Sealed Floor Pocket vs. Regular Floor Pocket- Which is the right one for your style of boating?
The Regular Floor Pocket (RFP)
AIRE rafts come standard with a regular floor pocket (RFP). The regular floor design takes in a little water in the pocket between the AIREcell and the PVC. This gives the floor ballast which helps the raft track better and “stick” to the water in rapids. It gives the boat a little more weight on the floor side when the boat is up on edge, which, sometimes, helps pull it out of a flip.
How the RFP is built:
The RFP is constructed by sewing the PVC floor top and bottom to a zipper along the perimeter of the floor pocket.
An air floor AIREcell is inside the pocket which keeps the floor rigid and buoyant.
Intake and drain holes are built into the bottom of the floor pocket.
Design Advantages:
RFP aid tracking and stability.
While on the river, water will enter the drain holes and add ballast to the boat.
This extra ballast creates a low center of gravity and can help you stay right-side-up in rapids.
Recommended for:
This design comes standard with all our rafts.
Great choice for paddle rafts of all sizes.
Rafting big and technical whitewater.
Smaller gear boats.
The Sealed Floor Pocket (SFP)
Sealed floor pockets prevent water from entering between the AIREcell and the PVC. Sealed floor pockets (SFP) have three valves and waterproof zippers which make these floors a more expensive than the RFP, but there are some advantages with the added cost. Sealed floor pockets are a better choice when running silty rivers and keep the boat a little lighter, which is handy for portaging the raft around a waterfall.
How the SFP is built:
The SFP is constructed by welding the PVC floor top and bottom together along the perimeter to form a waterproof pocket.
One watertight zipper is installed on the floor top to access the air floor AIREcell.
The SFP has three valves. The inflation valve, the pressure relief valve, and a burp valve that relieves air pressure caught between the AIREcell and the floor pocket.
Design Advantages:
The SFP does not intake water to ballast; this will make the raft slightly faster and more responsive.
Owners don’t have to wait a couple of minutes at the take out for water to drain out of the floor pocket.
No need to rinse out the floor pocket after a trip down a silty river.
Recommended for:
Good choice for rowing large, gear hauling rafts.
Rivers that require portages.
The SFP is a good option when mostly running silty desert rivers.