Note: We just have the blue color in this sixteen foot model. The best value out there, RMR SB 16, on a commercial grade sixteen foot raft! There have been lots of important improvements to the RMRs the last few years, including flatter, tapered floors that fit tighter against the side tubes. The welded area of each D-ring has increased, making for even higher pull strength, and there is more stitching over a wider area of the webbing that holds the metal D and the lift handles. The combo handle/D-ring patches have been angled too, further increasing their strength and the comfort when being used. Beveled thwarts are held in with a simple pin system, making them easy to remove.
Please note that this raft has to be ordered by phone. It’s way too huge and way too heavy in for UPS, so we need to hammer out the details of your motor freight delivery. Free shipping is for commercial addresses in the lower 48 only. Call us at 925-820-BOAT Monday through Saturday to place your order.
Rocky Mountain inflatable rafts have grown & improved at a higher rate of speed than any boat company we’ve seen. Although there are many imported pvc brands on the market, with few exceptions most have traditionally been glued rather than welded, and glue leads to eventual seam failures. Even if the better glued brands hold up for ten to fifteen years, there will still come a day when you have to put a large quantity of pvc in a landfill.
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Rocky Mountain whitewater boats feature welded seams, floor I-beams, and bulkheads. D-rings & all attachments are also welded. In addition to the main seam overlaps, RMR also welds seam tape over both the interior and exterior side of each tube joint. This is something that a few pvc boat manufacturers don’t seem to bother with, yet the lack of seam tape quite often means their inflatables have air retention that is less than stellar, especially as those boats age. Not so with RMR – the extra step of adding seam tape to the interior overlaps prevents air wicking along the exterior edges, and the outside seam tape makes it even more reliable.
Construction Method for RMR 16 SB Whitewater Raft
Individual pieces of the Rocky Mountain boats are not cut out one at a time with hand-traced cookie cutter patterns and scissors. Instead they are sliced out en masse with computer controlled band cutters like the AIRE’s and Tributary’s, and by foregoing much of the usual hand labor the cost to produce each raft or cat tube goes down. We are glad to see someone has taken the reigns to provide an extremely economical alternative to the many glued pvc inflatables out there.
RMR 16 SB River Raft’s Hardware and Fabric
Most sizes of the RM rafts have twelve stainless D-rings, and if you need more we usually stock plenty. Six of the twelve D-rings also have lift handles incorporated into them. Frame chafers cover most of the tube top. Three removable thwarts are standard. The base fabric inside the 44 ounce pvc is a very strong 2000 denier polyester, and wrap-up layers on the underside of each raft toughen them up even more – though as mentioned at the end of the first paragraph those extra layers also make any raft that has them a bear to roll up.
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Wrap-up floor overlaps and frame chafers are glued even on the Rocky Mountain boats, because there is no other way to adhere large panels of material. Does the five year warranty cover frame chafers if they come loose? Within the warranty period, if large portions of a chafer or floor wrap-up came loose, yes they will cover it. So far that has never happened.
RMR’s 16′ self bailing raft has 22″ main tubes and is 7’8″ wide if both thwarts are blown up tight. If the thwarts are not in the boat, it will be an inch narrower, so use those numbers for frame measurements. You must subtract 1″ to 2″ from the widths of almost all brands of rafts if neither thwart will be inflated. This is a very heavy raft at 187 pounds (with the thwarts out, or 195 with both of them in), so it is best used with a trailer. The flat area of the tube tops is about 7’3″, and the rocker on this symmetrical raft os 9″.
All Rocky Mountain rafts have four main chambers, plus the thwarts & floor. Raft interiors are light grey, with blue, red, or gray main tubes. Other colors occasionally available are yellow, orange, military green, and lime green.
Important Feature – Laced Floor in RMR 16 SB Rafts
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One of the most surprising features of the self bailing RMR boats is that they have lace-in floors, not permanently mounted ones. Should something happen to your floor, your can unlace it if you have the time, and UPS it to RMR instead of trying to ship the whole boat on a truck line. Laced floors cost far more to produce, but they have the benefit of draining a raft quicker than glued ones can. It is quite unusual to find a laced floor on a raft of this low price.
Also note that a drop-stitch floor version of this raft is also available for an extra $750.
RMR 16 SB Raft Warranty
Warranties on all RMR boats are five years.
Rocky Mountain Rafts RMR 16 SB Raft Delivery Technicalities
This size ships via motor freight. As mentioned up at the top, we strongly prefer to have these sent to business addresses whenever possible to ensure the lowest shipping costs for you, and to make sure someone is there to sign for the raft when it arrives. Residential deliveries will incur and additional cost to you and truck drivers won’t leave parcels at your house if you are gone, so please keep this in mind. Many of them will also hit you up for a re-delivery fee if they do have to come back a second time. Delivery time should be no more than eight business days.
