Raft Materials and Manufacturers
Picking the right raft is, like many things, complicated. Your choice will depend on the type of boating you're doing, your budget, and even your geographic location. The first thing you want to consider is your raft material.
Main Choices for Raft Materials
1. Urethane
Pros: Slips nicely over rocks, most durable fabric, lightweight, best puncture and tear resistance, durable. The welding process they use to make these boats is bomber.
Cons: Fairly expensive, tough to roll and transport, difficult to field repair*.
2. Hypalon
Pros: Easy to roll, relatively easy to field repair, and the material has a long life.
Cons: Expensive, glued together (instead of welded) so it can come unglued sometimes. More abrasion and puncture resistant than PVC, but less than urethane.
3. PVC or PolyVinyl Chloride
Pro: inexpensive.
Cons: not particularly durable, can crack when rolled in cold temperatures, tend to be mass produced so these boats are known for quality issues.
*Some people think that urethane is easy to field repair, but I really struggle with it. I do like that you can use Tear Aid to do a quick field repair on urethane and PVC boats.
For a more in-depth guide on whitewater raft materials you can check out our article on Rubber Boats vs. Plastic Rafts below.
Raft Manufacturers
Once you've picked the right material, then you need to think about brands. The next consideration is choosing between an American made boat or one made overseas.
American Made
The American made boats tend to have better warranties, are better made, but are more expensive. Many of the manufacturers produce some of the top rated whitewater rafts for sale on the market today.
Maravia
Marivia uses a PVC base fabric and encapsulated in polyurethane - an awesome combination. They look beautiful and are absolutely bomber but are a bit heavy and tough to roll. You'll rarely ever see a Maravia with a patch. Whitewater rafts built by Maravia feature drop stitch floors similar to what you would find in a stand up paddle board. These boats are exceptionally stable for people walking around in them. Folks with disabilities, kids, and anglers all love this feature about the raft since a drop stitch floor can withstand much higher pressures compared to more traditional I beam floors. Ten year warranty on boats for personal use and five year warranty for commercial boats. Maravia rafts are all made in Boise, Idaho.
AIRE
This company has a unique system of an inner bladder and an outer layer made of PVC or urethane. They are the fastest draining boats, roll well, and they have great boat designs. AIRE rafts have a ten year no-fault warranty and stand behind it 100%. They maufacture 3 lines of boats:
Tributary Series - Entry level boats at budget friendly price points, perfect for your first whitewater raft purchase.
AIRE Series - These are one of the few rafts that all other whitewater rafts are compared to and AIRE’s top end models.
Outcast - The outcast series of boats are AIRE’s fishing raft series. these are designed with serious river anglers in mind with features optimized for fishing from your raft.
The factory is located near Boise, Idaho, which is convenient for Idaho and Oregon boaters .
SOTAR
This manufacturer works almost exclusively with urethane and specializes in well made custom boats. Their factory is in Southern Oregon, which is convenient for Oregon and California boaters. Six year warranty. Sotar Also produces inflatable kayaks along with a selection of dry bags and even partners with paddle, oar, and frame manufacturers for complete custom kits.
Wing Inflatables
These rafts are made from urethane and were the bee's knees back in the day. For a while they primarily made boats for the military but have recently began to make whitewater boats. These rafts tend to be on the expensive side and do not allow for much customization.
Demaree Inflatable Boats
DIB make high quality and absolutely bomber hypalon boats. This is a boat that will last 20 years.
Internationally Made
Most of these brands are made from PVC in China or Mexico so the prices are much more affordable. They're a great value but tend to not be as durable and well made as the American-made rafts.
Northwest River Supplies
NRS offers a huge variety of boat styles made from a variety of materials. Their warranty is between 1-10 years depending on the material and style of boat.
Hyside
This company makes hypalon boats overseas. They have a great reputation among outfitters for durability. Five year warranty.
Rocky Mountain Rafts
RMR is a new company that offers some great pricing. RMR positions it self in the market as an entry level whitewater raft producing boats with either drop stitch or I-beam floors.. Their boats are made from PVC and have a 5 year warranty.
Bullet Watercraft
This is a newer company that makes PVC boats with some great innovative designs.
Avon Inflatables
Avon made the best boats for many years. I think of them as the Cadillac of rafts. They're hypalon and made in the UK so a bit expensive but bomber and worth the extra money. Unfortunately Avon stopped manufacturing whitewater boats a few years ago.
There are pros and cons to each material and manufacturer. Remember that, like many other things, you get what you pay for!
Please note that this is a complicated topic and much of what I wrote is my opinion based on my experience. I would love for others to add their personal thoughts and experience in the comment section below. Thanks!
Article originally published on NWRC blog reproduced with permission and updated November 2019
