I’ll Pack an Alpacka Packraft ***Review Added 10/4/20***

[RDavis27]

My Ranger in the stuff sack and the refill bag weighed right around 11.5 lbs if I remember right.

The Ranger has 3 different denier options for the tubes.
Each option would weigh differently.
210d Nylon/Polyurethane
310d Nylon/PU
420d Nylon/PU

The floor is 840d Nylon/PU


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Thanks

 

[Koby_Paul]

Fun stuff!
View attachment 208519

That is so cool i use a boat to get to my hunting spots all the time also...so handy!

 

[spedwards]

Great looking raft. I looked into getting one for an Alaska Haul road hunt. Had planned on using it to cross the Sag river. Ended up getting my wife pregnant during the pandemic lockdown. Settled for an Elk hunt instead. Still planning on getting the mule in the future. Could not be more excited for the baby in January though.

 

[Carrydaily]

Herd good things about these in a podcast. Wish I had a use for one lol.

 

[Bigbenhunter98]

Thanks for the insight! I've been looking into these

 

[cwashburn]

How much does it weigh?

 

[bard]

can you tell me the difference between the ranger and explorer 42? does the ranger self bail?

 

[Howard Mee]

can you tell me the difference between the ranger and explorer 42? does the ranger self bail?

Yes. The Ranger is self bailing. I .... don’t think I have any photos of the underside and may not have mentioned that. Good point.


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[Howard Mee]

My Ranger in the stuff sack and the refill bag weighed right around 11.5 lbs if I remember right.

The Ranger has 3 different denier options for the tubes.
Each option would weigh differently.
210d Nylon/Polyurethane
310d Nylon/PU
420d Nylon/PU

The floor is 840d Nylon/PU


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[mention]cwashburn [/mention]


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[Bac18]

Never take an unproven weapon into battle!

***Review Added 10/4/20*** Alpacka Packraft Review

Gear check

Who knew...?!? Water could be the key to winning the land race to find new hunting areas.


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Lol

 

[bard]

So I have never been in a packraft. why or why do i not want the self bailing floor. What are the advantages/Disadvantages compared to the open concept. Most use will be hike in lakes for fishing, taking on hunts to cross lakes, and rivers and to hopefully transport meat. float gentle rivers for fishing with and without a kid. Do not see a lot of whitewater in my future unless i run into some on a float hunt.

 

[Howard Mee]

So I have never been in a packraft. why or why do i not want the self bailing floor. What are the advantages/Disadvantages compared to the open concept. Most use will be hike in lakes for fishing, taking on hunts to cross lakes, and rivers and to hopefully transport meat. float gentle rivers for fishing with and without a kid. Do not see a lot of whitewater in my future unless i run into some on a float hunt.

A self bailing boat has holes in the bottom/floor of the boat. Water can go in and out, so you never have to bail out the water. The down side is that your butt can get wet.
That’s the short version. Is that too basic?

 

[bard]

A self bailing boat has holes in the bottom/floor of the boat. Water can go in and out, so you never have to bail out the water. The down side is that your butt can get wet.
That’s the short version. Is that too basic?

nope. just what i was looking for. so the floor will always be full of a bit of water but can not fill up. So a packraft the size of the ranger. Do you ever sit on the very back on the tube itself to paddle in calm water or are you always down in the boat on the seat? I sat in a few kayaks and could not handle my legs being flat all day. Sorry for the rookie questions. LOL don't want to pull the trigger and buy the wrong style or find out it won't suit me.

 

[Howard Mee]

I never tried to sit on the tube at the rear of the boat. I think that would probably feel pretty unstable. You could rotate to your knees pretty easily to change it up.

Regarding wetness. I was on hot weather mostly. The huge temp change from the sun to the water caused the raft to to lose it’s “taughtness”.
I tried to cool it off as much as possible and as long as it held high pressure my butt stayed dry.
Also, the oars dropped a pretty decent amount of water down the oats and down my arms. Partly poor technique and partly just the way it is.

For what you’re talking about, either should be fine. A flat bottom would work fine. My buddy used a solid bottom Alpacka. Mine was self bailing. I bet if you called them, they’d make you whatever you want.


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[PNWkid]

Great review

 

[Howard Mee]

Alpacka has a new ordering system.
(At least I think it’s new)
Looks like it’s nearly 100% custom built to order.
From colors to materials etc


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[aRandySavage]

looks like a useful investment.

 

[Rogueworrior]

Never take an unproven weapon into battle!

***Review Added 10/4/20*** Alpacka Packraft Review

Gear check

Who knew...?!? Water could be the key to winning the land race to find new hunting areas.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Awesome!

 

[Howard Mee]

Awesome!

I’m just glad someone acknowledged that I was having fun and wasn’t actually posing like “captain obvious”


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[fisharizona]

Ive used Alpacka pack rafts (Caribou) on a few fly fishing trips in salt water; They're incredibly durable and easy to inflate/deflate. They can also haul a surprising amount of gear. A great investment if you have access to good water to use them on. Were using them in Mexico at the end of January, I'll post up pics upon return.