Wow 12 kg would be a lot to add to the weight of your pack. Didn't realise they were that heavy. Glad I got the raft I have. Thanks for the info.

Thanks for watching. Yes the inflation and pack up is quick. I'm a bit quicker at it now having had some practice. With regards to inflation, it really makes a difference if there is a slight breeze blowing, makes it much easier. When packing up on the trail the raft is generally covered in sand etc, so I always give the raft a good wash down and let it dry properly when I get home, before rolling it back up neatly for storage. Safe travels.

I found this video of someone doing Colo in a kids dingy kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ac-mobGo1-Cwe6M.html The Rapid Raft would be more capable than that so I'm sure it would be fine. Although, as I'm generally going out on my adventures solo I would be pretty cautious about what I tackle. I'd also want to build my skills and experience before getting too over confident.

Yes you can. I first tested that in my "Pack rafting on Lake Parramatta, Sydney Australia" video if you want to see how it worked out. It does make it a bit tricky inflating the raft though.

Yes it was, I'm looking forward to doing more pack raft hikes soon. :)

@@hikerinaustralia awesome! We really enjoy making outdoor videos as well

Hi Peter, thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. I appreciate the feedback. :)

Thanks Susie. I think putting my Thermarest NeoAir XLite Sleeping Pad to sit on also helps with it not sitting too low in the water. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment on my video.

Hey Erik. I know what what you mean... I've been thinking of getting a pack raft for years but know I wouldn't really get a huge amount of use out of it to justify the expense. When I saw this one I was really excited as it ticked all my boxes. While I was out on the water I did run aground on a few rocks and the raft seemed to handle it fine, it certainly seems quite durable. Time will tell. As for comfort I used my sea to summit pillow as a cushion to sit on, as your butt can get cold if you are sitting directly on the raft floor. That seemed to work well. Size was perfect for me. Next time I go out I'll take my full size back pack and see how it handles. If you are careful getting in then you can stay relatively dry. I did find that paddling tended to drip water into the raft. Note that Uncharted Supply suggest using web swim gloves instead of a paddle if you want to go ultralight (which would be ok for short water crossing but not so much for a longer trip). Using the gloves might help with less water dripping in. If the water was particularly cold I'd probably wear my wet weather pants to help keep dry, rather than sit in a puddle of cold water. Note there have been reports of the raft leaking air slowly, which I did notice a bit but didn't seem to be much of a big deal. When I took it out of the water to get around some of the obstacles I'd give it a breath or two of air and it was fine. I think the air loss for me was a combination of a the slow leak and the fact that the air in the raft cooled when it was in the water. Uncharted supply did release a follow up video on how to inflate the raft which I found helpful - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/o7KBorOoqM_cdXk.html You can see another review of the Rapid Raft here kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aMuXkpCDsMDJZ6s.html As I take this out and use the raft, I'll provide further updates here on my channel for those interested in it. As always, thanks for watching and commenting. :)

@@hikerinaustralia thanks for this review and the extra details... Erik asked most of the questions I had, so thanks Erik too 😉. I'd also like to know if you felt it was easy enough to sit upright in the raft? Paddling for any length of time lying back like that leads to sore arms pretty quickly... and a sore back. It looks great though, especially for all that water you've got over on the East Coast.

​@@AmyOutdoors Hi Amy, Yes it was quite comfortable sitting upright as I felt the back of the raft gave a fair amount of support. That being said.... I was a bit sore the next day, but I had put that down to the fact that I haven't done any paddling for ages. I assume being sore was a simple matter of using muscle groups in a way that that I rarely use. I didn't have a huge amount of time for this trip so I only covered about 3 KMs. For short trips like that the raft is perfectly fine. I'll certainly be doing longer trips as time permits, so will keep you posted. It would be interesting to see how someone who kayaks or packrafts regularly would go in this raft. With better paddling technique I'm sure they could travel faster and further.

Thanks! Yes, looking to take it to NZ. Not sure what my schedule will be or if I get much chance to use it, but will certainly try to get out on the water if I can.

I use a cheap "Lifetime Youth Kayak Paddle Black" I picked up at Anaconda for $15 (although I don't think Anaconda sell them anymore) I drilled out some of the rivets and initially used bolts and wing nuts so it can be broken down into 4 pieces rather than just 2. I later replaced the wing nuts with "4PCS Push Snap Button Spring Clips 8mm Button". Now with the spring clips they are easier and faster to connect and disconnect.

I agree, using a foot pump or one of those inflation sacks to pump up a raft would be a pain. That rapid inflation design works a treat. :) Thanks for watching.

Yes, I managed to pick it up early via their indiegogo campaign. I'll make a note of that in the description of my video. Thanks for pointing that out.

Depends on how well you can roll up and neatly seal the end. There always seem to be a slow leak of air but for my trips (typically short. i.e. less than an hour) it isn't an issue. If I'm doing a longer trip, then I do have a short tube that I attach with duct tape to the inflation mouth piece so I can top up as I go if necessarily. That works pretty well and is a pretty simple fix.

@@hikerinaustralia Like in terms of minutes or hours of very light drift paddling. Have you found yourself topping off air every 15-45 minutes 3-4 hours more or less?

@@cj1614 I'd say I top up every 30 - 45 mins (maybe a breath or two of air via the mouth piece). I'm sure I could go longer without topping up, but it is so easy to do, I don't really pay attention to how often I do it. Next time I go for a paddle I'll try to be more conscious of how often I top up and if I really need to. (note we are coming into winter here so might be a while before I'm out on the water again) - If I do a follow up video on that I'll reply to this comment to let you know what I find.

Regarding the paddle, I use a cheap "Lifetime Youth Kayak Paddle Black" I picked up at Anaconda for $15 I drilled out some of the rivets and replaced with bolts and wing nuts so it can be broken down into 4 pieces rather than just 2. www.anacondastores.com/water/paddles/kayak-paddles/lifetime-youth-kayak-paddle/BP90117675 I'm keen to get some of the webbed gloves they mention in one of the Uncharted Supply co videos to see how that goes. I've tried using just my hands to paddle in the raft and it works surprisingly well, so I think the gloves might be a perfect solution for when I don't want to carry the paddles.

I actually took it out again last weekend (yet to edit the video, I'm getting a bit behind). I absolutely love the raft. It really allows me to explore some areas that would be just unreachable by foot. Note: I've mostly only taken it out on flat water lakes and rivers. I've never done any white water rapids in it so can't comment on how well it handles in those situations. I usually travel solo so don't want to push my luck and get into a dangerous situation on the water when all alone. I've also found that my Thermarest NeoAir XLite Sleeping Pad fits nicely in the bottom of the raft and really keeps your butt from getting cold. Check out one of my other videos where I first tried that and tested a few other ideas - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gsyBgtp528W6gZs.html When the raft was first released, there was a fair amount of chatter online about it having a slow leak, but to be honest I've not really had any issue with that. If you follow the instructional video on how to inflate it properly then any air leakage is very minimal. I also find that it is good to inflate the raft then let it sit on the water for a bit (the cold water cools the air inside and it deflates a bit). Once the temperature has stabilised you can add a few more breaths to get it fully inflated. I generally use a cheap paddle that I've modified to break into 4 pieces so it is easy to fit in my pack, although I think it is too short (it is a youth paddle after all) so I tend to get a little bit wet from water splashing off the paddles (could also be due to my lack of technique). I've also bought some webbed swim gloves which work great when the water isn't too cold. You can actually get along pretty quick just paddling with your hands (great as a light weight option, but may not be super comfortable if doing a longer trip) I've got a playlist of #RapidRaft videos if you are interested in seeing more from others - kzfaq.info/sun/PLmFQyxr-rc4Zu-PK2MWgUnjFw73pcZtZe I spent years thinking about getting a pack raft but they were always very expensive and overkill for what I wanted (I'm not interested in doing hard core white water, just wanted something to get me out on the water). I was looking at the Klymit LiteWater Dinghy at one stage but that seems more like a pool toy where you get pretty much soaked. When I saw the rapid raft it was exactly what I had been wanting. Thanks for watching!

@@hikerinaustralia the company should use you 😊

Thanks... one of these pack rafts would have been great on your Onkaparinga Gorge Trek!

@@hikerinaustralia haha yeah you can say that again!!

No crocs this far south. Crocs are all up north. I don't think I'd want to be in an inflatable raft in croc country! :)

Put it to the test yesterday. I went with Aqua-bond paddles. Which paddle do you use?.

Hi Jay, Sorry for the delay in responding. Regarding the paddle, It is a cheap plastic lightweight youth paddle, I got mine from Anaconda (Australian outdoor store) www.anacondastores.com/water/paddles/kayak-paddles/lifetime-youth-kayak-paddle/BP90117675 for only $15 AUD It is actually a two piece paddle, however I drilled out the pop rivets and replaced them with bolts and wing nuts to make it a 4 piece paddle. It is super cheap and packs down small. Thanks for watching and hope you enjoy your Raft!

Hiker in Australia Oh ok gotcha. No worries in the delay. I will check that link out. I ended up getting the AquaBond paddles from REI www.rei.com/product/851476/aqua-bound-manta-ray-posi-lok-kayak-paddle-full-carbon They work out awesome. Especially with the bag I chose to carry the whole thing with by Matador. :)

Not sure what you mean. You mean I went on a pretty short walk on a fire trail but called it a 'hike'? or referring to my use of the work hike (I know in the UK they refer to it as walking or rambling, and in NZ they call it tramping... but the term hike is normal for Australia. :)