Often your Rebel RIB will be your primary boat, or a tender to a larger yacht. When it is your primary boat, there is an impressive tender option - an MRS packraft, available from Paqualife ltd. An MRS packraft is super light, very durable and packs away into a small impressive package. This means you can stow it away on your Rebel RIB within the seat storage on-board, then drop anchor, inflate your packraft on-board, paddle to shore, then roll up your packraft and take it with you - because it is so light and compact, able to fit into a small backpack, this opens up a world of possibilities, including unpopulated beaches, without worrying about leaving a tender on the beach or having to beach your RIB and worrying about the tides. Check them out to see how they can enhance your Rebel RIB boating!
What questions do boaters usually ask when considering a packraft:
Is it really that durable, it looks thin and it might puncture on the beach, with hooks or a dog?
Yes! The polyurethane coated nylon (often called TPU) is very tough for its thickness and weight. A number of models use 840d TPU for the packraft floor and most use 210d TPU tubes (420d TPU for whitewater models). These are extremely tough and even suitable for whitewater! So they can easily handle beaching, dogs, fishing and other various boating activities.
What if they get a hole in them?
Like any inflatable, punctures are possible. These packrafts are low pressure though, and the added elasticity of polyurethane mean they can effectively avoid getting punctured much of the time. However, being inflated to around 1.5psi, instant repair patches can be used - on the go quick repairs!
Can they cope with waves?
Yes! They are very stable and much of the range are designed to cope with white water where waves are the norm!
Are they stable to get into off the boat?
Absolutely! With the structure and shape of the packraft being delivered by the tube, and with the seat fitted to the tube, not just resting on the floor, there is no need for an inflatable floor. This not only saves weight, but means that they are even more stable. Inflatables that need an inflatable floor have raised centre of gravity, packrafts by contrast rest on the tubes giving a wider stance, therefore more stable when you are stepping into them over the sides of the tubes of your Rebel RIB.
Are they cheap?
No. However, the price is relative to the quality of the materials, the hand craftsmanship and the customisability. MRS packrafts are the top of their game and world leaders in packraft design, innovation and manufacture. You get the best - check out the Paqualife website for more details.
Are they better than the cheap inflatable or paddleboard I currently use?
By a country mile! Both paddle boards and cheap PVC inflatables (PVC is a much cheaper material, weaker, needs to be thicker and so much heavier) are large, heavy, take up allot of space on board and are not genuinely portable when you get to shore so you have to generally leave them there. Also they need a heavy pump, either manual or battery powered to inflate.
A packraft by comparison is much lighter, sometimes only 25-30% the weight of the competition, and pack vastly smaller into small backpacks. An MRS packraft also can be inflated using a lightweight inflation bag that is both fast and easy (only around 5-7 bags to 90% inflate even a large tandem!), then top up with around 20 breaths of air. So no need to carry a large heavy pump! What does this mean? It means it can store easily in the storage spaces of your Rebel RIB, as they are high performance, you can paddle to shore easily, then roll them up into your backpack, and being so light, carry them with you for the day with no trouble! With an MRS packraft available, this could be the end of using heavy paddle boards and other inflatables as tenders!
