Inflatable Rafts vs. Drift Boats
- This topic has 15 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated Feb 7, 2009 at 11:31 pm by
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Zach’s recent post of boat questions got me thinking about the first question on his list:
What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of inflatable rafts versus drift boats, and what types of water are appropriate for each?
Let me start by saying that I am no expert in this field, so feel free to disagree with, or correct, anything I say. I have, however, spent a good deal of time rowing and fishing from both rafts and drift boats. In my opinion, rafts have one major advantage. You can generally bounce them off rocks (and other objects in the river) without causing damage. For this reason, they are great for less skilled rowers and technical water with lots of objects in the river. They are also very stable in the water and can (relatively) easily take on dicey water.
On the other hand, drift boats can’t take quite as much of a beating, but they tend to maneuver lighter. In my experience, it doesn’t take as much effort to row a drift boat. They seem to have less resistance in the water, which makes sense conceptually. Additionally, the hard bottom of a drift boat makes it easier to move around the boat and to store objects (baggage, rods, reels, etc.) than in a raft without a hard bottom. I believe you can get panels to set in the bottom of rafts to remedy this issue, and I’m sure you could otherwise make some.
Obviously there are major differences within each category of boat as well. Not all rafts are going to handle the same and have the same characteristics, and not all drift boats will either. I would never buy a boat that I didn’t get an opportunity to get a feel for before purchasing.
Cheers,
Timi’ve been on 1 raft (roaring fork) and 1 drift boat (salmon river ny)
the raft def had the advantage in the rocks but lacked space inside
the drift boat was easy to manuever (sp?) which helped to dodge all of the rocks, more room to walk around and store stuffi think it depends on the type of water you fish determines what type of boat. just like you would take a mountain bike off roads and on roads (inflatable) but you wouldn’t take a road bike off road (drift)
does that make sense?
I would throw out that every raft owner I’ve ever met has highlighted the ability of a raft to be put in wherever you can slide it, as opposed to a fiberglass drift boat, which needs a place to back a trailer.
I think you guys have pretty much hit the nail on the head with the major differences between the two. I own both. I have an Aire 13ft raft and a Boulder Boat Works Low Profile drift boat. I prefer to row the drift boat. It is made out of a polymer plastic so it is WAY lighter than a fiber glass boat. It rows extremely easy and glides over rocky bottoms with ease compared to the raft. That said, the raft needs less water to float in so it may not scrape bottom where the drift boat will.
As far as going through technical big boulder type water goes it is true you worry less with the raft as it will handle scrapes and bumps fairly well. However, if you are an accomplished oarsman than you should have no issues taking a hard boat down the same water and you should be able to do it with any problems. There is no place that I can think of that I wouldn’t take my drift boat down that I would take my raft down.
Zach, I think you pointed out the major advantage that a raft has over a drift boat. The ability to shlep a raft down to the river. There are many places on the Blackfoot River in Montana that this is the only option. A raft is must lighter and a couple of guys should be able to get it over or around most objects in order to get it to the water.
From a client stand point I feel like the majority of my clients prefer fishing from my drift boat. I think they like the option of being able to fish standing up or sitting down. With most rowing frames that rafts have the only real option is to fish sitting down. I know they make some frames now that have platforms for standing on and knee braces, but in my opinion this defeats the purpose of owning a raft as it adds a considerable amount of weight to it. If you are going to do that you may as well buy a drift boat as you will be happier in the long run.
The storage thing is a HUGE advantage of a drift boat. Everything has its place and your boat never feels cramped. It is a constant struggle to find the room in a raft and still be able to access things easily.
Joel
Hey Joel –
Would you mind giving us a quick run down of the strengths and weaknesses (and relationships) of the major raft manufacturers?
Zach, I think a lot of the Big manufacturers have their top of the line and then the more affordable models. Unfortunately at the time I bought my Aire I was looking for the “best” deal. I wish I had waited and spent the extra cash and got what I wanted. Aire for instance makes some of their product in Boise and their less expensive stuff is made over seas. My boat was made over seas and you can tell as the quality is just not the same. The one thing I hate most about my raft is the floor. It has a bladder that is zipped into a cover to try and make it look more solid and uniform. The problem is the bladder is a weaker material and I have had to replace it twice in the four years that I have owned the boat. Plus the cover that this bladder zips into takes on water which adds weight to the boat which makes it ride lower in the water which causes more drag and makes it very heavy when it comes time to take the boat out of the water.
I think the two absolute best boats on the market (in terms of rafts) are the Sotar (#1 choice) and the NRS. I bought the Sotar for the ranch I work for. I got the Sotar Elite 13 footer. I like the smaller rafts for fishing out of personally as you can get them in tighter situations and on the windy days they are less affected. The nicest thing about Sotar is each raft is made to order. That’s right you can’t just buy them anywhere you must order them. This is great because you can have it made just the way you want! Plus the they have the best warranty in the business which I believe is 7 years. The air valves are on the inside of the tubes in locations that fly line does not get tangled around which I think is huge and something everyone should look at when purchasing a raft for fishing out of. Their floors are very solid and have a pressure relief valve on them for those hot days when expansion occurs and the floor are a true self bailing floor.
I think NRS makes the next best boat. They are a little heavier than the Sotar but they are built very well and will hold up over time.
Guys if I could give one piece of advice it would be to spend the money and get the boat you want. Really a raft should last you a very long time if you take care of it. Getting the one you want will always make you happy over the course of that boats life. Saving a few bucks and getting a boat just because you want one will leave you disappointed every time you row it.
Zach I am not sure if that is what you were looking for. Having not bought a raft for over 3 years now has left me a little fuzzy on all of the things I compared when I bought the Sotar. I do know that I would buy another in a heart beat and there was no comparison with other rafts when I was doing my research.
Joel
I think the rafts are regarded as the only options on rivers like the Toccoa Tailwater due to the put-in’s primitivity.
Au contraire mon frere. 🙂 I know you are familiar with this boat launch:
UHMP is a wonderful thing!
Thanks……we’ll definitely float it. Cameron and I did the float about this time last year. As you know…it’s an all day float. I used my GPS and monitored our progress. We arrived at Curtis Switch just as the sun dropped behind the mountain.
And you are right about the primitive boat launch. It seems more and more folks are using rafts and driftboats are becoming less common. I’ve spoken at length with several of the local guides and they’ve used everything from carpet strips to PVC pipe….to help slide the boat over the rip rap. I know one guy that even brings a sledge hammer with him….”to make small ones out of big ones”.
My first purchase, which I thought long and hard about , was a raft. I have heard it mentioned in this thread that they do wear out. I think at the time a bought mine, it gave like a 5 year life. I ended up owning 3 different rafts, and I finally bought a drifter. I now feel like the drift boat is far superior to the raft, just for the sake of lifetime. I could decide not to put this thing in the water for ten years, and it would be fine.
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