraft 18 Foot Double Tube Expedition Class 5 QuadCatt Does anyone have experience with QuadCatt?

 

[DenverTookMyWater]

In 2008 I got invited on a Grand Canyon trip for 2009. A friend of mine who had done several trips hooked me up with a guy who was moving east and wanted to sell an 18' twin tube cat with flat frame and four oars for $1,000. It had a few nicks and patches but held air well. I built new decks using the old ones as templates and took it down Westwater and Cataract in April of 2009, and finally the Grand in June.

It was an amazing boat: fast, super stable, and nimble. Research suggested it was a Chinese copy of the Aire, and probably from the early to mid-90s based on the valves. It charged straight through massive waves, no problem. But it was a wet ride and took a ton of straps - the lower decks between the tubes were hung a couple inches above the water using just straps. I'm not sure it would have been easy to right if I flipped, but I never came close to that.

Here's the boat at Lava, coming in at 0:40. Lava Rapid Grand Canyon June09 - YouTube and Bedrock at 1:05, Bedrock Rapid Grand Canyon June09 - YouTube, Crystal at 0:38, Crystal Rapid Grand Canyon June09 - YouTube Upset at 0:41,Upset Rapid Grand Canyon June09 - YouTube . I carried my share of the group stuff and picked up my girlfriend at Phantom; there was plenty of room for gear and I felt the boat was a lot less vulnerable to flipping than a raft with less tube for a wave to grab onto. They just came right through and out the back. I had to rig a strap up front for my rider to hang on!

I loved the boat but it was a bitch to rig, so for most rivers I used my 14' Otter. The big cat was set aside in a garage in Arizona for several years, and the heat and dryness ruined the glue. I tossed the tubes but kept the frame, decks, and oars. Someday I want to put it back in service. The only tubes I see that would work are these: Cataraft 18 Foot Double Tube Expedition Class 5 QuadCatt Does anyone have experience with QuadCatt?

That's some great info. My quad tube is just too much of a pain the arse to use often so it's really only for big multidays.
I didn't realize there was a company still making quad tube cats. Any idea why they put the oars so close to the front? I can see it being nice on class II, but class IV+ I'd want it in the center.

 

[BryanTBurke]

Yeah, rigging the 18' quad cat was a chore, maybe four hours to inflate, strap on the frame, hang the lower decks, and then strap in all the gear. I tried sooo hard not to be a ramp hog! In big hydraulics on extended trips it was far superior to my Otter. On 'normal' rivers like Yampa, Salt, Middle Fork, Dolores, etc. the Otter is a better boat. But I'd still like to run the big cat again on some multi-days with big waves, and it was the ideal boat for the Grand Canyon, better than the PRO 18' rafts the rest of the team had, or the 16' NRS single tube cat that was the only other private boat on my trip.
Not worth doing for less than a couple of days, but it was an effortless boat to put through big, tough water. Holes that could potentially flip my Otter were nothing to the cat. I took the Otter through Warm Spings on the Yampa at 17,000 cfs and was seriously worried. The big cat would have lapped it up.

Want to sell me your tubes? ;>)

I never have understood asymetrical oar positions, my boats have always been rigged to be as perfectly balanced as possible, basically no real forward or aft as far as the oar station goes. My cooler and dry box are rigged so either one can be the oar bench with the geometry as similar as possible. I've only tried a stern rigged raft once and hated it. I pulled a fore rigged cat off of several rocks on a Lodore trip and could not fathom the logic behind that set-up. Not to start a pins/clips type thread, but seriously, what is the argument for setting an oar station way ahead or behind the boat's CG? I get the stern rig is better for guided trips to stuff on more passengers, hand them a paddle, and let them pretend they are boating, but the foreward station on cats... what up?

 

[MNichols]

I get the stern rig is better for guided trips to stuff on more passengers, hand them a paddle, and let them pretend they are boating, but the foreward station on cats... what up?

Is mostly a PNW thing for big tube lightweight cats such as sotars as I understand it.
Run an empty, or backpack style cat with the 28 inch tubes, there's not a lot of weight to keep the front end from coming up and over, so put the oarsman and his weight up there, in theory it helps to keep the boat upright. Wet ride, hard to pivot, but the folks in the webfoot states seem to like that setup.
Don't see it down in the lower 45 states much as cats aren't as prevalent as rafts, and sorta suck on multi day big water trips when they need to carry weight, which they do suck at compared to a raft IMO
I did a higher water Selway one year with 2 of these forward rigged cats running VERY light, IIRC it as just over 6ish on the gauge, they had no problem in the water other than being violently tossed around a lot, one oarsman seemed to part company with his boat more than the other (I guess where those 15 foot pieces of hoopie were tied to the end of each tube came in handy, another PNW thing) whereas I was quite busy in a 14 foot round boat but never felt like it was gonna flip and thankfully I remained with the boat for the entire trip.

 

[kooladez]

Yeah, rigging the 18' quad cat was a chore, maybe four hours to inflate, strap on the frame, hang the lower decks, and then strap in all the gear. I tried sooo hard not to be a ramp hog! In big hydraulics on extended trips it was far superior to my Otter. On 'normal' rivers like Yampa, Salt, Middle Fork, Dolores, etc. the Otter is a better boat. But I'd still like to run the big cat again on some multi-days with big waves, and it was the ideal boat for the Grand Canyon, better than the PRO 18' rafts the rest of the team had, or the 16' NRS single tube cat that was the only other private boat on my trip. Not worth doing for less than a couple of days, but it was an effortless boat to put through big, tough water. Holes that could potentially flip my Otter were nothing to the cat. I took the Otter through Warm Spings on the Yampa at 17,000 cfs and was seriously worried. The big cat would have lapped it up. Want to sell me your tubes? ;>) I never have understood asymetrical oar positions, my boats have always been rigged to be as perfectly balanced as possible, basically no real forward or aft as far as the oar station goes. My cooler and dry box are rigged so either one can be the oar bench with the geometry as similar as possible. I've only tried a stern rigged raft once and hated it. I pulled a fore rigged cat off of several rocks on a Lodore trip and could not fathom the logic behind that set-up. Not to start a pins/clips type thread, but seriously, what is the argument for setting an oar station way ahead or behind the boat's CG? I get the stern rig is better for guided trips to stuff on more passengers, hand them a paddle, and let them pretend they are boating, but the foreward station on cats... what up?

I have an extra set of these tubes in grand junction if youre interested.