Raft Porn Needed -Let's see them rigs!!!

It seems logical that you would loose height inside the tubes, but I always thought one of the benefits of the D series stuff is that you get more width between the tubes that makes up for it. Maybe that is how it is theory but not reality though.

I saw a Holiday trip on the Yampa that had 18 foot Maravia rafts with diminishing tubes and it seemed like they had an extra foot of width between the tubes compared to other 18' boats I've seen. Honestly, I think a 16' version of that is my ideal boat if I was buying new today. At least for now I'm super happy with my 16' Avon Pro...

It will be a sad day when I ever decide to get rid of my Avon ....but I gotta disagree about your sweeping comment about all PVC boats. I've seen plenty of Aire boats from the early 90's still out on the river. A bunch of Sotars are out there from that era too.

Not all of the PVC brands are created equal. Definitely some stuff that won't last for decades, but plenty that will too.

I have one boat from each type of material and they both do great and expect to have both for a while...

SherpaDave said:

Aire used to make cat tubes that used the same idea of parallel tubes, without the middle. A friend of mine has been running it for years. They were bigger tubes though. I can’t remember what they called it.

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A number of companies made that style tube (Definitely Aire and Hyside and maybe Sotar, Wing, and Jacks Plastic), but the most well known and popular one was the Aire Cougar. They had several different designs, but they all used the same double tube idea. The guys I've talked to who have them swear by them and promise they will never sell them.



Not sure why they stopped making it...I guess they came up with a better idea. They are definitely stable and can carry more gear then the average cataraft. It does have some downsides though...the biggest being there is no room to put anything between the tubes so everything has to stack on top.

I saw one on the Middle Fork of the Salmon last June and the guy had a rough first day. I was dealing with a flipped raft from our group as it floated by upside down and a guy from their group was chasing it. Stable, but not unflippable it would seem. I think he hit Velvet Falls in the wrong spot.

I saw one on the Yampa once, and the gear piles on it were so high that you could barely see over them. There was a little canyon between the piles to look through. Can't imagine rowing that on a windy day. The owner seemed pretty psyched about it though and said he loved taking it out.

I bet Aire could re-introduce that boat and a bunch of people would buy it.

MNichols said:

Here's a tip for you, I use Hollander speed rail fittings on top of the ball of my thole pin and mount the bimini to that, that way it will never ever foul the oars no matter what, I don't use the NRS pins and clips system, but perhaps you could find a way to mount a bracket on the thole pin, I believe it is a bolt in their system.

Nice setup you have there now anyway, but isn't all that paracord holding down the pads and such a bit of a trial to rig and dereg?

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My Avon, that I bought from Ray at TRS, was set up like this. He found a Clevice that matched the thread of thole pin and replaced the top rubber piece with it. I ended up switching to oarlocks and haven't looked back...but it was definitely nice to not have to worry about the Bimini getting in the way as much. It still did when it was folded down...but it was fine and better then not having shade.

Here is a picture...sorry...can't find a good one where my raft isn't in disarray...

Bertiemang said:

Is there any concern for your legs smashing into the dry boxes?

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I personally hate having side boxes sitting on the floor next to my legs. I ended up getting the Frontierplay "Personal" sized drybox which is 14x14 and 6" tall and they go next to my cooler on the frame. That leaves plenty of space for my legs and knees and I don't have to worry about banging my knees up. It also makes that spot wider and it makes for a nice place to take a nap under my shade umbrella once you get to camp.