Packraft comparison Alpacka vs. Pristine Ventures.

[JeffRaines]

I currently have an Alpacka Caribou that I love.

With that said, I have a wife and kid that come along on backcountry fishing trips with me, and it’s a little bit of a buzzkill to have only one able to use the boat at a time(with the kid)... and fishing ain’t the easiest with a kid in that small of quarters either.

Here soon I’m gonna dump the cash on a bigger packraft. I realize that it’ll weigh more but that’s fine. I don’t usually lug the raft and my hunting stuff in with me so it’ll be just like lugging in my hunting stuff.

I’m between the Alpacka Forager and the Pristine Ventures PR49. Weight and pricing are close enough between the two(the Alpacka edges out the PR in weight, but the PR49 edges out the Alpacka in price and value).

I know a few of you(Luke being one of them) probably have experience with both rafts... would you mind sharing your opinion with me? Durability differences?

Like I said, raft will be mostly used on pack in trips to alpine lakes. Float hunts and trips aren’t out of the question in the future but for now that’ll be it’s use.

Thank you.

 

[CoolRain8]

No replies on this? I'm surprised!

 

[crich]

No replies on this? I'm surprised!

I agree. Hard to judge these with the listed carrying capacities most likely being conservative. All the tie downs on the PR has me leaning that direction plus material thickness.

 

[Remhunter]

Pristine Ventures is where it is at!

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Like many others, I won't consider anything but PV...I'm on Team Larry. Have both an Alpacka & PR49HD.

The 60-inch Club rafts and game bags are unauthorized copies of Larry Bartlett designs.

Troy Sessions’ lack of credibility and knowledge in both of these industries leaves him with no choice but to duplicate the intellectual properties of someone who has successfully researched and developed Alaskana utilitarian tools of the trade from scratch. In no way should you or your friends...

pristineventures.com

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Pr49 is a great boat. I’ve hauled moose and caribou with mine. I’d like to get one of his bigger rafts eventually.

 

[Clarktar]

You would be hard pressed to find better customer service, availability, or integrity in a company than Pristine Ventures (Larry B.).

I been using the PR49 for several years now. No complaints.

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[crich]

Like many others, I won't consider anything but PV...I'm on Team Larry. Have both an Alpacka & PR49HD.

The 60-inch Club rafts and game bags are unauthorized copies of Larry Bartlett designs.

Troy Sessions’ lack of credibility and knowledge in both of these industries leaves him with no choice but to duplicate the intellectual properties of someone who has successfully researched and developed Alaskana utilitarian tools of the trade from scratch. In no way should you or your friends...

pristineventures.com

Do you mind elaborating what you like about PV vs alpacka since you have experience with both?

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I own both. The PR49HD is not something I "pack" and consider it a designated mode of transportation because of it's weight. Great for a drift trip for moose, bear, hog and other hunts. The Alpacka is much lighter and easier to pack...great for those hunts on small lake islands, fishing and/or crossing deeper water obstacles.



This is my first wild whitewater trial of the PR49HD as shown on Facebook.



This is the same run from a different perspective.




I crack myself up.

 

[Thunder]

Interesting regarding the drama with 60” club. It’s looking like Troy improved on the game bags. The rafts may look similar but look at the weights. Apples to oranges.

what if only one company could make a spoon? Or one company can make a tire? Good grief.

I have a pr 49 and like it. I haven’t used it much and have no comparison to other brands etc. but it’s tough as hell and doesn’t weigh a bunch.

 

[slatty]

Just ordered and am eagerly awaiting my alpacka ranger. I would imagine for most of us we are excited to finally have a backcountry boat, and either will serve us well. I like that alpacka is giving options now of material thickness, and I ordered the 420d which is more consistent with what PV offers. Don't listen to me because I have no experience in this arena but they both seem like excellent products.

 

[Rokwiia]

I am looking at getting a packraft but have no hands-on experience with them. All of my energy has been spent evaluating various Alpacka models.

I'm a bit surprised there are almost no videos on YT about Pristine Ventures packrafts. A few show the PV floating on a stream but I couldn't find any in-depth reviews of their models.

Why is that?

 

[Tripp238]

I have done a few trips with these two on the same river systems and it is a preference for me for sure. Particularly on one bear hunt with fishing I found a few pros and cons overall.

PR49- More room overall, a place to put a beer can, and ability to stand and fish if desired. I just wouldn’t climb over a mountain to raft out on a trip.

Alpacka Mule and Ranger- the mule went over more shallow areas without having to bottom out on me. It packs way smaller. I am able to keep a back up rafts stored in the tubes and not even know it’s there. Faster/easier to inflate. And easy to travel with if going through some other terrain.

I am adding some tie down spots on the alpackas to figure out the beer holding. The ranger has the inflatable floor but nothing i would try to stand on. We had high banks that I would’ve liked to stand and float to look over.

Some pictures for reference on packing them up in the field waiting for a flight out. The mule fits perfect in a Kifaru Native lid. The other raft is a Chugach Mountain Sports raft.

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[HoneyDew]

I have done a few trips with these two on the same river systems and it is a preference for me for sure. Particularly on one bear hunt with fishing I found a few pros and cons overall.

PR49- More room overall, a place to put a beer can, and ability to stand and fish if desired. I just wouldn’t climb over a mountain to raft out on a trip.

Alpacka Mule and Ranger- the mule went over more shallow areas without having to bottom out on me. It packs way smaller. I am able to keep a back up rafts stored in the tubes and not even know it’s there. Faster/easier to inflate. And easy to travel with if going through some other terrain.

I am adding some tie down spots on the alpackas to figure out the beer holding. The ranger has the inflatable floor but nothing i would try to stand on. We had high banks that I would’ve liked to stand and float to look over.

Some pictures for reference on packing them up in the field waiting for a flight out. The mule fits perfect in a Kifaru Native lid. The other raft is a Chugach Mountain Sports raft.

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If you had to choose between the mule and the ranger for your general all purpose packable raft which would you go if? If you could only have one.

 

[Tripp238]

If only one, I would stick with the ranger. Then I would know I can carry almost any animal with gear. Moose being a little under capacity limit but not by much.

It fits my dog and myself for easier trips and I never find myself using my white water skirt on the mule because I have a classic llama if I were to go on rapids. Packed it is not that much bigger than the mule. The ranger has more convince the tie down locations off the shelf, even though they are easy to add more.

Downside, the ranger tends to get stuck in water under 4” more often than my mule. Even though the tubes inflate more, it has more surface area to cause friction on bottom. And I would tape the bottom holes on the ranger(not factory on mules) because heavy packs on the floor can cause water to go over the inflatable floor. And wet your gear.

It would not be an easy choice because solo, I am a huge fan of the mule. And I have no desire to have the Forager over either of the others. The extra foot doesn’t seem enough to sacrifice weight/bulk and less maneuverable.


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[Wrench]

My first years in Alaska were 2000-2001. Larry was pimping his experience at that time. I bought gear based on his experiences at that time and was very satisfied. Now, 20 years later I can't imagine he's forgotten what didn't work.

We watched the "failed" tag bag material damage control. That was a major problem for a small company with a niche product trying to make a living.

He came out square and honest and made a solid effort to make it right.

Keep the above in mind when making choices. There are a lot of similarities between products that cater to our sport....but there are a lot of differences between owners of the companies. Spend your bucks to keep us progressing.

 

[AKDoc]

I have a PR-49HD and a Kork, and they both have served well for my intended purposes since I got them from LB several years ago...from day use to hauling moose to extended floats. Most important for me, neither has ever failed me in any way on extremely remote 10-day floats that I do every year...just did a hundred-mile remote float a month ago with my Kork (and already booked for next year). In addition, I have always found LB to be completely responsive to any questions, and always direct and honest, which I value.

 

[Ctb124]

If only one, I would stick with the ranger. Then I would know I can carry almost any animal with gear. Moose being a little under capacity limit but not by much.

It fits my dog and myself for easier trips and I never find myself using my white water skirt on the mule because I have a classic llama if I were to go on rapids. Packed it is not that much bigger than the mule. The ranger has more convince the tie down locations off the shelf, even though they are easy to add more.

Downside, the ranger tends to get stuck in water under 4” more often than my mule. Even though the tubes inflate more, it has more surface area to cause friction on bottom. And I would tape the bottom holes on the ranger(not factory on mules) because heavy packs on the floor can cause water to go over the inflatable floor. And wet your gear.

It would not be an easy choice because solo, I am a huge fan of the mule. And I have no desire to have the Forager over either of the others. The extra foot doesn’t seem enough to sacrifice weight/bulk and less maneuverable.


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Hey I can’t dm but post on here if you want me to contact you, I have some swaro 10x42 nls for sale nib

 

[Tripp238]

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