raft mterial used in self-bailing whitewater rafts from Jack's Plastic Welding

Information about raft hull construction

Main hull fabric is made in Israel. Believe it or not, these guys have the best coated fabric product engineers around. They make the urethane coated fabrics for Sotar, and they make other fabrics for many other domestic manufacturers. We purchase their PVC coated fabrics because of the best coating adhesion and air holding properties in the industry. The fabric is supple, and it rolls up nicely. It makes a strong (because of the coating adhesion) light weight boat. It is an 1100 denier 7 oz. base cloth material. The double layer material on the bottom is from Germany. It has an incredibly heavy weave and has double the rip strength as the main hull material. So that makes the bottom of the raft 3 X more resistant to tear than the rest of the hull. The main purpose of the double bottom material is to keep rebar and car bodies from ripping through the main hull material of your boat. It also protects the inflatable floor material. The double bottom material is 2000 denier material and 12.6 Oz per sq. yard of material.

We also use a 35 oz German pvc coated fabric with a 10 oz per squ yard base fabric, and on occasion we make boats and industrial products with a 40 oz pvc and elvaloy compound that has a 13 oz base fabric and an incredibly tight weave for such a heavy fabric. (Another example of great industrial fabric engineering) If you want the extra heavy duty, you will give up roll ability, and you will add cost. In our oppinion, it is often not worh the extra expense and lesser convienience If you are willing to take care of your boat.

So now it is time to talk philosophy. Why would we not want to make our boats out of the heaviest possible weight fabric?

Answer- It is harder to seal the fabric and keep the air in the boat the heavier the fabric is. Sure there are manufacturers that can use heavier weight fabrics and get the material to seal up better. Our Israeli supplier is one of those. But the material is stiffer, does not roll us as easily, and is more costly, and in our opinion, we do not need that weight in many places on the boat. One of the big ideas of inflatable boats is to have a stiff structure that is light weight and portable. Our combination is the best of all possible worlds. Great abrasion resistance, great puncture resistance light weight easy roll up, and light weight. Plus we back up that claim with a 10 year warranty just to show you we know what we are talking about. With Fast Eddy, you get a light weight boat (94 lbs. for the 13 ft.) a fast hull speed, recessed floor, tunnel effect on the main tubes, no ribs on the inflatable floor, kicked drop stitch, and you get to carry as little water in the boat as any self-bailer out there. This combination gives better acceleration, tracking, and lighter weight. You will be less tired at the end of the day, even when your boat has been bouncing off cliff faces all day long. You will be able to roll it up and store it in a smaller space. You will have less back pain from loading a lighter boat in your vehicle. You can avoid the cost of a trailer because you can load a lighter boat on top of your vehicle.

Consider reading these articles

More care and maintenance- The hardest duty your boat will do- It is not on the river. Protecting your investment

Welding vs. gluing for fabrication http://www.jpwinc.com/pages/faq-weldingvsglueing.html

Materials used in inflatable products http://www.jpwinc.com/pages/materials.html

The hardest duty your inflatable boat does- Here is a hint. It is not in the river

http://www.jpwinc.com/morecandm.htm

How to make inflatable repairs with adhesives http://www.jpwinc.com/pages/reglue.html

Thanks for reading this. We appreciate the research you are doing to make sure that the boat you purchase is right for your needs.

Jack and the crew at JPW- The wild cards of welded inflatable boats. Where purchasing a boat does not need to be a gamble when you go with the team that holds all the cards.

See our newsletter “Jacks or Better- News from the Wildcards at JPW”

http://www.jpwinc.com/JOB11.htm

Order inquiries: shop.jpwinc@gmail.com
Custom & Prototype inquiries: pschoser.jpwinc@gmail.com