RAFT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:
There are two types of whitewater raft design.

“Conventional” Rafts
River Mountain Action uses exclusively the superior “Avon” brand of “Conventional” rafts that offer two important advantages on rivers rated up through Class 4. Their design features a flexible floor that is permanently secured into the bottom of the raft. This permits a quantity of water to remain in the raft to act as ballast and improve the stability of the raft as it negotiates the whitewater rapids. The additional weight also provides even more excitement as the raft crashes through each rapid. The downside is that these rafts occasionally need to have some of the water bailed out with buckets.

“Self Bailing” Rafts
The other style, “Self bailing” rafts, have floors that can best be described as air mattresses. These floors are lashed in place and permit water to flow in and flow out of the raft. As the name implies, there is no need for bailing. These rafts are really an advantage on rivers rated above Class 4 since the more challenging rivers frequently have large rapids one after another and there is insufficient time to manually bail the larger amounts of water involved. The downside of these rafts is that they lack the stability of the conventional rafts, and since they ride higher in the water, the tendency to flip over is increased substantially. People choosing to run Class 5 whitewater are seeking that higher level of excitement. Some outfitters that run all classes of rivers do not wish to maintain two types of rafts so they compromise by using self bailing rafts on the easier rivers. Others outfitters jumped on the bandwagon so they could advertise “State of the Art” equipment.