White Water Rafts
Manufacturer: RMR
Product ID: white-water-rafts
Price:
$3,575.00
Overview
Hands up the best deal in 14' footer white water rafts. Please phone in your order; this white water raft cannot go by UPS, but UPS rates are the only method our shopping cart calculates. Call us at 925-820-BOAT to place your order. Free shipping to commercial addresses in the lower 48.
Rocky Mountain rafts and catarafts (a.k.a. RMR) are a relatively new product for us, as well as being fairly new to the rafting industry. Many folks who bought these over the winter haven't used them much yet, so we don't have a lot of feedback and have not piloted one ourselves so far. Although there are many imported pvc brands on the market, with the exception of AIRE's Tributary white water rafts line most have traditionally been glued rather than welded, and glue leads to eventual seam failures. Even if the better glued brands hold up for ten to fifteen years, there will still come a day when you have to put a large quantity of pvc in a landfill. Rocky Mountain whitewater boats now become the second brand with welded seams, floor I-beams, D-rings, and bulkheads. In addition to the main seam overlaps, RMR also welds seam tape over both the interior and exterior side of each tube joint. This is something that a few pvc boat manufacturers don't seem to bother with, yet the lack of seam tape quite often means their inflatables have air retention that is less than stellar, especially as those boats age. Not so with RMR white water rafts - the extra step of adding seam tape to the interior prevents air wicking along the exterior edges, and the outside seam tape makes it even more reliable.
Individual pieces of the Rocky Mountain boats are not cut out one at a time with hand-traced cookie cutter patterns and scissors. Instead they are sliced out en masse with computer controlled band cutters like the AIRE's and Tributary's, and by foregoing much of the usual hand labor the cost to produce each raft or cat tube goes down. We are glad to see someone has taken the reigns to provide an extremely economical alternative to the many glued pvc inflatables out there. There are those folks who either cannot quite afford an AIRE Tributary boat, or who feel they would rather not have a bladderized inflatable for whatever reason. We would point out that AIRE's technology (they use the same manufacturing process for both the Tributary whie water rafts imports and the U.S.-made AIRE line) is well proven, and that the Trib's remain far easier to roll/fold up than the Rocky Mountain equivalents. On the other hand, the Tributary's run 23 to 30% more than the cost of the R.M.R's. Making boating affordable gets more people on the river.
Most sizes of the RM rafts have ten stainless D-rings outside (& two more facing inward at the bow and stern), and six of these D-ring patches also have lift handles. Two removable thwarts and are standard; a third one runs $125. The base fabric inside the 33 ounce pvc is a very strong 2000 denier polyester, and wrap-up layers on the underside of each raft toughen them up even more - though as mentioned at the end of the first paragraph those extra layers also make any raft that has them a bear to roll up. RMR uses the low profile Leafield C-7 valves throughout.
One of the most surprising features of the self bailing RMR boats is that they have lace-in floors, not permanently mounted ones. Should something happen to your floor, your can unlace it if you have the time, and UPS it to RMR instead of trying to ship the whole boat on a truck line. Laced floors cost far more to produce, but they have the benefit of draining a white water raft quicker than glued ones can. It is quite unusual to find a laced floor on a raft of this low price.
Warranties on all RMR boats are five years. The standard colors for 2012 are blue or red, with light gray interiors. We may not always have both colors. If you want to know the lead time on your RMR 14, email us your zip code and we'll give you a close idea. The worst case should be five business days.
The 14' self bailing RM raft is a generous 6'10" wide like AIRE's Tributary fourteen footer, and it has 20" side tubes. All Rocky Mountain white water rafts have four main chambers, plus the two thwarts & floor. The 2011 14' RMR weighed 162 pounds, and due to some changes we expect the 2012 to be 2 - 3 pounds lighter. We know this is a heavy fourteen footer, but all that extra reinforcing material comes at a price. There are six lift handles, which certainly helps hoist the beast. Note that this raft has to be shipped via motor freight, not UPS, and having it sent to a residential address can get very expensive. commercial addresses are always preferred whenever possible, especially since the driver will not leave the raft at your house if you are not home. And they will charge a re-delivery fee (minimum $85) if this does occur.
RMR 14 SB White Water Raft Free Shipping for Commercial (non-residential) destinations in the lower 48. Can also be picked up at the shipper's nearest hub.
Rocky Mountain rafts and catarafts (a.k.a. RMR) are a relatively new product for us, as well as being fairly new to the rafting industry. Many folks who bought these over the winter haven't used them much yet, so we don't have a lot of feedback and have not piloted one ourselves so far. Although there are many imported pvc brands on the market, with the exception of AIRE's Tributary white water rafts line most have traditionally been glued rather than welded, and glue leads to eventual seam failures. Even if the better glued brands hold up for ten to fifteen years, there will still come a day when you have to put a large quantity of pvc in a landfill. Rocky Mountain whitewater boats now become the second brand with welded seams, floor I-beams, D-rings, and bulkheads. In addition to the main seam overlaps, RMR also welds seam tape over both the interior and exterior side of each tube joint. This is something that a few pvc boat manufacturers don't seem to bother with, yet the lack of seam tape quite often means their inflatables have air retention that is less than stellar, especially as those boats age. Not so with RMR white water rafts - the extra step of adding seam tape to the interior prevents air wicking along the exterior edges, and the outside seam tape makes it even more reliable.
RMR White Water Rafts Production Methods
Individual pieces of the Rocky Mountain boats are not cut out one at a time with hand-traced cookie cutter patterns and scissors. Instead they are sliced out en masse with computer controlled band cutters like the AIRE's and Tributary's, and by foregoing much of the usual hand labor the cost to produce each raft or cat tube goes down. We are glad to see someone has taken the reigns to provide an extremely economical alternative to the many glued pvc inflatables out there. There are those folks who either cannot quite afford an AIRE Tributary boat, or who feel they would rather not have a bladderized inflatable for whatever reason. We would point out that AIRE's technology (they use the same manufacturing process for both the Tributary whie water rafts imports and the U.S.-made AIRE line) is well proven, and that the Trib's remain far easier to roll/fold up than the Rocky Mountain equivalents. On the other hand, the Tributary's run 23 to 30% more than the cost of the R.M.R's. Making boating affordable gets more people on the river.
Rocky Mountain Rafts White Water Rafts Hardware
Most sizes of the RM rafts have ten stainless D-rings outside (& two more facing inward at the bow and stern), and six of these D-ring patches also have lift handles. Two removable thwarts and are standard; a third one runs $125. The base fabric inside the 33 ounce pvc is a very strong 2000 denier polyester, and wrap-up layers on the underside of each raft toughen them up even more - though as mentioned at the end of the first paragraph those extra layers also make any raft that has them a bear to roll up. RMR uses the low profile Leafield C-7 valves throughout.
White Water Rafts Self Bailing
One of the most surprising features of the self bailing RMR boats is that they have lace-in floors, not permanently mounted ones. Should something happen to your floor, your can unlace it if you have the time, and UPS it to RMR instead of trying to ship the whole boat on a truck line. Laced floors cost far more to produce, but they have the benefit of draining a white water raft quicker than glued ones can. It is quite unusual to find a laced floor on a raft of this low price.
Warranties on all RMR boats are five years. The standard colors for 2012 are blue or red, with light gray interiors. We may not always have both colors. If you want to know the lead time on your RMR 14, email us your zip code and we'll give you a close idea. The worst case should be five business days.
RMR White Water Rafts Specifics
The 14' self bailing RM raft is a generous 6'10" wide like AIRE's Tributary fourteen footer, and it has 20" side tubes. All Rocky Mountain white water rafts have four main chambers, plus the two thwarts & floor. The 2011 14' RMR weighed 162 pounds, and due to some changes we expect the 2012 to be 2 - 3 pounds lighter. We know this is a heavy fourteen footer, but all that extra reinforcing material comes at a price. There are six lift handles, which certainly helps hoist the beast. Note that this raft has to be shipped via motor freight, not UPS, and having it sent to a residential address can get very expensive. commercial addresses are always preferred whenever possible, especially since the driver will not leave the raft at your house if you are not home. And they will charge a re-delivery fee (minimum $85) if this does occur.
