A question for mr climber/Stu/or any pack raft users

[middleagedmadness]

Looking at ordering a pack raft for when the lock down is over , looked at alpaca either caribou or classic( leaning towards classic as it has a removable deck) but can’t seem to find any in uk , any other decent brands out there upto 4kg and coming in around £1000 , don’t really know if I can be bothered with the faff of attaching my bike to it , but would be nice to be able to just in case
Cheers in advance

[ScotRoutes]

If you do Facebook then head over to the Packrafting UK group. Not only will you find lots of hints ant tips, you'll find folk selling boats too.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/PackraftingUK/

[Bearbonesnorm]

Andy at Backcountryscot is yer man Stu: https://backcountry.scot/product-category/packrafting/

[middleagedmadness]

If you do Facebook then head over to the Packrafting UK group. Not only will you find lots of hints ant tips, you'll find folk selling boats too.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/PackraftingUK/

Don’t do any of that Facebook stuff or insta but my daughter does so will speak nicely to her to let me on

[middleagedmadness]

Andy at Backcountryscot is yer man Stu: https://backcountry.scot/product-category/packrafting/

I’m a knob Stu , had a look on there earlier and didn’t see them

[middleagedmadness]

What you got now Stu , still the longshore or something new?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Yeah, I do fancy an MRS but no money for that.

[middleagedmadness]

Yeah, I do fancy an MRS but no money for that.

Just been looking at those , quite like the micro raft xl and alligator s2 just need to renew my bcu licence , wait for lockdown to come to some sort of end and river seven here I come

[Bearbonesnorm]

It was a Nomad I fancied Stu. I assume you've looked here: https://www.packrafting-store.de/Packrafts:::43.html

[Alec]

There are a few brands out there,

Firstly do you want tpu (lightweight) or pvc ( heavier, less packable but more robust)
There are a few of each around.

Apart from the far east brands and one of two others the 3 big players (higher end) are:
Anfibo/MRS from the germans at packrafting de (also available through tirio in the uk)
Kokopelli
Alpaca (which is where I would probably spend my money if it was no object as I like their colours the most)

I think it really depends on exactly what you want to do with it as like bikes its very much n+1, or n+10 for some people.

[Alpinum]

Alpacka classic user here. Mine's a Yak I think. I'm 182 cm, long legs, size is spot on, snug but not restricting. Four attachment points at the front, enough to tie a bike down (which I've never done for the same reason as your's, but many others have proven it to work well).

It does it all really well. Packs down small, takes some scraping well, works well in class II WW and okay up to class III WW. My reason to get a new, different boat, would be to gain more WW capability, since I recently have been using it more for water focused fun with little hiking. There's always the option to make the classic series more WW capable, but then it obviously also becomes heavier and since I still want to be able to hike for a few days and take a river run, I'm sticking with how it is.

I also like the former cruiser deck for it's versatility, but it blows open on big WW.
Since Alpacka doesn't offer the cruiser deck anymore, I'd probably go with the removable WW deck to keep the versatility.

Can't comment on other brands, since I've only paddled various Alpackas.

[middleagedmadness]

Cheers. Gian , do you have the internal storage? Or is that just more faff , only ordering once so want to get everything I need , if I want grade 3+ then I’ll go back to my play boat, cheers everyone for replies , no body has either the mrs or the Alpacas in stock so another months o/t should cover the extra cost of getting the one I want without incurring the wrath of the wife for raiding the savings account

[Alpinum]

Cheers. Gian , do you have the internal storage? Or is that just more faff , only ordering once so want to get everything I need , if I want grade 3+ then I’ll go back to my play boat,

Aye and I regard it as one of the best parts of the boat. Since you have a proper play boat I guess you can well imagine how a packraft turns slower when the front is loaded versus having all gear stored centrally, close to your body. With gear stowed away you also get an unhindered view.

Our Alpackas came with two different types of bags, silnylon with cords and air tight TPU bags. For weight critical trips I use the light silnylon bags, to which I sewed buckles, so I can secure them in the tubes. For WW focused trips I use the sealed bags (buckles already in place), since they offer a little amout of security should the tube fail.

Only downsides I can think of; the zip itself adds a little weight and volume and needs a tiny bit of care in use and storage on otherwise extremely carefree kit.

Since you have a boat for WW, I'd go with the classic series or a similar raft from another manufacturer, zip, removable deck.
I also added two tie downs and stern rail to have more purchase when dragging it about or swimming. Position B as per image

Screenshot_20210122-231115_Drive.jpg

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[Chrisps]

I've got an Alpacka Wolverine and an MRS Barracuda (2 person). Its worth pointing out that the Alpacka is way higher quality. Everything from the lack of a chemical smell to how the seat and backband is thought out. Being a whitewater kayaker, maybe I am more discerning than most, but I personally feel the couple of hundred £ difference between the MRS and Alpacka's is worth it purely on long term paddling comfort alone.

If I was to buy another packraft, I would be heading straight back to Alpacka's door (via Andy at Backcountry.Scot who is super helpful).

When choosing a raft, if you aren't used to kayaking, I'd agree with the Alpacka Classic recommendation for extra stability, and hits your weight / price target. If you kayak, you may want to consider the smaller hull profile of something like the Wolverine, as it does make paddling feel much more natural. Beware weight limits though, and it is a bit heavier / definitely more expensive.

Top tip - get a paddle where the blade is either made of glass fibre or carbon. Paddling is much nicer with one than with a nylon blade which is heavy and flexes. If you can't afford a new one, you could look at a used kayak paddle from eBay, cut it in half and put in a split join. Not that hard to do - you could probably use a steerer tube cutting guide. Be aware of paddle length though. In a Wolverine, I paddle with my standard WW 197cm paddle. For the Barracuda with its bigger tubes, I need more like 215cm.

[middleagedmadness]

Not had the play boat out since 2015 due to my bent leg not getting comfy in it , legs still bent but have got used to it now and have been thinking of getting back out but the ww skills will need a bit of a refresher, don’t know how the import would work as my step daughters grandad lives in the states and there’s a £600 difference on the expedition model buying it there and having him send it over as a “gift” even though the value is way over that as what a gift is classed as , but I think that may be the way I’m going

[Chrisps]

Yeah, huge difference in price with the import etc.

If you have any inclination to WW use, then definitely get one with good thigh braces. A packraft obviously behaves hugely differently to a kayak, but you can throw it around a lot with the thigh braces tight. I've surfed mine on one of the Thames weirs. Obviously nowhere near using a playboat, but significantly more comfortable! In fact, the Wolverine is more comfortable than my creek boat (not something that can be said for the Barracuda, which is a pain in the back, literally! Still fun though for 2 person grade 2/3-).

Regarding the Wolverine / Expedition, the main difference is the Wolverine has a longer seat. This is done to stiffen the hull for whitewater. No idea what sort of a difference it makes, as I haven't paddled the Expedition.

[thenorthwind]

I have an Alpacka Yak with a Cruiser Deck and cargo fly. Had an Alpacka before that, so can't really compare to other brands, but they're the original and the quality is obviously top. You do pay for it though, particularly importing, and the other top European brands seem similar in quality, and probably better value.

Worth pointing out there's a Packrafting Buy and Sell group on Facebook too if you can get on via your daughter - there's not a big market though, so you may be waiting a while for exactly what you want. I got pretty lucky when I bought my new boat, though I'd been keeping an eye out for a replacement in the size I wanted with deck and fly, in this country, at a decent price, for at least a year. https://www.facebook.com/groups/154741864976536