Ahhh, yes the age old question for packrafters. Weight? Now how much do i want to pack? How comfortable do i want to be? And how much payload will i be floating? Water conditions? etc,etc,etc,… Ok, what do we have to choose from? Alpacka vs. bay lee! Boom, the land mine we all have to negotiate for ourselves. Ok, lets get down to it. Both were made by the same company feather craft. Now
alpackas: Pros 1. about six lbs. 2. Price-starts at 850 for the denali 3. Dare i say it, yes: Industry standard. tried and true.
Cons: 1. stitched seams= loss of air 2.unergonomic seat 3. size 4. payload vs. manuverbility 5. dumping water out of boat.
Bay lee: Pros 1. welded seams= air tight 2. Larger size 3. larger payload 4. Can have self bailing floors. 5. self bailing floor acts as small chine for manuverbility. 6. Ergonomic seats. 7.No dumping of water with SB floor
Cons. 1. PRICE starting 1700 2.weight 3.Not tested and use as prolific as alpackas 4. Packable size
Hmmm, what to do? How do you guys feel about this. I mean lets think about it, the small light alpackas are great! How much payload do you really need. You are only floating what you can carry, right? What about a sheep or goat hunt? That would be more payload. What about mountainous whitewater. SB floor would be nice for that deliema, and a definate possibilty. Added bouyancy of SB floor is nice too. OK ok, better leave it up to the rest of the community. oh yea, ps… dont forget about the “Big Rig” sold by pristine adventures. 16 lbs with a 1000lb payload! Damn!