Pumps for Inflatable Watercraft
- This topic has 8 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated Feb 20, 2010 at 2:56 pm by
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I am about to pull the trigger on an inflatable personal watercraft (either a Scadden Outlaw Renegade or a WaterMaster) and I need some guidance on pumps. I have no experience with inflatable watercraft yet and I am not sure exactly what I need in the pump area. Should I get one of the K-Pumps? If so, what size? What about one of the electric pumps that you hook up to you car battery? Are they worth it or can you inflate the boat quickly enough with a hand or foot pump? Any guidance is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Get a double action pump and be sure to keep it well lubed inside. I’ve broken more than one. You can uncap it and you’ll find a lot of grease in the piston tube; over time, that grease will work off the main gasket of the plunger, causing undue friction and eventually straining the piston shaft (i.e. the thing you work up and down). I have a few of these pumps; I actually bought a backup that’s smaller than normal at an auction a year ago; I keep it strapped to my pontoon when floating so that if I hit a puncture and develop a slow leak, I can pump it back up (this also goes for changing weather conditions).
This is economical and perfectly adequate.
Shane, I purchased a scadden mekenzie drifter last year and got a lot of use out of it. However pumping up by hand every time while my buddy came up with various reasons to show up just as the last pump of air was going in was definitely a pain in the arse. Will be investing in a powered pump this season for sure, and bring the one that came with the boat for emergencies.
The electric car battery pump is well worth the $$$ IMO. I have the one Scadden sells … I do use the had pump for topoff. I have also seen pvc hand pumps that are a little more space economical as an emergency pump for taking on the boat.
Shane, I purchased a scadden mekenzie drifter last year and got a lot of use out of it. However pumping up by hand every time while my buddy came up with various reasons to show up just as the last pump of air was going in was definitely a pain in the arse. Will be investing in a powered pump this season for sure, and bring the one that came with the boat for emergencies.
I fish the same boat.
Have you decided which watercraft to purchase? The Watermaster has always appealed to me.
Bob
No Bob I haven’t decided yet. I keep going back and forth between the two. Each seems to have a little feature that I like better over the other one. It is probably going to boil down to which one I can get a better package deal on. The WaterMaster is the one that caught my attention first and I have looked at it for a long time. The problem on both of the watercraft is that I have never seen either one in person. They are not too common here in Texas so I can’t look them over before I buy. I don’t think I will be disappointed with either one though.
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