Description from Alpacka:
Alaska packrafting in the 1980s and 1990s was an exercise in gear failure, hypothermia, and general suffering. The lightweight open vinyl and nylon inflatable boats available were simply not up to the task of the Alaska backcountry. But the experience of following your own path on a big landscape traverse was often worth the misery of paddling for hours in an ice water bathtub. Alpacka Raft was founded to remedy the gear failures and suffering on those original packraft trips. And we like to think that we’ve done a pretty good job over the years, innovating fabrics, hull shapes, spray decks, and the Cargo Fly internal storage system along the way. But as amazing as these innovations are, we still had a hole in our lineup for a packraft that would combine all of our best features into the lightest possible package for the ultimate landscape traverse packraft.
Meet the Refuge, weighing in at only 5.5lbs with a full whitewater deck and Cargo Fly. The Refuge utilizes the same hull design and lightweight fabrics as the Scout, which cuts nearly two pounds off the weight of a medium Classic with the same leg room. That weight savings can add days and miles to your range on big trips with a lot of hiking. Compared to the Classic, the Refuge is lighter and more packable but doesn’t offer as much carrying capacity, durability, or stability for every-day use. Experienced whitewater paddlers should be able to paddle the occasional Class III rapid in the Refuge, but whitewater and eddylines will be more difficult for novice and intermediate paddlers. The Refuge is ideal for the experienced wilderness packrafter who can limit their pack weight to 50lbs for a 14-day trip.
Shipping
Shipping is auto calculated at check-out. Round trip shipping is $40/1 raft, $50/2 rafts, $60/ 3 rafts and $70/4 rafts for rafts shipped in Montana. Rafts shipped outside of Montana start at $50/1 raft and go up from there depending on the shipping time and number of rafts. If shipping is incorrect at checkout, your card will be refunded/charged accordingly. Please see shipping rate chart in FAQ for more info.
When in Doubt, Contact Us About Availability
Because of the variability in transit days our business model creates unique challenges for booking software and makes it difficult to display a 100% accurate availability calendar. If the raft you want isn’t available for your desired dates, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly as it may be an error in our system. In many cases we can also ship the day after you book and override the default 6 day transit buffer. We highly recommend contacting us directly for groups of 4 or more as well. Contact info: 406-272-6468 backcountrypackrafts@gmail.com
Total number of items in inventory: 1
*Weight includes all components except inflation bag, and repair kit. The Refuge base weight (without seat, backrest, coaming, and skirt) is 4.7lbs.
**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.
