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You
say that Incepts perform better than
other rafts. What makes you think this, and if it's true,
why do they?
We have worked with owners of all
major brands of rafts and more. Our own experiences
of the last 20 plus years, along with comments from current and past
owners of Incepts consistently affirm the performance
superiority of Incept boats. They perform better
because of the hydrodynamic designs,
particularly of the floors. If you place
an Incept
raft on its
side you will notice that the floor
is relatively flat,
and shaped to match the
tube but not protrude below the tubes. This
allows the raft to track well and yet turn easily without the
floor catching on eddy lines etc. If you look in the same way at other brands,
almost all have floors shaped
in such a way that they present a
"hard edge" which
catches in
eddy lines and cross flows and contributes to difficult
handling and tipsiness.
You
show a couple of "Square Back" models,
are there advantages or is it mainly aesthetics?
They do look good,
but there are some practical advantages
too. Used as a paddle boat a (rear)
guide sits closer
to the water
giving better control.
The longer bow allows the
raft to punch through holes and yet
maintain ease of control. Relative to waterline, the crew
weight is set a little further back which makes the boat handling
superior over drops.
I
notice in your brochures and this website that your rafts are shown
roped, is this standard?
Yes this is
standard. All our rafts,
kayaks and canoes are roped in the factory. On an Incept raft the
grab-line is
tied off at each D ring and cannot
slip through. This is an important safety point.
The grab-line cannot run
therefore it will not slacken and retighten when the
raft bends - giving loss of support to the crew or
catapulting
a
person out of the raft. Further there is never enough
grab-line slack to enable a limb to be entrapped.
The
"D" rings on your rafts appear different from other brands, why?
Incept's outside 50mm
"D" rings are modified
with a stainless bar so that the rope
and the webbings are protected from
abrasion.
For anyone running
rocky rivers, as we surely
do in New Zealand, this is a huge
advantage. You can be confident that the D's, webbings and
ropes will last for years in the most severe environment.
Your Thwarts (cross tubes) are angled, why?
Thwarts are
designed to hold the main tubes apart, but are frequently walked and
sat on. The angled shape
closes the gap between thwart end and sponson and reduces the
stress on the attachment points.
Repairs: how
difficult is it to repair your
rafts?
It is not difficult
at all because unlike Hypalon there is no
requirement to buff the surfaces.
The only preparation normally required is that
the repair area be clean and dry and wiped
with an appropriate solvent. A contact adhesive
is used and the procedure is similar to repairing a bicycle
tube. Instructions are
included in the repair kit, but if you want to know more details
now, download
Repair.pdf
.
Some competing manufacturers highlight their use of imported
Leafield valves, you use
Halkey Roberts.
Why?
Earlier
Halkey Roberts
valves
had their problems. Poppet valve ends
and valve caps came off.
There were high rates of leakers. Some manufacturers committed to
Leafield at this time. In
the late 90's
Halkey
Roberts re-tooled
and their later
valves have given no
troubles that we are
aware of. In the
event of deterioration due to age or grit damaging the sealing
surfaces these valves
are easily and
inexpensively replaced. They are almost a flush fit with the tube
surface, reducing
the
likelihood
of knocking a knee or leg
against them. They clamp the material better and provide a
long term better seal.
If
there is a warranty
problem do I have to return the raft to the New
Zealand factory?
No, there
is usually an inflatable repair shop in your area
that can make the repair on
behalf of the
factory. If there is not one locally we will work with you to find
the most convenient
repairer for
you.
Would I have to pay the freight on warranty claims?
The cost of getting
the raft to the repairer or warranty base is up to the owner. The
return
freight is covered by warranty.
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