In outlining them you will have much of the information you need in order to make a good selection. If you are in the market to purchase or rent a boat for an extended Alaska expedition, it's in your best interest to rent before you buy. See more info at Sea Eagle.Com. In the end, youll be happy you did. Weighing just 35 lbs without the removable floor, it folds up neatly into its own bag and can be stuffed into any trunk. They are ideal for situations where rivers must be crossed that are too deep to wade, or for hike-in situations. And they will almost certainly fail you at a critical time. It's easy to spot a poorly-built boat. My Sea Eagle 8 on a rafting trip down the Middle Fork Flathead River outside Glacier National Park. Not to mention, chiseled features required to be a speed boat owner. Some leaks will not be apparent for a few days. Older raft manufacturers such as Achilles, Avon, Hyside, Northwest River Supplies and so on have experimented for many years with different fabric types, and have worked out most of the bugs that plagued the industry years ago. Ive yet to puncture my Sea Eagle 8 inflatable raft. Ive bounced into rocks at 6+mph with this boat, hit and dragged the raft over submerged rocks more often than I care to remember and have hit dozens of tree limbs. A solo paddler can, in fact, sit on the edge of the boat with their feet dangling into the water and not even come close to capsizing the raft. The short story is to let the river choose the boat. So, if you are serious about floating rivers in a raft, do yourself a favor and get a good one. These cheap inflatable rafts are cheap for a reason they are poor quality. This term refers to a round boat with an inflatable floor and holes around the perimeter that are present to allow water to flow out of the boat. Ive owned it for 15+ years (and was the first Sea Eagle boat I owned) and its never developed any holes or tears. There are too many variables tomake such numbers reliable; a whitewater paddle boat should ride high and be easily maneuverable, but put a frame on the same rig and put it on slow Class I-II water on an extended expedition float and you can afford more weight aboard. One nice benefit the raft has is an inflatable keelwhich can make lake paddling a wee-bit easier (although dont mistake an inflatable rafts keel for an inflatable kayaks keeltheres a huge difference in performance). It gets its name because of the oval or round bow and stern sections, which are joined together by straight side tubes of the same diameter. And really, that sums things up on inflatable raft quality. This doesnt mean I baby the boat while Im river floating. There isnt a large selection of quality recreational level inflatable rafts available today, perhaps because these types of inflatable boats just arent as popular as inflatable kayaks are. Typical price range of the base model raft is around $250 or so. The one notable exception to this temperature limitation is the NRS PackRaft, which is constructed from a thicker and different material, but which also has a higher price than other recreational rafts. Quite possibly the greatest way to lounge on a lake or a river with 7-9 other people, the giant life-size inflatable speed boat measures about 20 feet long x 10 feet wide x 3 feet tall, and weighs 62 lbs when notinflated. These rafts are designed to bouncenot be dragged. Similar to the Sea Eagle 9, this is a raft best used on rivers or used with a motor. Keep in mind that the float doesnt come with a pump, which youll need unless youre willing to kill your lungs for a few days. You Can Get a 20-Foot Inflatable Speedboat Float on Amazon. Some prime uses for this class of raft include: In some ways, it is easier to list the limitations of these rafts than it is their potential uses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io, Lego Just Released a The Haunted Mansion Set, The New BlendJet 2 Has Lisa Frank Designs, This Titanic Pool Float Looks Like the Door, You Should Dress Up as Barbie This Halloween, You Can Get a 2022 'Hocus Pocus Advent Calendar, Upgrade Your Cornhole Setup With This Game Stand, Disney Just Unveiled Haunted Mansion' Goodies, You Can Get 350 Pieces of Snickers for Halloween. Stay Grounded With These Nonslip Yoga Mats, 7 Best Wi-Fi Hotspots for Fast, Reliable Internet, Back-to-School Outfits for the Fashionable Teen, 7 All-in-One Desktop Computers for Home Offices, 11 Adorable Baby Dolls for Your Little One, Sun Pleasure 6-Person Inflatable Boat Party Island, These 20 Cool Pool Floats Make Lounging Fun, This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. The result is that, on flat-water paddles, progress is slow and paddling is rather tiring. Few recreational inflatable rafts have drain valves. Due to this somewhat constrained selection of rafts available, shopping for them is easier. Grab your five closest friends, because the inflatable boat party island holds six people! These rafts do have limitationsas all boats do. These materials generally fall into one of two categories; rubber or plastic. A cataraft, or "cat boat" is essentially twin tubes connected by a frame of some sort. The giant boat float comes from Sun Pleasure, the same brand that created those oversized unicorn and flamingo pool floats. Choose a canoe that fits your situation. When most people talk about a "raft", they are thinking of around boat. Smaller streams with slow water allow the use of inflatable canoes or kayaks. Needless to say, the hunting trip wasnt enjoyable or productive. Luckily, someone has created an inflatable life-size version of a speed boat, that will make it look like you actually own a boat from afarAccessories: Air-pump | AnchorVersions: Boat | Airplane. Youll need a lake, ocean, bay, or whatever large body of water can fit a 20-foot pool float. Of all the recreational inflatable boats Ive seen, only the newly redesigned Sea Eagle 9 has drain valves that allows water that enters the boat to drain out. The front of the raft acts like a snowplowpushing water ahead of it instead of cutting through water like an inflatable kayak or inflatable canoe can. Once you inflate them, you can easily push your finger into the fabric a good half-inch. My raft was replaced by the redesigned Sea Eagle 9 raft, which has many killer features I wish my raft had. Most raft fabrics start their lives in large factories that produce materials used for other purposes, such as pit liners to contain liquid waste, temporary inflatable buildings used by the military or by industry, and so on. But if you want to get onto the water, strapping an aluminum canoe to the side of the aircraft is no longer the option it once was. Inflatables come in a bewildering array of shapes, sizes, colors and price ranges. Progress was slow and the rowing was tiring. The Intex Mariner 4 is a solid inflatable raft, albeit rather heavy. This 8-Foot Floating Platform Will Let You Sit Back and Relax. Let's look at the different styles of inflatable boats. It is the least expensive good quality inflatable raft available, though. Check out ourInflatable Canoes pagefor more details on these and other inflatable canoes. Follow BestProducts.com on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest! See more information about the Intex 4 Mariner at Amazon, Copyright 2002 - 2022 Big Sky Fishing.Com, Inflatable Kayaks | Lake & Flatwater Paddling, Inflatable SUPs for Fishing | Introduction, Essential Repair Kit Items for Long Float Trips, Sea Eagle Explorer Series Kayaks Compared. . The Sea Eagle 9 Inflatable Raft is an excellent quality recreational level inflatable raft with many options available. Many types of inflatable boats are available, but not all are appropriate for all situations in Alaska. But a multi-day fishing expedition on the Goodnews River limits your options somewhat. Keep in mind that most leaks are a result of valve issues, and are easily fixed. Went through Class III whitewater just fine. Floor drains Allows water that enters the boat when running whitewater to drain out. Another symptom of poor adhesion between the top and bottom coatings is the appearance of tiny bubbles in the surface of the material. Typically priced at $600 or less, these inflatable rafts are versatile, durable and are fun to use. Raft manufacturers routinely survey available materials to identify those most suitable for the manufacture of inflatable boats. While made from a different material than the Sea Eagle or NRS PackRaft, the material is thick and doesnt puncture easy provided you dont drag the boat across the ground. Optional floorboards are available, allowing the raft to convert to a solid fishing platform, especially when paired up with the optional motormount and trolling/gas motor. You can get one for a fraction of the price in the form of a pool float. This raft was also recently redesigned with a number of new features I wish my older raft had. However, if you foresee lots of Class III rapids in your future, you might want to reconsider which type of inflatable boat meets your needs or only consider buying the Sea Eagle 9 raft. Thus, you do not want a recreational inflatable raft if. Finally, a float hunting trip with a friend may require a big boat with lots of lift. The base cloth is a woven fabric scrim made from either nylon or polyester. A day-trip on the upper Kenai witha light load gives you lots of options. What puts holes in these types of rafts isnt use on the water. They're great for flyout trips as a primary conveyance or simply for a way to access smaller streams, sloughs, oxbow ponds and lakes off of the main waterways. Less air = less weight capacity. But the raft is fine for Class I and Class II rapids. There are numerous risks with this, such as the fact that game meat will get wet in a pack raft, adding to field care difficulties. Happy floating! On rivers where portaging is likely, it might be best to select a lighter-weight boat such as theAIRE Traveleror theIncept C42T, but for expedition trips where big loads are encountered, a larger, heavier boat such as theSOAR Pro Pioneeror theSOAR Magnummight be in order. This material will eventually break down, checking and cracking, until it will no longer hold air. Carry your boat to the river once its inflated. Ive seen several inexpensive Intex inflatable rafts fail, one of which was on the seamswhich makes repairs almost impossible. There are no "one size fits all" solutions when it comes to inflatable boats. Some fabrics simply do not make for good boats. An inflatable recreational level raft is a raft thats, as the name suggests, designed for recreational uses. By the way, CSM was originally marketed under DuPont's trade name "Hypalon". It is very difficult to put a hole in this materialIve never put a hole or tear in my Sea Eagle raft despite owning it for 15+ years. Unfortunately, neoprene also grips when wet. Simple, go to K-Mart or Walmart or some such place. No boat? The 6-Person Inflatable Bay Breeze Boat Party Island is available on Amazon with free shipping for $304.99. Though they say the inflatable speed boat seats 6, it's pretty clear it can fit more like 8-10 people, and features a large circular seating area in the rear of the boat with an opening in the center for your feet to go in the water. If you buy something from the links on this page, we may earn a commission. And the colder the temperature, the more brittle the fabric becomes. Do You Need an Anchor for Your Inflatable Boat? Unique Gifts For People Who Love To Travel, This Outdoor Dog Bed Stores Cold Water To Keep Your Pooch Cool In The Heat, This Pregnancy Car Seat Belt Protects Your Fetus In a Car Crash, This Incredible New Faucet Nozzle Conserves 98% of the Water You Use Through It, Elephant Silverware Water Drainer Drying Rack, You Can Now Get Your Kid a Basketball Hoop Bunk Bed. oversized unicorn and flamingo pool floats. The Intex 4 weighs a whopping 80 lbs, despite having less weight capacity (880lbs) than the Sea Eagle 9 (1200lbs). If you're like me, you both lack the money to buy a boat, and you lack the know how to properly maintain a boat. This is why car tires are made with neoprene; it keeps them from sliding off the wet pavement when it rains. The term "denier" is a French word indicating the weight, in grams, of 9,000 meters of thread. Where can you find these cheap inflatable rafts? In particular, a fine way to puncture these rafts is to drag them up a rocky or twig-strewn riverbank or lakeside. However, another reason is that Im careful. Finally, recreational inflatable rafts arent meant for the pounding that Class IV rapids inflicts on a boat. Their fabric isnt as strong as is found on whitewater inflatable rafts, and their limited maneuverability makes it difficult to navigate fast-moving water. A removable high pressure floor with a tough nylon fabric. So dont expect this to put this in your tiny pool in the backyard. That is to say, look at the river conditions, combined with the loads you intend to carry, beforechoosing a rig. Run your hand over it; the material should feel smooth, or you should be able to faintly see the weave of the base cloth. So before you can make your choice, you need to know what kinds of rivers you will float. In a nutshell it means that your choice is influenced by the character of the river more than any other single factor. It is applied during the manufacturing process in one of three ways: Another factor to consider in inflatable boat construction involves thebase cloth. The Intex Mariner 4 is one of the few things that float from Intex that I recommend. Overall, if you have a severely constrained budget, the Intex 4 is a decent inflatable raft. Fast and narrow rivers that wind through timbered country require a small to medium-sized round boat. Most trips into the remote regions of Alaska involve stuffing your gear and your person into a small, single-engine aircraft and flying off into some isolated landing spot close to a river or a lake. It is therefore in the best interest of the consumer to educate yourself on what to look for in a poorly-made boat, and especially in inferior materials. If you plan to only periodically run Class III rapids, bailing out water from the raft isnt a huge deal. If tiny bubbles form along the exposed edge, the material is wicking. The Sea Eagle 9 is one of the more versatile recreational inflatable rafts available, which is one reason I recommend it more than any other recreational raft. You can tell from the picture that this boat is big, but at 20 feet by 10 feet, multiple buyers have noted that its actually HUGE. PVC is a softer material that tends to scratch or gouge in abrasion situations. Look for glue smears near the seams, improperly matching seams or voids, or slow leaks. As such, when water enters most recreational rafts it needs to be bailed out, sponged out (using a specialty boat sponge) or simply tipped over and emptied when onshore. Hardly. If theres one huge drawback with this raft it is the weight. Next, you need to know the kinds of loads you are likely to carry. Its been banged into rocks, tree limbs and dragged across all sorts of things that would have torn lesser quality inflatable rafts. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links. No problem! But there should be no bubbles in the fabric itself. Its all about perspective! And you know what, these cheap rafts work ok for the kids to play in on a pond or something. In fact, most reputable manufacturers no longer post capacity statistics. So heres some rafts I recommend. The Sea Eagle 9 Inflatable Raft is an excellent quality recreational level inflatable raft with many options available. Certain people will find their boating needs match perfectly with the capabilities these rafts provide. Drain valves allow water that enters the boat to drain out. See More Information about the Sea Eagle 9 Inflatable Raft at Sea Eagle.Com. Also, the Sea Eagle 9 works just fine for multi-night float trips, or as the video below showsmulti-month float trips. My guess is that the lack of flat-water paddling ability removes these boats from consideration by many paddlers. This softness allows these rafts to essentially bounce off obstacles it hits. Keep shopping. The giant inflatable speed boathas a weight limit of 1,300 lbs, and can be used with oars to move around the water, though it's meant more so to be used with an anchor to just hang out on a lake and look totally awesome doing so. For reviews on particular brands of inflatable boats, have a look at our Inflatable Boats Product Review section, where you will find reviews on popular brands. This is known aswicking, and the common remedy used to prevent it is to install seam tape along the exposed seams of the boat. These cheap inflatable rafts simply do not hold up and constantly develop leaks. The blue and white float holds six people and has eight drink holders, plus a cooler to keep your snacks close by.