Great Video, We use chicken lines on our Phat Cat, 24 inch tubes makes it tough to get into except from the front or back. Also the lines when tight are great for stowing extra paddles. BTW we use 1 inch tubular webbing for our lines.

Good to hear some dialog regarding pros & cons of not having vs. using lines. Also finally... somebody else doing the line attachments advocating the 1/2 grapevine knot in a constricting slip to D-rings. I do the grapevines at both ends... boat relatively topped off, go thru D-Rings same sequence/direction, wet lines first. So the 1/2 double fisherman does not weld down constriction wise on circumference of D-ring... you can add a spacer or go loop-2-D connection then cinch the knot. The way you are using munter-hitch and 1/2 hitching instead of tight mule tie is a good system. However, if I was going the munter-hitching... I'd do port side 1 grapevine on bow then munter-hitch @ stern and do opposite on starboard side munter hitch @ bow. This provides you painters without untying grapevines. Hope this makes sense. Interestingly, on my rentals = NO LINES. Reasons: entrapment or injury liability, plus better/faster clean-up & inspections with no mold/mildew in storage scenarios. Guided Tips or running Solo: Nearly always use them, and yes --- tight lines. I like to fid the lines inside climb-spec tubular webbing... super-strong/reliable, nicer on cold wet hands, easier to deal w/fishing tackle, looks nice, no sawing, lasts longer, stays tighter. Hope all is well in your camp Zach. Raining/sleeting/snowing here and getting the last of my Moose float hunting rafts back in. Tomorrow I am SWAB - LOL.

I have switched to 1" tubular webbing. Less stretch, lays flatter on the tubes, and actually threads through the D rings quicker.

Great overview! If you get the rope wet before you go to tighten it up you'll be able to get it even tighter.

I just re-watched this video a few times as I practiced on my raft in the garage and switched playback to half speed to get a better look at the hitch and it was informative and hilarious! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Great notes and guidance as always, Zach. The risk/reward balance is somethign to consider, to be sure. There is a slight chance of emcumbrance in the line - but less if it's tight, as you recommend. I've been using perimeter lines on every boat I've owned since the 80's. To some degree for the benefit of swimmers and self-rescue. But far more importantly for handling the boat during portages and lining. If you run much class V, you will have to carry. On very challenging rivers, you'll often find yourselve in very precarious stances where even the portage is dangerous. The ability to grab the perimeter line and shift the boat a few feet at a time over boulders from any side of the boat is a huge advantage. Last year, when ordering my custom SOTAR, I decided to leave off front "corner" d-rings. I like to keep the sides of the boat clean for paddlers; they otherwise complain about scraping knuckles on d-rings and valves if misplaced. So I had a perimeter line around the back 3/4s of the boat - but not on the front quarter. When moving the boat - say around Lumsden Falls on Cherry Creek, we missed this line. I reserved an upgrade time at SOTAR and had them add d-rings (and a couple of mid-boat footcups), and installed a tight, new perimeter line around the entire loop again. It was an immmediate improvement in handling the boat onshore. I use 1" tubular webbing, which lays flatter on the sides of the boat than round line. Perimeter lines arent' for everyone, and pose some, slight risk. If you run class V and have to portage regularly, you will find them an indispensible advantage.

We have had success with using tubular webbing. we dont tie directly to any D ring, rather just make a loop with the webbing. more or less do a truckers hitch and daisy chain to get it tight, yet slip knot to adjust tightness later. soaking the webbing in water prior to install will help prevent stretch later. Taking some air out of the raft so its squishy for the install can help to get it tight as well.

You addressed pretty much all of the key points that I've learned over the years, Bravo! Rafting commercially, we would dump our one inch webbing into a bucket of water. If you wet a rope for tying a perimeter line, this method is probably better than just spraying your rope with a hose because it fully saturates your webbing or rope. We would also create double loops (for lack of better words) around each d-ring so that each section of webbing (between d -ring to d -ring) would have its own tension points. This mostly worked well over the years, but we would sometimes get slack in our webbing in particular sections of the perimeter line, but not all of it which is a plus. The only downside is that you can't tighten quickly like with your trucker's hitch situation. These boats took heavy abuse though, and I only saw this problem intermittently. For the most part it worked well! Have you tied perimeter lines this way? And if so, how did they fair?

I'm a novice but the first run we took down deso, we just used cam straps. I've retired my old climbing rope and will give that a try this next year, it's dynamic so it may stretch too much. I went with the single fisherman's knots on the stern, but in the front I just did an overhand knot on each end and then a camstrap to connect them to make it easier to adjust the tension. I'll let you know how that works out.

When I first started rafting 15 years ago, I go the line caught on a of a large branch. I diidn't have a knife and it too a while to get it untied. Even though I bought a knife, I was still scared of using a permiter line. I started using a perimenter line about 5 years ago after taking guide training on the Kern River. I use 1 inch tubular webing for the line as well. It is tieed with a truckers hitch in the middle of the boat. I have only had to adjust it once after the first year. It says tight against the boat so it doesn't cause entraments and doesn't get snaged on branches. It is a huge benfit in two ways. One is it makes it much faster to pull your self into the boat. The other is when you are stuck you can really grab the line and yank the boat off. I like the truckers hitch because it isn't tied to any one D ring so it self adjust when the raft is pumped up but it has enough friction that the knot says in the same place even when deflating and inflating, the raft like I do.

nice work zach. thanks

east coast paddle rafter here. for paddle cats or paddle rafts, i use, and most commonly see others using, cam straps in a box shape. you can also use multiple boxes, center, bow and stern, depending on boat size.

I use NRS cam straps on my raft, they cinch down nice and tight. I like having something to grab onto if I'm rowing solo and get tossed, and if the lines are tight, I can use it to help get back in.

Excellent job

If you pin a boat, its nice to be able to tie into the perimeter line to haul on. It distributes force to all the d-rings. Use nylon rope instead of polypro rope. Nylon is less stretchy when wet.

I understand your theory for tying into the d-rings front and rear. I paddle north east class 4-5, and have done boat repair for a few companies. We don't tie to d-rings. We tie the rope ends together to spread the load through out all of the d-rings all the way around the boat. When you spend your nights repairing d-rings on boats after guiding all day, you'll understand. Definitely get rope wet before you tie your knots.

Hi this is BO in New Orleans and we were in Pidgeon Forge Tenn this and white water rafting, we had the misfortune of flipping out of the boat. four of us. I felt that if we had a perimeter rope would have had something ot hold on to, after watching your video convinced. I really think our guide was not that experienced, she started May 10, 2021

Strap works has a double sided cam buckle. Its called the "twocam". It works good with tubular webbing. Easily tighten both ends. No knots.

Cam straps rock for prem lines! Make a long one. That's how I roll.

I run catarafts, so never use a perimeter line! Great suggestions on wetting the rope, install lightly inflated, etc. All will result in a tighter line which is good. Seen too many droopy lines as an entrapment hazard. Also seen some good installations with tubular webbing and even a cam strap to tighten. I like the the idea of being able to tighten easily. Which episode debates the use of "tails" on a cat?!

I use the perimeter line as an moveable anchor point.

What were the 2 knots called

Use polyester, not nylon. Nylon stretches considerably when wet.

The tighter the line the harder it is for someone in the water to grab.

I've never understood the use of perimeter lines. I've asked around and nobody can give me a solid reason to use them. Seems more a case of a traditional way to rig a raft rather than serving a good purpose. If I were to run a line to provide more places to grab the raft in addition to handles, d-rings, frame, etc. I'd just run it from d-ring to d-ring on the sides and not go all the way around the bow and stern. Those areas just get in the way and there is no way to get it tight enough there.

Funny little internet show on controversial things

Slowwwww down. I can’t see your hands when you do this.

One good thing with sotar you can add or take away D rings , your decision when you order a raft , no need to bash sotar , very unprofessional.