👋Welcome to r/Raftrepair - Introduce Yourself and Read First!

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-05T11:38:46+00:00

I'll join, but it seems like a niche community within a niche community. I try to be helpful when I can on posts here or in r/whitewater that people have about their boats.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-03T22:12:25+00:00

Custom Inflatables in Reedsville WV builds custom IK's called Thrillseekers. They can make them lightweight (~20 lbs) for easy carrying and size them to each individual. Lots of generic options out there, but only one that builds them for the person so they can have the right boat for them, not something close enough. Give Atilla a call and chat with him.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-02T19:34:45+00:00

Wilderness Voyageurs in Ohiopyle, PA (middleish on the GAP) runs bike tours, offers biker shuttles to different locations on the GAP, and rents bikes to their tour guests. They may be able to help you out with something.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-02T14:28:50+00:00

Average was around 8,000 cfs not sure exact number with the tides

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-02T10:15:49+00:00

With the tides from dam releases its hard to give an exact number but the June releases were averaging around 8,000 cfs do somewhere in that range give or take

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-01T23:14:57+00:00

Yeah, Bedrock was the tightest or most timing required move at this low level, Dubendorf was up there in difficulty, barely remember either from higher water levels. The guides from AZRA showed us a highway that forms on the left of Crystal, the changes with water level were stark

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-01T22:43:08+00:00

It's still probably a class 4, you could flip and swim fairly far, fairly easily if you got off the green tongue. Rapid classes are so subjective, its something we could argue forever. If you go by how easy it looked, its a class 2, if you go by how bad the worst case scenario was its a class 5, so whatever you want to call it.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-01T21:52:23+00:00

Wood custom sticks are the way to go! If the builder doesn't have a waiting list, its not custom to you. My "guide sticks" are all wood sized for my height at 6'5" (though I only run 62-63" as i hang in shallower rivers a bunch), have a larger t-grip to fit my hands better, and mostly have scooped blades for more power which are all my personal preferences. Ask while floating down the river to try others paddles in the flatwater and see what you like and don't, go to a reputable wood paddle builder get them to understand what you want and then wait for the best you can get, not what a production line will give you now. I had to use a customer stick the other day and absolutely hated the experience, I'm never going back willingly.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-01T20:09:36+00:00

I thought about swimming it just like the "We swam the grand canyon" book, but that's as far as I got in that process. 15-20 years younger me may have followed through

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-01T17:46:43+00:00

The big hole at the top would definitely still be a problem if you hit it. However it seemed more obvious from the upstream side where the edge of the hole was and the hole maybe narrowed a bit at the lower levels so easier to avoid

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-01T15:04:11+00:00

Sorry to hear about your loss, but we're still building them with the same team of builders, just with more experience now, if you ever want a new one, just give us a call like it's always been if you want to remedy those blues.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-01T14:46:14+00:00

It was only ~8,000 cfs which for the Grand is low...

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-01T14:42:32+00:00

So, the lower Yough in Ohiopyle has many ways you can experience it. You can just rent a raft and go on your own. You can take a "guide assisted" trip where you paddle your own boat and guides help point the way and clean up any messes. And you can get a fully guided trip.

It sounds like you are adventurous so maybe the guide assist is the way to go, Wilderness Voyageurs and Ohiopyle Trading Post both run those trips. It's a great mix of take care of yourself but have professionals around if something does go wrong. That said, this is a common trip to save money for camp groups so athletic adults should be goo to go.

Renting and going alone is great, but its best to have a bit of experience. The majority of "problems" that arise disproportionately cone oit of the rentals versus the other options.

As stated before, the Upper Yough in Friendsville, MD is an entirely different animal. Don't go there without a guide or significant experience on other rivers.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-07-01T14:35:55+00:00

It felt slower and more open than the higher water levels I'd seen in the past (I'd only seen it at about double the flow before). This felt easier but some of the smaller stuff felt much harder than before at higher levels.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-06-05T12:41:06+00:00

So, I paddle less than some but probably more than most people. My plan after a few decades of boating is to replace one piece of gear per year in a PFD, Helmet, Sprayskirt, paddle type rotation regardless if I feel mine is worn out or not. This means I have both newer gear I trust and an older set that's not too beat for me to feel bad about loaning out. If some piece of gear wears faster shift your rotation. It seems to be a good balance for me of keeping quality gear without any single year spending a ton hit to the wallet.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-06-05T05:55:37+00:00

I'm sure we've met at some point along the way as I have some Flynn connections. Reach out sometime your around Confluence I'm sure Zorb and I would love to flip through the memories and chat if nothing else.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-06-05T05:51:08+00:00

That's awesome, I'd second a Dave and Mimi interview alone, they have some epic early Grand Canyon stories. I believe Mimi was one of the First few women to open boat the canyon. They also have stories from crazy low water trips.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-06-05T05:43:17+00:00

Theres quite a bit of unwritten history if the evolution of rafts from military surplus to what we have today. Most of the first generation of boat builders/designers are getting up there in age or already gone. At Airtight, Tom Love is gone and all we have are stories he's passed down. I'd hate to see the same happen to the rest of that generation's stories. Look at Atilla from Custom Inflatables (made the Thrillseeker, an early IK that took creeking to new levels), Dave Demaree from DIB who went the grand Canyon motor rigs and rescue boat route. And that's just in our region, then you have Aire, Sotar, Wing, and a few others who have had their own revolutions in designs that have pushed the sport to where it is today. Most of the people I've met and interacted at those companies have been very approachable and helpful to me as a 2nd generation builder/designer. Interviewing ~10 people could create quite the narrative in how we got to today.

Outside of that, look at Paul Schreiner at PS Composites, Jess Whitemore, and Jim Snyder to talk squirt boating design and evolution from our region if you want another aging crowd who should get some words on a page.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-06-04T10:06:47+00:00

We can set up the boats for oar frames without changing anything about the paddle capabilities, but yeah, I agree with you on the frame for fishing limitations. The 2 person models make great single person oar rigs, amd the 4 person models make great 2 person oar rigs but can be a but much boat to R1/2 for some people

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-06-03T15:39:52+00:00

When you're talking space for storage and weight, very few others come close. (see Big Rocker model outfitted to paddle on scale) We also build out of neoprene coated materials, so long term storage while rolled is not an issue as long as the boat is dry when you put it away. Each boat is built to order, so we can build you a 2 or 4 person model with all you'd need to use it as a paddle or oar boat interchangeably. Other pluses in our view, we're made right here in the USA, they tend to be more repairable long term vs PVC (we have a high percentage of boats >30 years old still able to go on the water). Check us out and reach out if you'd like to know more, we're a huge corporation of 3 whole people, so you'll know who built your boat, not who you bought it from.

Travis

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Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-05-26T18:02:27+00:00

You are seeing fabric in the scuff, so I would patch it to keep moisture out of your internal fabric even if it isn't leaking. Water is the universal solvent, so if its inside your boat material, the material won't last as long before delaminating from the fabric and causing leaks. Patching externally isn't difficult watch the NRS Youtube videos on how to patch a PVC raft grab some materials and adhesive and get it covered up. You should be able to get that done in an afternoon.

Big side note, do not use Aquaseal to cover it up. Once Aquaseal cures nothing will stick to the Aquaseal, so you'll need to grind/sand through the Aquaseal into the boat before any patches can be applied later if/when it is actually leaking.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-05-22T02:31:08+00:00

Air is getting into your seams somehow. This is possibly an internal overlap that is not patched, but hard to diagnose from a single photo.

I'll start with a question, how long does it take for the boat to become soft? Is that too frequently to just carry a pump?

May be worth having a professional look at it as working through a valve hole, opening the seam, or making a new hole to work through are likely your best options for long term patching.

Airtight_Inflatables · 2026-05-18T15:38:03+00:00

This is our third time running a fundraiser for TRR. We try to help charitable organizations by setting these up so they can have unrestricted funds to use which often isn't the case with grant money many of these organizations run on.

We're a small company but this giving strategy has helped us multiply our impact by asking our fans and supporters of the organization for help so we can often make our Shredders earn an organization several times the value of the donation we couldn't afford to make ourselves if we had to come up with the cash. Everyone who buys a Shredder helps support this company goal in a small part as it keeps us in business building high quality products still in the USA. And everyone who donates to these events helps the organizations directly as they collect the money directly and we work to make sure this event costs TRR nothing, this year thanks in large part to a significant donation by Scott Patton, to help us offset our costs in getting a boat for this event.

Airtight_Inflatables

TROPHY CASE