About

A five-pound, packable boat brings up a natural question: "How tough is it?"  For many of our users, this is a very important question.  In fact, durability is often a primary reason they ultimately choose an Alpacka raft.  We've assembled some examples of what will and won't damage your Alpacka raft.

The Basics of Alpacka Durability

Your Alpacka raft is built out of extremely high-quality urethane-coated nylon, utilizing a sophisticated mix of welding, gluing, and sewing methods.  Our priority is hull durability.  We design spray decks and seats relatively light, accepting closer manufacturing tolerances on them, but we believe in building a "bombproof" hull and floor.  Examples of simple tests every Alpacka is built to pass:

Rated for at least six kids...

• Standing on the Tube: Any person capable of using the raft will be able to place the raft on a hardwood or carpeted floor, and stand on the inflated tube.  This should inflict no harm on the raft, except perhaps some cosmetic surface scratches.
• "The Party Barge": Inflate the raft, put it on a local body of water where it floats free, and climb in with two or three of your closest friends.  If they weren't your closest friends before, they will be now.  The Party Barge isn't exactly maneuverable. In fact, it's often awash.  In testing, we once had three guys at the lake playing "King of the Hill" on a single Scout boat.
• Stability in Environmental Extremes:  Alpacka Rafts withstand environmental extremes, including such rigors as outdoor storage through the Alaskan Interior winter.  They're equally designed to endure equatorial heat, extreme aridity, long sunlight explosure, and seawater.  In fact, you can see Alpackas in both the Amazon and Antarctica. (Click here to see an Antarctic film clip of Libor Zicha's packed raft in: Encounters at the End of the World, by Werner Herzog. )
• "Infinite Packing":  Our expectation is that boats will be rolled and unrolled, folded, and stuffed into packs in all conditions, time and time again.  Taking into account uninflated wear is a part of our design spec.
• Field Fixability:  A little detail that makes a big difference: no craft is indestructible.  An inflatable boat, in particular, is subject to damage.  If you use your boat hard, the odds are that - time to time - it will incur damage.  Since that might be in a remote location, it's very important to us that a part of your raft's "Durability Plan" is that it's also easy to fix in the field.

Selected Case Histories

• Conservative Waterfall Drops (Generally no damage, occasional seat ruptures).  Not that most of us do this, but some Alpacka

  Sam Perry verifies hull strength.  Yes, he's... well, he's just plain amazing.

  boaters do waterfall drops in their boats.  Big drops are an excellent test of overall hull strength.  The only damage that's been reported to us from this is occasional seat blow-outs.  See our seat tips page if you engage in high-pressure activities like this.
  
• Testing Seam Tape (No Damage): An Alpacka member took out a raft and proceeded to deliberately ram the broken, splintered branches on a stationary log in a deep river pool.  He did this for roughly 20 minutes continuously, trying to directly strike the seams and hook the edges of the tape.  Damage incurred: zero.  The boat suffered no appreciable damage.
• Sucked through Barnacle-Lined Tidal Slough (Pinhole Leak): A rafter with a loaded pack on the bow was swept by a tidal current through a 50 ft. / 15 meter long tidal slough.  The slough was narrower than the boat and was lined with barnacles, scraping along them for much of the distance.  The result was a number of cosmetic scratches and one slow leak.  The paddler crossed roughly 1/2 mile of open water in this condition before putting ashore on a beach and patching the leak. Repair: Aquaseal bead applied over the leak.
• 300-600 Mile Sled Drag (Floor Abrasions & Minor Floor Punctures): This practice will damage your boat, eventually.  Two trekkers

  Ugh!

  dragged their rafts, loaded with up to 50 lbs of gear, through the Alaskan coast and interior, using them as gear sleds for about 4 months, predominantly over snow.  Minimum temperatures reached approximately -30 F, in the Copper River Basin.  Most damage was incurred in one day, pulling the sled over river ice in extreme cold.  Damage: a few small holes in the floor, and a lot of bad floor scratches.  Repair: Aquaseal, applied to the holes.  If you used your boat as a gear sled, we STRONGLY recommend thoroughly inspecting it and repairing any damage before venturing onto water again.  It is not built to do this and remain undamaged!
• Sharp Branch Puncture (Rip):  Raft was swept in swift current into a sharp, submerged branch on a dead spruce tree.  This punctured the side of the raft, creating a multi-inch tear.  It was repaired on-site with Patch-N-Go. Comment:  Most of us have rammed branches accidentally without a puncture  - but in this case, the variables lined up correctly for a big rip.  It can happen.  Repair: Patch-N-Go was applied on-site.  The raft was seaworthy again in about 15 minutes.
• Raft Lost Overboard (No Substantial Damage): An Alpacka raft was lost overboard, with other equipment, in a bag during a river expedition in Alaska.  We do not know the type of bag that contained

  The Put-In is Somewhere Down Here...

  the raft.  It was dug out of sandbar several months later.  The original owner's contact information was found with it, and the finder returned the boat to him.  It was essentially undamaged.  He inflated it, found it seaworthy, and returned his newly-purchased replacement to us.
• Spelunking, Thunder River Cave, Grand Canyon National Park (Superficial Scratches): Three Alpackas were carried into Thunder River cave, alimestone cave in Grand Canyon NP.  During the course of a multi-hour spelunking expedition, they were strapped onto the outside of a pack worn during underground rock climbing on sharp limestone, where they were sometimes pressed do the rock in stemming moves, but were not dragged along it forcefully.  They were then used to paddle an estimated 400 meters through flooded tunnels, including light impacts with sharp limestone spall.
• Sixteenpenny Nail (Rip): Testing a Fjord Explorer in a ranch pond, an Alpacka member (who shall remain nameless) rammed the dock before identifying a sixteen-penny nail sticking out from it.  This nail punctured the tube and then created a 2-inch tear.  He scurried onto the dock in a very surprised fashion as the boat sank.  Sixteen Penny Nail 1, Fjord Explorer 0.  Salvage efforts were successful. Repair: repaired in the workshop using a piece of Patch-N-Go.
• Travertine Drops (No Substantial Damage):  Two boaters ran a travertine creek at high water for several miles, skidding over travertine dams up the 1 yard / meter tall.  No damage; some cosmetic floor scratches.
• Hot Iron Contact (Skin Melt): In 2007, a couple Alpacka members tried to iron something

  When the wind is too high for the tent.

  onto a boat, and melted the urethane coating.  None of us are immune to the "negative brilliance moment."  Repair: We fixed it by applying a bead Aquaseal over the weakened area.  The boat has subsequently run the Grand Canyon and been on numerous other rivers and expeditions.
• The Wrong Explorer (Oarframe Destruction): Due to a serious miscommunication, one of Alpacka'slong-time testers took Fjord Explorer test platform (code for "all cut up, patched, and jury-rigged") with a weakened prototype oarframe down Escalante canyon.  The frame was basically demolished by hard use in the rocky river.  The boat was fine.  This is a great example of what happens to the oarframe when used in rocky rivers or whitewater.  It's for flatwater and open, gentle rivers.  In this case, he was fortunate the oar blades didn't break as well.  Repair: An oarframe that badly damaged can only be replaced.
•  "The Packraft Scooch" (No Damage).  The video says it all:
  

• Solar-Heated Seat Rupture.  This is a particular hazard for seat backs: a fully inflated seat or seat-back exposed to direct sunlight can undergo sufficient thermal gas expansion to pop.  Be sure your seat & seat back are a little soft, or quite soft if you're going to leave the raft ashore & exposed to warm sunlight for some time.  The black fabric is particularly absorbent of solar heat.  Repair: Heat seal (with hot iron, at home) or re-weld (in our workshop) the blown seam.
• Brown Bear Claws Boat (Several Long Rips).  A brown bear clawed an Alpaca while ransacking a camp, tearing several rents in the boat with a single claw swipe. Each tear was multiple inches long.  Repair: Herringbone-stitched with dental floss, then sealed with Aquaseal over the stitches.
• Brown Bear Chew Toy.  This boat was shredded by a Grizzly, but we did put it back together.   It floats.  It ain't pretty: see our Grizzly Bear Boat page.

Straight Talk on Durability & Safety

Got Damage?  Send us a quick e-mail.  We like to hear about it; it helps us keep improving the design.