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Whitewater and fly-fishing rowing frames are on ths page, and oars are
found on the "Oars & Paddles" page. We don't stock frames due to the hundreds of possible variations, but highly adjustable
aluminum take-apart frames from NRS, and AIRE's 1.5" steel cat &
SuperPuma series frames, are available with lead times varying from 2 to 3 weeks to as little as a couple days on the others.
Take-apart frames are handy for portability, and having one may make the
difference between getting your frame to a fly-in destination, or having
a bush pilot sadly shake his head. The aluminum frames below can
also be adjusted on oarlock, footbar, and seat positions for different size
people, and the overnighter frames can be ordered in varying sizes for different
widths of coolers and gear boxes. They are held together with either strong cast
fittings that won't slip or clevis pins (on the steel frames), and come
with one padded low-back tractor seat or slant board unless otherwise noted.
High-back seats may look comfy in the
pictures, but they do not allow a natural body movement when rowing and can
actually make your back very crampy.
The seats for the front & rear angler on most fishing frames are a padded plastic body fold-down chair. These rarely survive a flip in rocky water but then again, even the metal seats can be damaged if a heavy raft is upside down.
Frame pricing and accessory discounts:
We get quite a few requests for "package deals" on rafts or catarafts with frames. What buyers need to understand is that dealer discounts on most frames are very small and incoming freight fees (many frames are so large boxed up that they cannot come by UPS) are very high. Manufacturers simply have too much labor - or sometimes too much expensive metal - into the end product to build in 30, 35, or 40% margins for dealers. Most are 20 to 25% before credit card fees that any retailer pays are figured in, and before incoing shipping costs are factored. This means the net profits are more like 7 to 10%, so it is not really possible for us to extend the 10% accessory break on these items, and the same holds true for dryboxes. We can get an extra 5% on some by pre-season ordering, but we are reluctant to do this since customer's needs and wants are so inconsistant, and because, as mentioned at the top of the page, there are so many sizes.
If you are buying one of AIRE's frames and we can have it drop-shipped directly to you, we will extend a 5% discount as long as you don't use American Express or Paypal, which have high fees. In many states that are crowded with AIRE dealers, like Colorado, Oregon, Idaho, and a handful of others, AIRE will not drop-ship unless you are at least 75 miles from any dealer. We do not sell frames into Alaska at all. There are local sources up there and shipping costs are not only extremely high, they are also difficult to quote accurately.
For many of you that live in the NorthWest part of the U.S.
your best option on an NRS frame would be to buy direct from them even if you have to pay some sales tax. For a while NRS was willing to drop-ship items on a limited basis, but they changed their minds about it again and it does not make sense for us to have them ship it to California, and then for us to send it back northward to you again. Additionally, if there are any problems they can be cleared up with the source instead of through a dealer.
The summation of all this is that you need to be flexible, and understand that sometimes buying one item like a frame or exotic drysuit from a separate source may make sense. You will still receive a 10% discount on all other accessories with your boat, so there is some "package pricing" involved, just not one specific set of gear we are overstocked on & trying to ram down your gullet.
There are only a few representative photos here due to the
almost infinite number of variables on frames. Specify the size of your raft or cat and
let us know what all you want to pack. Frames for big boats over 16' are sometimes
subject to an upcharge; e-mail or call with your zip code for quotes and we will do our best. Please understand that
with large, heavy fishing and cat frames requiring multiple shipping boxes, it may be impossible for us to accurately quote motor freight or UPS fees ahead of time until we have the boxes in front of us - at which point you are commited to taking the gear. We know this is not an ideal situation from a buyer's point of view, but we do not mark up UPS or freight fees. That said, it has been our experience that NRS has some weight figures shown on their computers way off (on the low side) and that means trying to get each box of a complicated cat frame priced out for shipping fees when those packages are not right in front of us is impossible. .
It takes time to do the shipping quotes where we can, we would ask that you only request them on big items like frames & rafts if you are serious and ready to purchase, and understand we cannot do it in short order over the telephone.
Frames are generally not returnable, unless an error has been made on our end or the supplier's end. Updated January, 2009.
Raft Frames
Aluminum Stern Frame (four piece) from NRS: Available with either a low-back
seat or a slant board at the same price. These are popular among some
rafting groups, and then again there are other boaters who wrote these
off a long time ago. The shape of the stern on your raft has much to do
with how well or how poorly these will work. Many of the highly rockered
Maravias, AIRE SuperPumas, and other boats of similiar  shape
put the frame at a very steep angle. If the boat hits either a rock or
hydraulic big enough to halt your momentum, however briefly, the rower
gets launched through the air due to the poor bracing angle of your legs.
Launching is bad enough for a paddle captain, but with a stern frame you
run the additional risk of Heimliching your belly on the oar handles.
Think how much fun it is to hit the water after being relieved of all
your air.
Conversely, with any shape raft, a stern rower also runs the risk of
simply ramming an oar into a rock, and the same thing happens in reverse.
Instead of you flying into the oars, the oars come back at you and knock
you right off the ass end of the boat. Stern frame afficionados would
say you'd have to be a bozo for this to happen; that you must have been
dragging your oars. But anyone can take a stroke in murky water and immediately
hit the oar tip on a rock just under the surface without being at fault.
We'll let you decide. You can be knocked out of your seat with any rowing
frame, but you don't usually land in the water with a conventional one.
$389 for either slant board or seat version.
 Aluminum
NRS Day Frame (four piece, no cooler slot): This frame is simply a basic
rowing platform with no capacity to haul anything, though you could still
use one of the Cargo Nets and/or a CargoFloor (below) to haul a couple
small drybags. Better yet, build yourself a separate cooler frame with
schedule 80 (not sch.40) pipe. 50" long, in widths starting at 48"
up to 72" in 6" increments. Equipped with a low-back tractor
seat. $369
Overnight Aluminum (six piece, holds one cooler or drybox) from NRS:
With longer side bars than the Day Frame, and two extra adjustable cross  bars
for strap-mounting a cooler or drybox (straps not included). You cannot
haul both a cooler and have a second seat mount at the same time,
but a passenger could sit on the cooler. 68" long, in widths starting
at 48" & increasing in 6" increments. $499
Note: for about the same price as the standard "Overnight", one smart option is to substitute one extra footbar for the two straight front bars (the ones the cooler is nestled in in our photo), which you would position at the very front end where the forward straight bar is in the picture.
Cut (and varnish) a piece of 3/4" plywood that spans across the low part of the two footbars, but make it almost as wide as your raft interior. Cut notches out at the corners for a tight fit. Drill two holes through the front & back edge of the plywood deck, and on through the bars. Four carriage head bolts, inserted from the bottom with the rounded heads facing down, will now secure your deck to the frame. Use a bolt length that only pokes above the plywood 1/4" to 3/8", and use wing nuts for convienence. Left wing nuts and right wing nuts are both acceptable as long as they do not become abrasive.
Now, you have a deck to sit your cooler on, and by running cam straps around the footbar undersides
and over the top of the cooler (or drybox) everything is secure in a flip. Decked frame are easier to load, though it does take some labor to fit, sand, and varnish the plywood. For those who don't know, most plywood other than that ratty OSB product now use waterproof adhesive, so official "marine" plywood is no longer needed.
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Multi-Day Aluminum (eight piece, holds cooler and drybox):
Standard with one low-back seat, cooler straps not included. This unit
is for longer trips and the Multi-Day can be ordered for any size raft
with varying  lengths
starting at 88". Everything on this frame adjusts so you can taylor
it to any type of boxes, coolers, or extra seats that you wish. $629
For High Back Seat on frames above, add $20
Fishing Frame (many, many variables): Call for quote
The New SuperPuma Center Module frame (just the middle part of what you see below; call for price) from AIRE is available
in a basic configuration that will fit the regular Puma,
or in a Deluxe Fly Fishing Frame version with all three sections shown in the picture) that fits the
SuperPuma & SuperDuper, but not the regular Puma. The full frame with anchor cleat is $1799. The actual anchors come in many weights and styles; prices vary. The  rear
portionof the Super Puma/SuperDuper Puma frame is a seat and a casting platform, and the front section
is a casting platform where you would normally be sitting on a front cooler
or drybox. It is possible for some extra money to put a third seat in
the front, but this seat would prevent you from being able to drop in
a drybox or cooler. The seat or seats are padded fold-down plastic bodied
chairs.
Generally your best bet is to just pad the top of your cooler or drybox with some closed cell foam sleeping pad material.
Aluminum Dryboxes
Aluminum Dryboxes can be ordered with optional kitchen-box
conversions ($90)
that include four legs, leg
sockets, and a retainer cable to hold the lid open at a 90 degree angle.
The kitchen option isn't shown in the photo, but you can make out the
small pieces of angle aluminum  that
hold the box from dropping through the bars, and negate the need for straps
under the box. That kitchen option may increase your delivery time dramatically, so be warned.
Standard cross dimensions are 16" by 16", with
36", 40", and 44" widths. These are beefy, very dry, and
amazing lightweight. Please note that regardless of their modest weight
the size of these boxes puts them into what UPS calls "oversize 3",
meaning you will pay for a seventy pound parcel. And that's if they
even go UPS; often dryboxes end up going by truck, which costs
even more.
36" box - $349; 40" box - $359; 44" box - $375. For narrower
13" X 16" cross dimension boxes, deduct $17.
Accessory discounts are not available on dryboxes, sorry.
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Take-Apart Cat Frames
Aluminum Two-person FatCat, 107" or 120" long. $1,169
(twelve piece, two high back seats)
Aluminum Overnight AlleyCat, 88" long. $969 
(nine piece, holds one cooler, w/one high back seat)
Aluminum Multi-Day TopCat, 107" or 120" long. $1,099
(shown in photo) eleven piece, holds two coolers/boxes, w/one high back
seat)
Low Back Seat on Cat Frames, deduct $20
Extra Low Back Seat: $60
Extra High Back Seat: $90
Action Plastic Swivel Seat: $49
New! Universal Frame (one padded seat).
This Universal has removable drop-down bars, so if you own both a raft and a pair of cat tubes this one frame will work with both. The drop-down rails are not as  beefy or long as the full-length ones found on the cat frames just above, so if you have a large (16' or 18') set of tubes that you tend to run on high water and lots of class IV & V, it may be wise to stick with the regular cataraft versions. For most others with 13' to 17' rafts and/or 13' to 16' cat tubes, this is a very reasonably priced option. The Universal runs $885 and has five regular cross bars, a footrest bar, and a seat bar. It also comes with four 9' straps to help suspend your drybox & cooler. In 9' or 10' lengths, and 5-1/2 or 6' widths.
Solo Bobcat/Wildcat Fish Frame - Aire used to have a smaller aluminum frame for their 11' to 13' cat tubes but for the time being it looks like they've deleted it from their stock. If they get something else that's reasonable in price we'll post it here, but for the time being the Alley Cat model from NRS is about the onyl option off the shelf that we're aware of .
Cargo Nets
Last but not least are Cargo Nets and Cargo Floors. These
handy  items
always make packing much easier. String the Cargo Floors behind the frame
to set all your drybags on, and if you want, use a Cargo Net over the
top of everything to save time tying down gear. The Floors have a spider
web of webbing reinforcement. Both items require five to six D-rings on
the back end of your raft to mount. It seems like many  manufacturers
such as Maxxon and Hyside are a bit skimpy with them on their rafts, so
if you need more to glue on your boat we can give you pricing. There are
so many types it's tough to list them all on our site. We carry two sizes
each of the Nets and Floors. Pricing is as follows: 35 X 26" Cargo
Floor - $64; 40 X 34" Cargo Floor- $75; 60 X 80" Cargo Net -
$67; 80 X 90" Cargo Net - $72.
See our Raft accessory page; the Cargo Floors & Nets are there too and there is more information and more Cargo Floor sizes.
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