This river covers 20 miles along northern California and 34 miles in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Worst thing about it: Is like a sail pointed in the wrong direction in the wind. The 143D is fast, turns well as a straight paddle raft, and the … Best thing about it: Like driving a Porche on a back road in the Alps. Most of the rafts have video footage that has been analyzed by management, and feedback reports given by the guides have caused them to be ranked where they are. The Hyside design is commercial friendly, and perhaps a little to stout for most private boater use. The NRS E-136 Whitewater Raft. Still, this raft can carry cargo and passengers and a cooler full of refreshments. Starting just below the 360-foot (110 meter) Victoria Falls the river offers Class IV and V rapids that … It’s made of simple Pennell Orca (Rubber, for the uninitiated), and it will puncture, and will flex. It’s a design that occupies a middle ground for Aire between the Super Puma (A narrow, 13 foot long raft with diminishing tubes) and the bludgeoning 130R. AIRE is one of the most recognized outdoors raft brands. Wild and Scenic River Tours on the Nooksack can be seen running Spiders nearly all year, and on the Lochsa, both Mammoth and Three Rivers use Spiders effectively; naturally, though, these companies tend to use experienced guides who can compensate for the rafts tendency to flip with a little fine tuning in their paddle strokes and commands. Ready for big water and big rapids? The strong plastic flooring makes it stable in the water and all-around nylon grab line make it a versatile recreational boat. The problem with it is that it carries too much momentum, and has a feeling of a 15 foot with a hole in the floor. That post was the catalyst for some great discussions about the most legendary single day rafting … The New Wave 2 design is highly versatile and can fill multiple rolls; it is also one of the few 13’ rafts (it is actually 13’6) that does well with a stern mount. It’s no secret that West Virginia is one of the best places in the world to whitewater raft. The larger tube diameter and flatter nose make it a tough looking raft with excellent carrying capacity and good stability in steep drops. Straight up; the guides hated this boat. The first is that the nose pierces waves and looks and feels cool; like you’re in the Trojan war and are stabbing waves like Achilles stabbed Trojans (bad analogy but hey, experience it and you’ll see). That may be exciting or detrimental to your quality of ride through the rapids; we don’t know but figured we should point it out. They are light and durable, and Sotar is a smaller company that manufactures rafts by hand and has a reputation for excellent warranty service. AIRE decided to redesign their well-made boats. The Spider effectively tumbles because the large tubes create a higher center of gravity; it is thus a great raft to be used to agile and/or experienced paddlers, but as a commercial raft is more suited for less technical water like that of the Wenatchee River, where there are large recovery pools to deal with the carnage that is invariably a part of running a commercial operation with Spiders. Source: http://www.aire.com/aire-raft/super-puma.asp. It also comes in red, and we like red. The valves and quick-fills are well designed. Your group can definitely win a race to the water! They are aptly named the HD series for good reason. We put this on the list as one of the best “starter” binoculars at an incredibly affordable price. The Methow River is perhaps the best suited river for rafting and kayaking in the state and adds to the large amount of recreation found in the area. Source: http://www.maravia.com/index.php/main/product_detail/154/7, Best thing about it: Money maker for 6 loads on less technical water. The Otter Livery comes in many sizes, but we like the Livery 106 because NRS added an extra foot of space. In fact, the guides nicknamed it Miss Piggy and it carried that name for years. As a 1 to 2-person paddleboat the front and rear splash guards are great. That means that even the biggest guy can stand up and point to the rapid coming up around the bend. Africa's best whitewater destination is without a doubt the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. Hopefully Outdoorplay & NRS will make this model raft for decades to come. It was simply the runner up in our competition to the similar NRS E-136. This raft was a great addition to our fleet for a season, and it proved itself as a jack of trades as it excelled in high water Class 4-5 rafting on the Skykomish River, and also did well as a people mover in lower water when technical rapids were the daily norm. … It’s a unique boat that does not do well when turned sideways (which is something that rookie guides seem to love doing); let’s just leave it at that. Tributaries have been around for decades. We’ve scouted the market and poured over reviews and ratings to bring you the curated list of the top rated white water rafts you can buy for your next rafting adventure. All our rafts, catarafts, and kayaks are made in the United States. The Aire Super Puma was recommended to us by a local kayaker who worked on the Upper Yough in Maryland, with a river similar to ours in some ways and a system similiar; technical, steep drops, quick turns, well compensated guides, simple system. This was, ultimately, the only issue with this boat. This raft was one we picked up from an old University of Idaho rental fleet, and ran for a summer as an experiment. The tubes are 20.5, making it pretty thick and capable of carrying a lot of weight down the river. The “Eliptical” design of Aire is eccentric and makes no sense at first, but if you get to running the thing there are a few interesting tendencies that these boats have. The material was plenty durable; not as tough as the NRS Outlaw material, per se, but also notable is that the Aire Tributary designs also feature an internal urethane bladder (noticeably absent on the NRS rafts). While you cannot order this raft, it is worth noting here because the design itself is an excellent case study. The raft has diminishing tubes and as a rule it was not used with a stern mount frame. This boat can fit 10 adults comfortably. Source: http://www.aire.com/aire-raft/130r.asp, Best thing about it: Tough as nails and stable as a rhino, Worst thing about it: Has no ability to change it’s mind mid rapid, making it a liability in technical whitewater (which we have a plethora of in Washington). On the plus side of things, the raft is very inexpensive, and the PVC material used for the tubes, while being relatively heavy, was very tough (which it had to be in order to sustain the abuse of hitting so many rocks). Selling custom whitewater rafts, cats, inflatable kayaks and frames handmade one at a time. We won’t bore you with background information about gender stereotypes and the color pink, but lets just say that the soldiers that occupied this raft during it’s first weekend ended up taking a picture of, giggling fully at the contrast between their camo clothing and the “watermelon” color of the raft. It’s major weakness perhaps is that it’s more of a class 3 technical water raft than a big water raft due to it’s smaller tubes and splashy factor. The built-in foot holders are much appreciated by passengers. It has the look of a very small gear boat, and it performs just as you would expect; it does very well with weight for a raft with such big tubes (it carries weight better than the flagship NRS E-130; a very popular raft). Stable. The Super Puma was described by one of our guides as the Kalashnikov of rafts; meaning that it’s simple to utilize and does it’s job in whatever conditions are required of it. Slip into a little eddy and use the anchor system with cleat and pulley controls. Many convert the high-pressure dropt-stitch air deck floor to be self-bailing though. This popular raft … Ultimately, if this list is being utilized to make a purchase by a private rafter, it’s vital to recognize that the boats being used for commercial and training purposes place a very high importance on safely getting 6 novice paddlers down Class 4 water. Light as a freaking feather; this is awesome. The 130A (named such for it’s original intent which was the whitewater of Austria) is a weird looking creature that has no equal or similar craft in the industry. https://www.outdoorrated.com › best-white-water-raft-reviews Salmon River. Small Paddle Raft (12' and under) R2/R4 Shootout, 14 foot Whitewater Raft Comparison Shootout, 13 foot whitewater raft comparison shootout, Small Paddle Raft (12' and under) R2/R4 shootout, River Rescue Throw Bags, Ropes, and Static Lines, Triad River Tours, 336 36th Street, Suite #191, Bellingham, WA, 98225, USA, https://www.nrs.com/product/86038.01/nrs-outlaw-130-self-bailing-rafts, http://www.aire.com/tributary-raft/tributary-thirteen-hd.asp, http://www.maravia.com/index.php/main/product_detail/154/7, https://www.nrs.com/product/1081/nrs-e-132d-self-bailing-rafts, https://sotar.com/products/sotar-st-13-classic-raft, http://www.maravia.com/index.php/main/product_detail/173/4, https://www.nrs.com/product/1136/nrs-otter-130-self-bailing-rafts, http://www.aire.com/aire-raft/super-puma.asp, https://www.nrs.com/product/1076/nrs-e-136-self-bailing-rafts. Similar to the Aire Super Puma, the Spider is a narrow raft designed to run tight chutes and technical water. Sometimes simple is better. If you put it in technical Class 4 water, or you get her turned sideways for even an instant and you’re upside down. Raft the Chattooga, Ocoee, Nantahala and Pigeon Rivers with the first outfitter in the Smokies & Blue Ridge mountains. Alpine Adventures offers guided whitewater rafting trips & scenic raft floats throughout Washington State. You can easily remove the gear bags and two detachable foam fly patches. But the feature we love the most is the self-bailing I-Beam inflatable floor with pressure release valve. The welded PVC outer shell seams is high-end and the internal urethane bladders are for serious boatmen. This design has larger tubes and is narrower than other raft designs that are for similar uses, and it does just fine, and in a lot of ways is superior. The Tributary 13’s most detrimental features were that the material used on the exterior skin was not the same PVC used on the other Aire designs (Ferrari PVC), and for some reason in the heat the rafts tended to stick to other boats like glue, almost comically. Very few outdoor sports can match the thrill that a white-water rafting trip can bring. The 18.5 inch tube diameter is slightly too small; we would have preferred the tubes to be at least 19 inches. Additionally, if you can run a 130D with a 6 load (that is, with 5 paddlers and 1 guide, or an “R6) you have a sweet little technical rapid runner. The Best Washington Whitewater Rafting company since 1982. Boats come in all shapes and sizes. Source: http://www.aire.com/tributary-raft/tributary-thirteen-hd.asp, Best thing about it: Best all around budget raft. Whitewater Rafting trips in New … This is great for adults taking their kids on a camping trip or tourist adventure, because they are easy to carry and easily adjustable (with the center hand wheel) for everyone in the family to share. Worst thing about it: Flips like your moms pancakes when she’s drank far too much coffee and has a new spatula. BRIS’s 12-foot White Water River Raft might be the perfect size. This raft makes our list because it is one of the best rafts for paddling. The Otter 130 is perhaps the greatest private boater raft on the market when you consider what it can do. Source: http://www.aire.com/aire-raft/130d.asp, Worst thing about it: Excelled at things more relevant to the private rafter market. The NRS E-136 whitewater raft. Raft down Colorado’s Arkansas River in Browns Canyon on this half-day whitewater rafting adventure. 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