Catarafts
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AIRE Jaguarundi 16' Cataraft, Tubes Only
$2,559.00
Free Shipping * AIRE Jaguarundi 16' Cataraft pontoons.
Cataraft Details
Like AIRE's Ocelot Cat, this one was also reconfigured around 2007 with a bit more lift on the ends and an increase of 1/2" diameter to make up for the slightly decreased waterline. If you want to carry bigger loads or will often have two or even three passengers, the 16' Jaguarundi may be the ticket. This cataraft offers the nimble handling of a single-tube cataraft combined with a 3/4 ton payload capacity, and it can utilize a two foot longer frame than the Ocelot. It can also get surfed when it's underloaded like the Ocelot Cat, so the Jag is not the best choice for day trips with just a cooler, if that is your typical trip. Great for longer whitewater runs with the proper frame and / or decking. We have a number of customers who use these on California rivers even though the standard raft size of choice is more like 13' to 14' here. A short waterline lets the Jag pivot easily and the very shallow draft allows it to glide over low flow rock gardens that smaller rafts or cats would hang up on. Frame chafers & replaceable handles are now standard. Please try to have a second color choice, or, if you are adamant about just one color then you need to email or call us before jumping to the shopping cart.
The Jaguarundi is also available in an extra-tough urethane material for an extra $1,225, though this is not something we or AIRE usually have on hand. Therefore, this option is not on the shopping cart because the lead times can vary greatly. Give us a phone call if you are interested and we will check the delivery times for you. Whether it is worth spending half again as much money to upgrade to urethane is debatable, but we will let you make the call. The abrasion resistance in the water is far higher, and the base fabric is beefier, so you get an even stiffer tube. That said the standard pvc AIRE's are mighty stiff as it is.
Note that deep orange color is now available. Other choices include blue, red, dark green, and yellow. Pricing is for tubes only, not the frame.
* Free Shipping or 5% rebate towards gear. Additional 5% discount for payment by cashier check.
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AIRE Leopard 18' Inflatable Cataraft Tubes
$2,889.00
$145 UPS/gear allowance. The big AIRE Leopard Cataraft tubes are $2,889 for the pair, but this includes a $145 rebate toward UPS, motor freight, and/or accessories. UPS typically runs no more than $100 on these to anywhere in the lower 48, so there should be some money left over. Our shopping cart will not factor in the shipping credit, but don't worry - we will deduct the $145 from the total before capturing your funds.
AIRE's Leopard and the new 2013 Lion are the longest catarafts AIRE makes. They are both intended for trips of a week or more, or rowers who want to take several passengers. The eighteen-foot Leopard holds 1500 pounds of gear. How does it handle? Hard to say with certainty. We've never rowed this one, but it's little brother the Jaguarundi is a great rig that slices huge head-on waves with ease. Leopards are often used on the Grand Canyon by private boaters since they seem to be so stable in big water, at least when loaded down. And it's a sure bet it will far out-handle any piggy 18' conventional raft.
Cataraft Bladders
All four bladders in any given single tube AIRE cat are interchangeable, so if you were heading outside the lower 48 and wanted a spare bladder as a back-up, one will work for either end of either tube. Many boaters who own this model choose to use a trailer for transport, and considering what a large cat frame can weigh that's probably a good call. Leopards come with replaceable lift handles and frame chafers as shown. Color choices (please always have a second choice) include dark green, red, blue, yellow, and the newer orange. Purple, white, and all-gray can be had if you are willing to wait a long time, but a deposit is required for those colors. Remember, pricing is for tubes only!
The Leopard tubes are also available in an extra-tough urethane material for an $1,790 more, though this is not something we or AIRE usually have on hand. Therefore, this option is not on the shopping cart because the lead times can vary greatly. Give us a phone call if you are interested and we will check the delivery times for you. Whether it is worth spending half again as much money to upgrade to urethane is debatable, but we will let you make the call. The abrasion resistance in the water is far higher, and the base fabric is beefier, so you get an even stiffer tube. That said the standard pvc AIRE's are mighty stiff as it is.
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AIRE Lion 14' Cat Tubes
$2,559.00
$128 UPS/gear credit. AIRE Lion 14 large diameter (oversize diameter) inflatable cat tubes are $2,559 per pair. This price includes an allowance toward UPS and/or accessories. Our shopping cart will not factor in the shipping credit, but don't worry - we will deduct the $128 from the total before capturing your funds. Also see the text under the 16' Lion.
Pricing is for tubes only - not the frame, oars, or accessories.
AIRE's Lion series catarafts have extra big diameters and waterlines that comprise a higher percentage of the total tube length. The idea is to provide the highest load capacities with the shallowest draft possible. In the case of the fourteen foot Lion 14 your rig will also pivot very quickly. This makes it ideal both for folks who run technical class IV and V rivers, as well as anglers or rowers suffering low snowpack years in their area. Fly fishers rarely practice their sport at high flows, so a cat that can negotiate extra-shallow streams is always a plus.
As with any of the big diameter high buoyancy catarafts, if you enjoy high flow rivers, there will be a propensity for this type of boat to get surfed like a bobber if it's not weighted down. In other words, if most of your runs are day trips, choose something with a somewhat smaller diameter.
Only three of AIRE's usual six colors are available for the Lions; dark green, blue and red. Also, the photo above is actually the sixteen foot Lion because we don't have any pics of the fourteen footer.
The Lion 14 is available in an extra-tough urethane material for $1,340 more, though this is not something we or AIRE ever have on hand. That's way this option is not on the shopping cart; the lead times can vary greatly. Give us a phone call if you are interested and we will check how long it will take. Whether it is worth spending half again as much money to upgrade to urethane is debatable. The abrasion resistance in the water is far higher, and the base fabric is beefier, so you get an even stiffer tube. That said the standard pvc AIRE's are mighty stiff as it is.
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AIRE Lion 16' Cataraft Pontoons
$2,779.00
$135 UPS/gear credit. AIRE Lion 16 Cataraft tubes super high payload are $2,779 for a pair, and this includes a $135 allowance on shipping fees and/or accessories. Our shopping cart will not factor in the shipping credit, but don't worry - we will deduct the $135 from the total before capturing your funds. Pricing is for tubes only!
AIRE Lions, which as of 2013 come in three sizes once again, have extra large diameters, and waterlines that comprise a higher percentage of the total tube length. The obvious purpose of the Lions is to provide the highest load capacities possible for a cataraft, as well as the shallowest draft for folks who like to fish or who find themselves suffering low snow pack years in their area.
As with any of the big diameter high buoyancy catarafts, if you only run with very light loads and you enjoy high flows or expert level runs, there will be a propensity for this type of boat to get surfed like a bobber. Bigger diameters and the shallow draft means they are faster though, giving you both the ability to avoid monster holes with less effort.
The Lion 16 is big enough with it's 1600 pound capacity to easily take three people down a week-long trip, or two on a Canyon trip, and it would be more fun to row than an equivalent length raft. The Lion 16' cat is AIRE's third highest capacity boat, coming in below only the 18 Lion and Leopard tubes. If the rivers you do are hyper-technical the 14' Lion may work better, but you drop about 400 pounds of capacity.
Overall, the Lions are the shallowest drafting cats size per size from any manufacturer. One last note of interest is that the rocker is very minimal on both sizes of Lion's, about 5" on the 16's & 18's, and only a couple inches on the 14' size. This minimum amount of nose lift doesn't mean these won't ride up over huge waves though, because the real rocker is measured from the underside up. In truth these go over huge haystacks better than any other tube you can buy. The minimal lift looking from the top side also means you get the maximum straight (flat) length on the Lions, allowing you to use extra-long frames.
When deciding on oar length for your Lion, consider how high up in the air you'll be. In most cases Lions require oars six inches longer than the frame or overall boat width might indicate. In this sixteen foot size, you will want 10'6" oars, or possibly even 11' oars. Only three of AIRE's usual six colors are available for the Lions - blue, red, and dark green. While AIRE shows purple, white, and gray being available by special order, on the Lions it is usually a very, very long wait.
The Lion 16 is also available in an extra-tough urethane material for another $1,670, though this is not something we or AIRE usually have on hand. Therefore, this option is not on the shopping cart because the lead times can vary greatly. Give us a phone call if you are interested and we will check the delivery times for you. Whether it is worth spending half again as much money to upgrade to urethane is debatable, but we will let you make the call. The abrasion resistance in the water is far higher, and the base fabric is beefier, so you get an even stiffer tube. That said the standard pvc AIRE's are mighty stiff as it is.
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AIRE Lion 18' Cataraft Tubes
$2,999.00
$150 Rebate toward UPS & Gear. AIRE Lion 18 AIRE recently brought back the giant 28" eighteen foot long Lion tubes after not having them for many years. The price includes the $150 allowance that you can use toward shipping and any accessories you may require. Colors include red, blue, and dark green. These are the only tubes AIRE makes that have three air chambers per side. Although our Rocky Mountain cat tubes also have three per side, their largest stock tube is 16'
The $2,999 price is for the tubes ONLY, not the frame or oars.
This tube is made for those who need super high weight capacity - they will hold over a ton - and they also will draft less than any other tube we carry, for those who negotiate shallow sections frequently. That said, the Lion 18 is hardly a "low water" boat. If you are lucky enough to do the Canyon or the Middle Fork Salmon at high flows on a semi-regular basis, this and the Leopard are your best bets. The main difference between this model and the Leopard, aside from the previously mentioned extra inch of diameter and extra air chamber per side, is the waterline. Waterline is the length of hull that actually sits in the water with an average load. The Lion tubes are flatter on top and have their upward curves transitioning closer to the ends than the Leopard, so they have about two feet more of each tube sitting on the river. It is this, more than the slight difference in tube diameter, that gives the big Lion 35% more capacity than the Leopard - not that the Leopard is any slouch either.
Where are these not appropriate? Well, if your trips are mostly run with light loads on rivers with many of grabby holes, you can expect to get surfed a lot on any big diameter cat, and the extra large girth of the Lion tubes would excacerbate the problem even further. Load them down or you get stopped like a bobber. There is a lot more information on the Lion series in the write-up's for the 14' and 16' size in this section of the site.
A pair of Lion tubes weigh in at 110 pounds, and can handle frames almost thirteen feet long.
All AIRE catarafts come with replaceable lift handles. The Lion 18 has either ten or twelve D-rings per side; so far we haven't actually seen a pair of these and we've had conflicting information. The other thing that is important to note is that Lion tubes have not, up to now anyway, had the gray frame chafers that are found on all other AIRE cats. If that changes we will let you know.
For the enormous upcharge of $2,020 the Lion 18' is available in polyurethane, but if you are interested in this option give us a call at 925-820-BOAT. Urethane versions are not on our shopping cart, and at over $5000 we cannot imagine anyone going for this option. That would make the urethane Lion 18 the single most expensive cataraft tube under twenty feet in the world, a somewhat dubious distinction.