Alpacka Raft - Caribou
Alpacka Raft - Caribou
For many years, the only way to carry your gear on large, multi-sport packraft adventures was either inside the boat on the floor, or mounted to the bow. However, in 2011, we changed the game completely when we invented the Cargo Fly internal gear storage system. This design not only kept your gear drier, it also dramatically increased handling and whitewater performance. However, it didn’t solve the problem of carrying large bulky items like bicycles, big game animals, and large packs on the bow.
So we designed the Caribou with the Late Rise Bow, that combines the stability and load carrying ability of a rockerless hull with the whitewater and wave performance of a rockered hull. Unlike anything else on the market, the Late Rise Bow still provides a rocker to shed waves and whitewater, but it moves the beginning of the rocker in front of the bow’s mounted load. The result is a broad stable platform for mounting bulky and heavy items like bicycles that carries them high and keeps them out of the water when paddling. And, the load remains balanced and stable on both water and land.
To keep the weight and bulk at an absolute minimum, while preserving our legendary durability, we utilized the same lightweight 210-denier high count nylon fabric as the Scout and the 840-denier floor featured in our other packrafts. The result is an ultralight, full-size bikeraft or ultralight hunting raft that rolls up small for stashing in a pack or on your handlebar roll. It’s also available with a Cargo Fly, for keeping bulky gear on the bow and loose gear inside and dry. Internal dry bags sold seperate.
Features:
- Manufacturing: Made to Order in Mancos, Colorado
- Shape: Classic with Late Rise Bow
- Tube Diameter: 11.7-inch
- Valve: Temper assist valve for inflation and deflation
- Attachments: 4 bow strap plates, 2 stern grab loops, and 1 bow handle
- Seating: Classic Seat Bottom
- Build Configurations: Open
- Cargo Fly: Standard (Internal Dry Bags sold separately)
- Materials: Proprietary ultralight 210-denier high count nylon hull and 840-denier ballistic nylon floor (Made in USA). Additional fabric options available through the Custom Lab.
- Includes: Inflation Bag, Stuff Sack, and Basic Repair Kit
- Recommended Gear: Aqua-Bound Whiskey, Manta Ray, or Werner Shuna paddles, Astral V-8 PFD
- California Proposition 65 Warning: Using the Aquaseal in the repair kit will expose you to toluene, a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Build Configurations:
- Open: The Caribou is available in the open build configuration. We are not offering spray decks for the Caribou as it is primarily designed as a minimalist boat for bike-packing and carrying large loads on the bow.
- Self Bailer: The Caribou Self Bailer is perfect for warmer conditions, quick entry and exit, and anyone that prefers a self bailing setup. It is slightly slower than the WW deck version when punching through waves and small holes, but it tends to stabilize in these situations which helps boaters navigate through tricky spots. No dumping water is required.
Specs:
- Exterior Length: 97in | 246cm
- Exterior Width: 38in | 97cm
- Interior Length: 49in | 123cm
- Interior Width: 14.5in | 37cm
- Weight w/o Cargo Fly*Open: 5.1b | 2.3kg — SB: 5.9lb | 2.7kg
- Weight with Cargo Fly*Open: 5.3lb | 2.4kg — SB: 6.2lb | 2.8kg
- Packed Size**: 17x6in | 43x15cm
- Max Capacity***: 400lb | 181kg
*Weight includes all components except inflation bag, repair kit, and internal dry bags.
**Packed size is a reference measurement based on folding each lengthwise edge of the boat to the center and rolling from the bow. There are many other methods of rolling and folding the boats that will result in a different packed size that may be more or less efficient for packing depending on the situation.
***Max Capacity is the maximum total weight (paddlers and cargo) that the boat can reasonably carry in flatwater under ideal conditions. Actual capacity for any given trip will vary widely based on the paddler’s skill and water conditions. Please review our weight carrying capacity guide for further details.