WHITEWATER RAFTS

CALL - 925.820.2628 PVC Self-Bailing Rafts AIRE Puma, SuperPuma AIRE Super Duper Puma AIRE 130E, 130D, 130R AIRE 143E, 143D, 143R AIRE 156E, 156D, 156R Optional Sealed Floor Pockets for AIRE rafts Incept W43 AIRE's Tributary Series Expedition Rafts Hyside 196ASBU AIRE 176R and 183R Non Self-Bailing Rafts Hyside 122 Livery AIRE T-12 Tributary Hyside 159 Rio Bravo Hyside 169 Rio Bravo A Word About Shipping Fees

Our whitewater rafts include AIRE's Puma, SuperPuma, and SuperDuper Puma, & larger 130, 143, & 156 models. We also have self bailers and "bucket" boats from Hyside, Tributary (AIRE's import line), and Incept.

Got questions? We have rowed, paddled, or sold just about every brand out there, so don't hesitate to call or come by. We love to "talk boats," and would be happy to answer your questions. Time can be tight for typing lengthy emails though, so if you have more than a couple questions please phone us.

Please note that photos of AIRE's 130, 143, and 156 series are not discernable from one another in photos since they all look alike - they are merely scaled up or down from each other. AIRE also has an optional upgrade on all American made rafts to a Sealed Floor Pocket; more about that in the text below. Also new for 2008 on the R and D series rafts is a grey rowing frame chafe panel, though some of our photos still show the older models.

AIRE Pricing-

Traditionally, ever since our website has been operational, we've had AIRE kayaks, rafts, and cataraft tubes priced at about 5% off the retail. AIRE had requested quite a while ago that all dealers list their products at the regular retail (with the exception of Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada, where dealers incure high incoming freight fees and must sell above U.S. retail) to "level;" the playing field - though we've been successfully resisting for a couple years now. Due to crabbing from a certain dealer the issue has been more or less forced, and being friends with the good folks at AIRE we don't want to create headaches for them.
The AIRE and Tributary pricing here is at retail, however in most cases you will not pay any more than you would have before we made the change. What we are doing is to give you 5% of the boats price, rounded up to the nearest dollar, toward UPS fees or any accessories you may get with the boat now or later. If you need no accessories and your UPS is less than 5% of the boat's cost - which is often the case with the more pricey U.S.-made AIRE's - we will work something out for you that's agreeable. Additionally, if you want to pay with a cashier's check you will save even more. This can be substantial on rafts in particular, though less significant on something like an import kayak. Email us with your zip code for a quote. There is no obligation, and we will not spam you with follow-ups.
As an example for the Puma raft in this section, you will get a $145 credit. If your UPS fee would be $75, that will be included in the $2,899 price, and you will still get another $70 toward any pump, pfd, oars, throwbag, cam straps, clothing, or frame you might want. If all you needed was the boat and one other item that ran $70 after your accessory discount, you would pay a grand total of $2,889 (plus tax if you are in CA, and possibly some additional UPS if that accessory item had to be shipped in a separate box). delivered to your door. If you did not need any other items, we'll work something out with you that's fair.
The last point we want to state is this: if you have a nearby dealer who has been helpful and seems the type who will take care of any problems after the sale, it may be best to make your boat purchase through them. As much as we want your business, it is not worth selling out someone for a few dollars who has done their best to work with you. We don't appreciate it when it's done to us after spending considerable amounts of time talking or composing lengthy emails, so if you buy from us we prefer it's because you want to, not due to us beating another dealer by ten or twenty dollars.

For more information about multiple boat discounts, and discounts on accessories that are purchased with your boat, please see the F.A.Q. page of our website.
This section was updated in April of 2009

PVC Self-Bailers

AIRE Puma/SuperPuma

* Pricing includes a $145 allowance toward UPS and/or accessories on the two-thwart Puma, and a $158 allowance on the two-thwart SuperPuma. See above AIRE pricing info in italics.
The Puma (yellow raft below), and its big brother, the SuperPuma (blue raft below), are fast, sporty boats ideal for paddle crews, or as inflatable driftboats for fly fishing. As paddle boats they are most at home on tight steep low volume rivers. The tubes taper on both models at the ends of the hull, making for a small surface area to punch waves with ease. SuperPuma's are stretched out 18" in length and widened by 2" over the regular Puma. There are two main tubes chambers on the Puma bu three on the "Super". A third difference between the two models is that SuperPumas have more rocker and more radically tapered ends, giving it that "elves shoe" look. They come with two thwarts, but it's easy to add a third thwart to the SuperPuma since they lace down to the inflatable floor edges. Adding a third thwart to the regular Puma would not be advisable since there would be almost no gap between thwarts, and no reason to really attempt it in the first place.

Wonderful as these rafts may be, if you want top performance you shouldn't overload them or pay too much attention to the load capacity listed in AIRE's brochure. For a standard Puma to stay "high performance", keep the weight to around 700 lbs. On the SuperPuma, we would suggest no more than five paddlers or 875 lbs. You can go higher than this of course, but they are not as impressive if you load them heavy with people or gear. If you stay around the above limits, we think these boats are rocket ships. Both models come in red, blue, yellow, dark green, and dark purple.

There was a time when AIRE had these two models available in foam floor versions, but with the price of ethafoam skyrocketing they discontinued them. If you want a firmer, pancake flat floor to stand on while fishing, consider cutting out half-circle shaped plywood pieces for the bow & stern of your boat. Sand them, route the edges, and brush the wood with about 12 coats (we're kidding, but you can never have too much) of varnish. On the last coat on the top surface, you can sprinkle clean sand or rock polisher grit on the varnish as it dries to improve traction. Hardware stores also sell an adhesive-backed sandpaper type material by the foot that you can stick down to the wood. For information on Sealed Floor Pockets for Pumas & SuperPumas, scroll down to just below the 156 model descritions.
New for 2009 is a dark orange color available for all rafts except the 176R & 186R's.
*Please note that the $190 upcharge for an extra thwart pertains only if you order the boat from the factory with it included. If you buy a separate thwart after the fact they run $209 for all sizes.

AIRE SuperDuper Puma 14'

* Pricing includes a $182 allowance toward UPS and/or accessories on the two-thwart model. See AIRE pricing info above in italics.
This model came out five years back, and is another narrow series raft like the regular SuperPuma, but stretched to 14'. The width is only 5'11", making this the skinniest fourteen footer on the market. We haven't played with one yet but the AIREheads have rowed and paddled it on various Idaho runs, and they claim it's stable even with a frame. Claims aside no one should expect a boat this narrow to be as stable in big rivers as a similiar raft that's 8" or 10" wider.
If you want an oar raft for high volume rivers or for class VI and V runs, or one to just load heavy for long trips, you may be better served with the regular R and D series AIRE rafts in either thirteen or fourteen foot lengths. When a raft is only 33" wide inside like this one, you may be forced to load camping gear further fore and aft rather than outward, creating "flywheel" effect. It's hard to start pivoting and sometimes even harder to stop pivoting. A lot of weight loaded far to the stern also allows big holes to pull a raft back in more easily. Additionally a 33" width limits you as to the size of cooler or drybox you can carry unless you want to rig one lengthwise, which is almost impossible with most frames. Almost all dryboxes are a minimum of 36" wide. All this aside though the SuperPuma still allows fly fishermen to do overnighters that might be difficult with the smaller SuperPuma. In terms of big whitewater the SuperDuper is more suited as a six to seven person paddle raft.

If you are a SuperDuper owner who has also owned other rafts, we would be interested in hearing your impression of this model. They really don't seem to be catching on out in California where we are, so there's been a dearth of feedback. On those occasions when we Boat People find ourselves rowing an oar rig, it's going to be on longer trips and we're going to go for a wider raft - especially since we don't even keep a frame narrow enough to fit the SuperDuper Puma around most of the time.
The $3,639 price includes two thwarts; add $190 for a third thwart. It can also be ordered with no thwarts at a cost of $3,259.
For information on Sealed Floor Pockets for SuperDuper Pumas, scroll down.

AIRE 130E, 130D, 130R

* Pricing includes a $200 allowance toward UPS, motor freight, and/or any accessories. See AIRE pricing info above in italics.

AIRE's "normal" rafts come in three sizes - 13', 14'3", and 15'6", with three hull designs to choose from in each. The narrower, pointy-bowed 130E hull is for paddle crews on tight technical rivers, or fly fishermen who need something larger than a Super Puma but still want the feel of a driftboat. The 130R is the original model tubby, rounded ends, and it has somewhat higher floatation than the "E". The R series was supposed to be replaced years ago by the sleeker diminishing tube D model (in photo below, but the new D's have a frame chafer which is not shown), but due to outfitter demand all three hull shapes have been kept in the lineup. R and D models are almost interchangeable, though the D has more interior cargo space on the ends. The diminished tubes at the front and rear of the D series also have the dual benefits of keeping a paddle captain closer to the water (especially important on the big 156) and better wave punching. All three have center sections that gently curve just before the end seams begin. The 130 series are perfect for six paddlers, or five on the 130E, and the 130D and 130R make great multi-day gear carriers for couples that do three to seven-day trips with a rowing frame. The 130D is our favorite among all of AIRE's rafts, maybe with the little puma coming in a close second. 130D's are highly responsive and one of the best rafts in AIRE's line-up for moderate flow class V runs. All D and R series rafts now come with grey frame chafer strips.
For information on Sealed Floor Pockets for 130's, scroll down to below the 156 series write-up. A third thwart is $190 if you order it with the raft, or $209 if you buy it later.

AIRE 143E, 143D, 143R

* Pricing includes a $210 allowance toward motor freight, and/or any accessories you may need with your boat. And remember that additional price breaks are available for payments made via cashier's check. See AIRE pricing info above in italics.
AIRE'S fourteen foot rafts used to be our most popular whitewater boat in terms of sales until the far less expensive Tributary line came out in 2005. Fourteens are an ideal size for many boaters who need maximum flexibility in a raft. They are just big enough for Canyon trips if you are not trying to support a gang of twenty kayakers, and they are fine for day trips on almost any "full size" river as well. An East coast boater who runs skinny sections with a paddle crew would want to look at the narrower 143E (the red raft shown below). If you run mostly high volume rivers with an oar set-up, the 143R may be your ticket. The 143D remains the most popular though and it is the best all around "multi-use" raft. The 143E is fine for seven people and the other two models are okay with eight. You often see commercial outfitters stuffing eight adults plus the paddle captain in a 14' raft, but we feel you are asking for trouble overloading a boat this way. The deeper the boat drafts, the more rocks you'll hang up on and the slower the boat will respond. All D and R series rafts now come with grey frame chafer strips. The "E" seriies below does not since it is intended as a paddle raft.

Regardless of the model you want please understand AIRE is often out of at least one hull style in any given size, and rarely if ever do they have all five colors. Try not to be too picky and remember most raft brands only come in one or two colors. One other important point is that all U.S.-made AIRE rafts are shipped with the floors loose, so you will have to lace them in. Plan on spending 3 hours for a 130, 3-1/2 for a 143, and a full 4 hours for the 156 if you are working alone. Unlaced floors help keep AIRE's prices low. AIRE will lace one in for you but they charge $125 and we charge our local customers $100 to $120 depending on size. For information on Sealed Floor Pockets for 143's, scroll down. An extra thwart is $190 if you order it with the boat, or $209 separately..

AIRE 156E, 156D, 156R

* Pricing includes a $220 allowance toward motor freight, and/or any accessories you may need with your boat. And remember that additional price breaks are available for payments made via cashier's check. The prices shown in the spec block at right are for two thwarts. Additional thwarts run $190 each. See AIRE pricing info above in italics.
The 156E model accomodates eight paddlers, and the 156R (shown below) & D hold a total of nine without a problem. These big beasts actually handle very well for their length. One of our ancient rental 156R's has also seen some of the most serious big water class IV and V of any of our livery boats, including our local Tuolumne at some blood curdling flows. More importantly, it's seen them right side up! The 156 series are highly stable craft if you are looking for a support raft for large groups, or something to do the above mentioned scary high flows regularly on your local rivers. All AIRE's come with a very complete patch kit, repair video, lots of D-rings, lift handles, and two thwarts. Extra thwarts may be handy if you are going to run one of these as a paddle boat. Matching footcups are available for all AIRE boats (see Accessories section). Grey frame chafers are now standard on the tubes of the R and D series rafts, and there is a new orange color for 2009.

Optional Sealed Floor Pockets for AIRE 130, 143, 156, and Puma series rafts.

For a number of years, some folks have been bothered by the fact that with AIRE's "air cell inside an envelope" system of floor construction, some water remains between the exterior of the air-mattress shaped floor bladder and the interior of the floor pocket, or envelope. There are drain holes on the underside of all AIRE rafts, which allow this water to come out when you pick the boat up out of the river, but certain boaters persist in believing that the fairly small volume of water you're carrying while the raft is in use effects the handling. Others from the SouthWestern part of our country have a more legitimate concern about fine sand entering the floor envelope through the zipper teeth, which it can do - especially on silty rivers.
AIRE does test every raft model they make on the very continuous and violent North Fork Payette - a river that allows little time for recovery between rapids since there are few pools. Some of the smaller size AIRE's really don't hold more than two to five gallons inside the floor pocket either, an amount that weighs less than 50 pounds. Therefore the worry over water retention is a bit more silly than the grit-through-the-zipper-teeth problem. But if you really want the top performance from your AIRE or if you are buying a 156 (which does hold a higher volume in it's floor pocket), then perhaps it is worth looking into the Sealed Pocket option. Unless you actually do spend a lot of time on class V rivers, we don't think it's a good investment, but that's your call. The upcharge for a Sealed Pocket is $400.
One note: A normal AIRE floor pocket is stitched all the way around the perimeter, and they have a non-watertight zipper that also runs all the way around. The Sealed Pockets are partially welded shut, and then there are shorter waterproof drysuit zippers welded to two sections to allow access to the bladder. If you do need to get at the bladder though, it is harder to remove with the Sealed Pocket system because of the zippers being shorter.

Incept W43

The 14'3" W43 is an alternative to the AIRE fourteen's for those who insist on the quickest handling traits or for those who, for whatever reason, just don't want to buy an AIRE. As of 2009 the price is so high on this one that it is no longer a very good value. It is possible these may drop again, with both the dollar and the New Zealand monetary unit in flux. Incepts are made from a fabric that is actually a 50-50 blend of pvc and urethane and has a very hard finish. Incept boats come standard with urethane armor on the tube undersides, effectively giving you a full wrap-floor. All main seams, bulkheads, floor I-beams, floor edge tape, and some of the D-rings are welded. The W43 has 21 D-rings and features thwarts that are beveled on the sides to better integrate with the raft hull. This feature has been copied by several other boat builders.

One of the big differences between this and say, a Hyside or AIRE raft, is that the inflatable floor is truly designed to follow the shape of the main hull. This is a permanently attached floor that tapers in thickness both at the side edges and at the front & back, giving the smoothest waterline transition from any angle. Even Maravia rafts, which utilize flat drop-stitch material for their inflatable flloors, still have a substantial groove at the left and right underside where the grommet strip attaches the floor to the main tubes.With a Hyside or AIRE the inflatable floors essentialy are dead flat inflated if you unlace them from the boat body, and with a Riken the floor I-beams turn crossways at the ends of the floor to let the raft hull more easily forcethe floor to follow it's upward curves. Incept's super-smooth upward-curved floor design yields some of the fastest, most responsive boats money can buy. You will feel violent eddy lines far less when you encounter them in an Incept than you would on any other boat, even with heavy loads. Incept makes a 15'3", but we never sold a single one, and they also make a very hot little 12'6", but the $4,000+ price tag is pretty steep for a five-person raft. (Both are available by special order, as are other sizes, albeit with a long delivery time).

Other great features include factory laced grab lines that are very snug against the hull & impose no entrapment dangers, and side D-rings with an extra piece of steel welded in such a way as to prevent chafing of the D-ring's nylon webbing.Rubbing strakes and frame chafers are standard, as is a front cargo bag.

Tributary Self Bailers

* T-14 Pricing includes a $148 allowance toward UPS, and/or any accessories you may need, a $138 allowance on the T-13, and a $128 allowance on the T-12 bailer. And remember that additional price breaks are available for payments made via cashier's check. See AIRE pricing info above in italics.

The T-14 ($2,949, second picture below, shown in darker blue), T-13 ($2,749, shown just below) and T-12 ($2,549) selfbailers, along with the non-selfbailing T-12 near the bottom of this page, are imports AIRE brings in from China. They are built with the same usethane bladders and the same pre-stretched brand of hull fabric as the American AIRE's. The welding and stitching machines used for assembly are also exact copies of the equipment used in Idaho. They look terrific and are indistinguishable from the American AIRE's in most ways. Unfortunately all Tributary boats - rafts and kayaks - went up a whopping 18 to 19% this year. AIRE has promised they will lower the price if the dollar gains strength later this year, but in the mean time workers in China are making higher wages and material costs are going up with gas prices, so our suggestion would be to not hold your breath too long. Trib pricing doesn't look too bad even now since every other brand of raft went up this year.
All three sizes come with three quick release thwarts standard and have a five year waranty. We haven't sold many of the 12' bailers, but we have put a lot of the thirteen and fourteen footers in the field and the customers are delighted with them. We are no longer in the raft rental business, but if we were we would use nothing but Tributarys.
There are cheaper glued pvc import rafts to be sure, but whereas the lifespan on a Trib is essentially unlimited, all the other brands range from 3 to 13 years, at which point their glued seams will open up. This means you will be putting 100 plus pounds of toxin-laden poly vinyl chloride into a landfill somewhere rather that keeping it in use. Among other things, pvc contains dioxon. For us this means Tributarys still represent a good value for your dollar.
Since the late 1980's or early 90's, most rafts have been overbuilt to where toughness is no longer a big consideration when comparing brands. Everybody's boats, even the cheap glued pvc river rafts, are plenty rip-resistant. Today, all you are really buying is handling and lifespan. And along with their longevity, Tributary rafts do indeed score high in the handling department. Add to this that they tend to roll up smaller and weigh less than many competing brands, including the American made AIREs, and the Trib's stand as an obvious first choice for veterans and first time boat owners alike.
Except for the floor top and thwart material (the grey parts in other words), all the blue parts are the same brand of French pvc used on the American made AIRE rafts. The main tubes on the U.S. models have a somewhat thicker grey panel on the bottom, but everything else is the same. In other words you get essentialy the same rip strength on the side tubes and floor bottom, but a bit less chafe resistance on the tube bottoms. This difference though can also be seen a a positive way. For one thing, a T14 for example rolls up smaller and is lighter than a 143R or 143D model (above), and it can also be shipped UPS, which the American fourteen footers cannot. The same is true for the other sizes compared to the equivalent U.S. models.
The only color for 2009 will be the same shade of light blue as the American AIRE boats shown above, not the darker blue shown below. The Trib's now come with the larger bore, more reliable B-7 Leafield valves, but the one negative is that the valves and their caps tend to be in knuckle-bashing locations, especially the front right valve. As is often the case, AIRE was trying to please the whiny outfitters. These guys invariably worry about ease of deflation above all other issues, including their customer's bleeding knuckles. AIRE has already had complaints aplenty about the valve locations so we expect them to make a change soon. You may need to jury rig a padded cover out of some 6mm wetsuit fabric and velcro to slip over the front right valve if you'll be using your Tributary as a paddle raft. The problem is less pronounced on the three-chamber T-12 than on the 13' and 14' models, which have four main chambers. The T-12 can be turned in such a way where only the front left valve might be a problem.
The only other complaint some people have is that the 17" main tubes on the T-12 model are a bit smallish. AIRE really intended this model for more moderate streams and fisherman rather than hardcore whitewater, but it would be nice to see at least a slight increase to maybe 18".
The floor's on the selfbailing Tributary's mount the same way all AIRE raft floors do, with a laced piano hinge system that drains very quickly. However, unlike the American AIRE rafts, the floors on the Tributarys come laced in from the factory. This is significant since it takes one person three hours to lace the floor of a 143 model.

The warranty on Tributary rafts falls in between AIRE's U.S.-made line and the Tomcat kayak warranty: it is five years rather than ten or one, but it is not a no-fault warranty like the U.S. made raft & kayaks have. In other words AIRE still fixes anything that is their fault, but if you damage the boat, that won't be covered. If you don't want to deal with a repair yourself, you can still ship the boat off to Idaho where AIRE is located, but you will have to pay what is generally a very small amount for the repair. Put still another way, the Tributary series has the exact same warranty you would get with any new Hyside, Vanguard, Incept, Maravia, Achilles, or Jack's Plastic Welding boat.
The T-14 (directly above) sort of resembles a Maravia Willawa in shape with a few inches of taper in the bow & stern tube diameter. Since Maravia makes some of the world's best handling rafts, this is not a bad thing. The bow/stern rise on the symetrical hull is 11" and it has three quick-release thwarts. The T-14 has ten D-rings but no lift handles (however you can buy a removable set of four from us for $14). The 123 pound weight listed is with all three thwarts installed, but the thwarts are fairly heavy on this boat. If you remove two of them to use an oar frame, you will shave off about nine pounds. See also our package deal below on the T-14.
The T-13 Bailer weighs in at 115 pounds, or 101 pounds with no thwarts. It comes with three thwarts standard. The T-13 is a good sized "thirteen" measuring 6'8" wide by 13'3" long, with 19" tubes. It is actually more rockered than the T-14 (if you look close at the T-13 picture just below the specification block, you can see this), so in this sense it might resemble a SuperPuma with less diminished tubes from a side view. Unlike the versatile 14' and 12' models, the thirteeen foot Trib is best suited as an oar boat rather than a paddle raft. .
The T-12 SelfBailer (see the photo below un Non SelfBailing Rafts) is 12'3" by 6' wide, with a fairly ample 38" inside width. The smallish 17" tubes mean this model is a fairly shallow since there is only about eleven inches of depth between the top of the tubes and the top of the floor. It comes with three thwarts like the other Trib's and weighs 105 pounds, or 92 without thwarts. Unlike the two models above, the tubes do not taper at the ends on the T-12. Blue is the only color at this point in time.
One last point to make is that all Tributary rafts can ship by UPS, which may save you one or two hundred dollars over motor freight fees if you live back east and need the boat shipped to a residential address. The highest UPS rate on the T-14 - the heaviest model - has been under $115. Many destinations will be under $100. The smaller Tributary's will be even less.
The boxes these come in often require extensive amounts of extra tape, and occasionally we have to re-box a Tributary raft completely. The Chinese cardboard is quite inferior to the U.S. stuff. Most Trib rafts will be breaking out of their mushy carton by the time they get to you if we don't take this extra step - and most dealers don't. Sometimes the re-taping or re-boxing may mean your Tributary won't go out until the next day, but at least it will get to you intact.

New for 2009 - The Tributary "9.5" Self Bailer

This small two to three person raft has been available as a non selfbailing model for two over years, but AIRE has now introduced a bailer version to compete with Hyside's popular little "Mini-Me". The T-9.5 SB runs $1,899 and is 9'7" long by 5'4" wide, with generous 18" tubes. It has quite a lot of kick at the ends, which means the waterline is a scant six feet.
It will hold up to 750 pounds if you don't mind drafting pretty deep, but it will work much better with far lighter loads on order of 450 to 500 pounds. These are blue like all the other Trib rafts but they only come with one removable thwart, not two like last year's non-bailing version. There are three main air chambers plus the floor and thwart for a total of five.
The T-9.5 SB weighs 69 pounds and comes with ten D-rings, quite a few on a raft this short.

Tributary 14' Self-Bailer Paddle Package Deal:

This package does not include the 5% freight allowance. UPS on the raft will vary from about $79 to $115 depending how far east you are. UPS on the second box, which due to it's size is billed by UPS at the 70 pound rate, will be between $39 and $66.
The T-14 Package includes one Bravo Pro 63" paddle, six Caviness or Carlisle Econo paddles, one Dyna 12 volt inflator to get things started, a Bravo 6M hand pump and a Thwart Pump bag to hold it, a Rafter's throwbag, and your choice of either one 3.8 AIRE Riverpack drybag, two thwart GrabLoops, or two footcones with a 16 ounce two-part glue kit. The Package price is $3,049 plus UPS. Any lifejackets or other accessories purchased at the same time will be at 10% off our list price, though bulky items like lifevests will mandate a third box and additional UPS fees.
Rowing frames do not receive the same discount as other accessories due to lower margins and high incoming freight fees, but we'll try to give you 5% off if it is practical for your location. If you are in the Northwest part of the coutnry it may make mroe sense to order your frame direct from the manufacturer.

Expedition Rafts

Unlike any of their other rafts, Hyside's 196ASBU (7'8" x 16') has a three-stage bow/stern rise and is one of the best handling boats for big desert rivers like the Yampa, Colorado, Green, etc. The beautiful hull shape of the 196 is a copy of the classic Italian-made Caligari Eagle, one of boat designer Vladimir Kovalik's best works. The 196H standard floor has been taken out of the regular line-up of Hysides, but is available by special order as long as you are not in a hurry.
The current model has an integral floor, no longer a lace-in one. This helps keep the price and weight down though it also generally slows the bail time. We feel the super-wide interior makes the 196 series better for multi-week trips than the AIRE 156, and it's handling is pretty comparable. The new ASBU model is built with incredibly strong, stiff, double-weave 1260 denier thread, giving you a 2520 denier scrim. Urethane bottom chafers, six lift handles, and seven beefy D-rings on each model. The price shown below may be still be the late-2008 number, so we will confirm that soon.

* Pricing on AIRE expedition boats includes a $300 allowance toward motor freight, and/or any accessories you may need with your boat. And remember that additional price breaks are available for payments made via cashier's check. See AIRE pricing info above in italics.
Our other expedition rafts are the AIRE 176R and 186R, monster rafts with huge tubes and load capacities for multi-week trips. The 176R can still squeeze down "normal" rivers at higher flows, but the 183R (also shown as the "186R" in some of AIRE's literature) is definitely only for large waterways like the Colorado.
These are only available sporadically and you generally don't get much color choice. For now AIRE is only making blue and yellow in either model, but it's rare they will even have both colors. The 176 and 186 feature six air chambers on the main hull rather than four, for maximum safety. Two thwarts are standard; extras are $190 each. You can easily put five thwarts in the 183R but few people would rig one of these as a paddle raft. That usually only happens on a couple of Canada's giant runs like the Frazier. You will need three men and a boy scout to lift these rafts. There are six lift handles mounted to the hull which helps, and we will be happy to throw in some more of our removable ones, too (see Accessories section).
These rafts look just like the red one shown here, but with the two extra lift handles and the valves in a different location. And again, only blue and yellow are available, no reds.

Non Self-Bailing Rafts

Also known as "bucket boats", since anyone running whitewater with one of these will need a bail bucket. For anglers or river runners who mostly boat easy or non-continuous rivers, the extra bulk and expense of a self-bailer does not always make sense. The four rafts below are plenty durable and roll up smaller than their bailing equivalents.
The demand for these, especially in larger sizes, is pretty limited so we're only listing a few here. We feature two larger sizes of Hyside Livery rafts below, and two smaller Tributary models. All four of these models are often not available, but we do try to stock the T-12. We never stock the other three.
Starting at the smallest is AIRE's 9'6" Tributary ($1,379; includes a $69 allowance toward UPS or accessories) which. Other than the lack of an inflatable ffloor, this is identical to the self-bailing version T-9.5 SB up above, but it weighs less of course. This non-bailing mini boat can still run low flow class IV no problem if you don't mind swinging a bucket occasionally. With it's very low 57 pound weight, this would be a great little boat for people doing hike-in runs where their gear needs to be carried a mile or two. This model does have three main air chambers, but only one thwart. There is no photo because it looks exactly the same as what's shown above the expedition rafts. Measurements, etc. are below in the spec block below.

Next is the AIRE T-12 Standard floor Tributary. * The $1,899 price on the T-12 Standard Floor includes a $95 allowance toward UPS, and/or any accessories you may need with it. Please note that these come in light blue now, not the red (which was prone to fading, and therefore discontinued) shown in the photo just below.
This raft comes standard with three removable thwarts, and has ten D-rings and three main air chambers. A T-12 is ideal for four to six paddlers, though it would certainly not be ideal for six people that average 200 pounds apiece. Keep the payload to under 1000 pounds and you'll be fine. It will make a sweet li'l oar boat too, and gives fly fishermen who don't really need the self bailing feature of the Puma and SuperPuma a lighter, less expensive alternative. We say this because very few anglers fish on rivers harder than class II or low-flow class III, which this boat can easily handle. It would be hard to find any boat of this size that rolls up as small as the T-12 does, so that is an important detail if you need to take your raft on a float plane. This model can be used on more difficult pool & drop runs if you don't mind bailing the water out. Note that unlike the self-bailing Tributary rafts and cat tubes, the two non-bailing rafts do not come with lift handles. We can provide a removable set for $14.
The T-12 has urethane bladders and Leafield valves just like the American-made AIRE rafts, and has all welded seams. The already reasonable 87 pound weight listed will drop down to a scant 76 pounds if you remove the thwarts. Most people don't need the rear ones if they are using a frame, and often the front one is replaced by a skidgaurd area on the frame, or the padded top of a drybox.

Up in size from the T-12 are Hyside's two largest Livery rafts. Since Hysides are laboriously hand glued hypalon, they tend to run quite a bit more than the equivalent sized self bailing Tributary rafts above.
Both Liverys only come with two D-rings, one on each end, so remember this if you plan to row. For mounting a frame you will need to purchase & glue on a minimum of four more. These models do come with four lift handles, but these are not practical for frame tie-down. Occasionally Hyside will have Liverys with six D-rings for an additional upcharge.
The thirteen foot 158LU ($2,719) Livery has only two main air chambers, but the 14' 163LU ($3,149) has four plus the two thwarts. Both come with a full five year warranty.
Either Livery model can be used on class IV water with no problem as long as someone in your crew doesn't mind swinging a bail bucket. To be sure, if you will do a lot of advanced level boating you should opt for a selfbailer, but if the majority of your use will be easy rivers or fly-in fishing trips these are worth considering.
In the bad old days Hysides used to be notorious for grabbing submerged rocks and having the stickiest bottom of any rubber boat, but for many years now they have had urethane coated tube bottoms. This helps quite a lot and gives them additional toughness and abrasion resistance too.

A Word About Shipping Fees

Rafts 135 pounds & up (with the box, these go over 150 lbs. - UPS's upper weight limit) are shipped motor freight collect by USF Reddaway, and it is tough to give exact freight quotes (especially if you are east of the Rockies) but we can at least give you an estimate. You pay actual rates only, no more, no matter how your boat is shipped.