Necessary dictionary of terms:

Raft — type of the ship wide-spread in the world, which is used for rafting on the most difficult rivers, more often commercial, but also sporting. Raft is the most popular commercial, family and expeditionary-official ship.

Rafting — It’s usually made in groups on rapid (white) water, often connected with a powerful adrenalin injection. Sometimes saying rafting people mean any event on water with the use of rafts. For example, fishing from the raft’s side.

Rafter — a man, whose bottom touched the raft’s side at least once, and whose hands squeezed an oar and performed may be chaotic strokes in rapid water.

Purpose of the article — to help a reader at the least risk for life and with maximum positive emotions dip (rafting is not for aquaphobes!) in the rapid and breath-taking world of rafting on white water. The article will help to choose a ship and equipment for an independent rafting, and if you are limited to participate in a commercial rafting, will make those around to look at you with respect and esteem, as at experienced rafter.

So, about rafts

Classic raft is an inflatable boat with proportion of length to width about two. Diameter of the side is 50-60 cm. Full volume of inflatable elements is 2,5-3 ?³. A passenger capacity is 4 to 18 people.  Since this is a ship intended for rafting on rapid water, raft has a durable elastic hull made of modern synthetic materials (HYPOLON, TREVIRA, LEXATRON etc.) and large reserves of floatation and stability.  The major characteristic of raft is presence of the self-bailing floor system, which performs the instantaneous water spillover. Identical proportions of classic rafts allow to have the unique size parameter which is length in feet. It’s possible to divide rafts structurally into single-layer and two-layer. First are made of gas-holding fabrics on durable basis (lavsan etc.)  with the presence of protect-decorative coverage made of polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride and of few internal binding and pressurizing layers.  These kinds of fabrics are pride of producing them companies, and long-term guarantees on them are specified on advertising booklets. Boats made of such fabric are either produced with different types of welding or are glued together.  M ost rafts’ producers work by this technology: AVON, ZODIAC, SOTAR, ACHILLES, MARAVIA and ?NEV from Saint-Petersburg. Two-layer rafts have a casing, made of abrasion resistance fabric (lavsan is in the basis, polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride is coating), and internal air-chambers of thin gas-holding fabric. Hull’s outlines of such a raft are set the casing’s cutting, and internal air-chambers usually have simplified forms. The AIRE company is most known in the USA, RAFTMASTER — in Russia.  Let’s discuss advantages and disadvantages of two structural approaches. Transportation possibilities. If you want to leave in an independent rafting and there is possibility of pedestrian approach to the beginning of the route or long carring around impassable obstacles, you should choose two-layer raft. Since they similar  weight with one-layer analogues, but they can come apart on the greater amount of separately transport details.

 Repair. If you travel by the stony mountain rivers, your raft can get damages in a rapid flow. Two-layer constructions are less difficult in maintenance - a casing can be sewn and glued up if necessary, and even inexperienced rafter can fix a hole in air-chamber (which appears rarely enough). 

Maintenance. An advantage of one-layer rafts is simple preparation to the rafting – it’s only necessary to fill raft with air, and it’s necessary to learn how to put two-layer raft in the air-chamber casing before inflation. it’s also necessary to take apart and carefully dry out two-layer rafts after sailing.

Price. In the production of rafts, regardless their structural features, large part of highly skilled hand work is used, what results in high prices. However two-layer rafts are cheaper, since they are made of comparatively inexpensive materials of wide application.

Let’s discuss some models in more detail. For example, one-layer constructions - SOTAR and MNEV, and two-layer - RAFTMASTER.

SOTAR (State of the Art Raft) is fairly included in the leading group of rafts producers. SOTAR was the first construction of self-cast raft at the beginning of 80th with the sides tied to inflatable bottom. They proved the whole world, that raft for impetuous water has to be self-cast. This was a revolutionary step which after years began to seem quite natural. SOTAR were first who exclude glue connections and developed new fabrics, which are LEXATRON (made of polyurethane on kapron basis) and POLYTRON (polyvinyl chloride on more durable lavsan basis) specially for the welded stitches. International Rafting Federation executes all its sporting events using SOTAR rafts.  SOTAR produces rafts in three version: Elite, Professional and Adventure. Rafts of Elite version are made of 40 oz material. LEXATRON has a 12-year guarantee. Colors - yellow, light blue, orange and white. Bottom - inflatable with longitudinal corrugation or smooth. Price - $5812 for 16-foot raft.

 Rafts of Professional version are made of 33 oz material. LEXATRON has a 6-year guarantee. Colors - yellow or light blue. Bottom - inflatable with longitudinal corrugation. Price - $4940 for 16-foot raft. 

 Rafts of Adventure version are made of 40 oz material. POLYTRON has a 5-year guarantee. Colors - yellow or light blue. Bottom - inflatable with longitudinal corrugation. Price – $3952 for 16-foot raft.

 Nicholay Mnev is Russian producer of the one-layer rafts from Saint-Petersburg. He was engaged in producing motor boats for a long time. But since 1996 company MNEV&K began making rafts, using developed technologies (gluing with warming up) and Korean fabrics, tested on motor boats. Raft MNEV has classic shape and costs $1800 for 16-foot raft.

Company RAFTMASTER adheres two-layer technology. Sewn and glued casing of the RAFTMASTER raft is technologically difficult product. It’s made on an industrial equipment by skilled workmen. Inflatable elements of the hull are glued of the light rubberized kapron. This ship has 2-year guarantee. Colors - red, cherry, yellow, light blue, dark blue, green and steel. Price - $1200 for 16-foot raft (model 999).

The main, what you should pay attention at while choosing a raft is a presence of self-bailing system. Better, if it will have tied inflatable bottom. An important factor while choosing a ship is also the preferred method of rowing.