Packraft Repairs and Retrofits
Busted zip? Slow leak? Catastrophic tear? Bear attack?! We’ve got you. We’re the official Alpacka Raft repair partner here in New Zealand, but we’re more than happy to work on any packraft, whatever the badge. If it floats, we’ll have a crack. We can also facilitate warranties for Alpacka Rafts, most often this will mean repairs here in NZ.... which beats the hell out of shipping rafts half way around the world and back and saves you a couple of hundred bucks!
Some jobs are quick and easy — we’ve got off-the-shelf repairs like Tizip replacements and strap swaps ready to go. Others are a bit more involved, so we run things a bit like a good mechanic: drop us an email, send it in, we’ll take a look, and come back to you with a fair quote before we touch a thing. No guesswork, no pressure, just solid repairs from paddlers who know what it’s like to trust your gear deep in the backcountry.
Even if you think your raft has had it, you'll be surprised what we can resurrect. Don't be afraid to reach out, it's free to ask. We are passionate about the right to repair as part of our commitment towards a sustainable business model. After all, if we are going to float rivers on rafts made of dead dinosaurs, we might as well try and reduce the number of dead dinosaurs it takes for us to keep having fun!
What We Can Help With
You can see above a quick way to book in fairly routine and commonly seen repairs and retro fit services. Having repaired and maintained our own fleet for almost a decade now, we've become fairly adept at certain jobs. We've made a few mistakes with our own rafts over the years and learnt the hardware, so you don't have to!
- TiZip Replacement- All manufacturers of Packrafts use the same supplier of TiZips from Germany. Alpacka have worked closely with TiZip in recent years to improve their designs for packraft. The newer zips (2023 onwards) are far less susceptible to electrolysis or "Zip Rot" and integrate with TPU (packraft material) better than ever before. If you've got some Zip Rot in the rubber surrounding the zip, no amount of aqua seal in the world is going to fix that. But that's all good, we've got you.
- D-Ring Replacement- A common spot for wear and tear is around those D-ring attachment points. If the nylon webbing is starting to show signs of wear and tear, we can swap them out for wider set offset D-ring attachment points to reduce the friction and keep those back band and thigh strap attachments bomber.
- Patches- We've got a few pre-made patches that are good to go. We've got the right tools, heat guns and adhesives to ensure you can trust these repairs. Not just to get you out of the bush, but for years to come
- BIG RIPS!! We've seen it all! We've seen catastrophic rips on adventure racing rafts, mid race and managed to patch up gashes longer than a meter and get them back to teams before the end of the race. It's more common than you think, especially on the Blue Duck or Frontier Rafts. Don't panic, it's not terminal. Get in touch.
How Does It Work?
We've priced up a few jobs that we anticipate seeing coming though the door and you can book them in super easily above. Set fees, no surprises.
For bigger or more unusual jobs, you're better to flick us an email with as many pics as possible. We can then give you approximate quote so you know what ball park the repair should be in. If you're happy to go ahead, get it to us (post/courier or physically drop it off) and we'll get cracking. We'll invoice upon completion and arrange its return. Again, no surprises and a transparent service.
If you think it's a warranty with Alpacka, we can help with that too. Sending it back to Alpacka, even if the repair is free, is costly, so we can save folks hundreds of dollars repairing it here in Aotearoa. We only use genuine Alpacka Raft parts and components and have been trained by Alpacka's Services and Repair department in Colorado. No cowboys here... plenty in Colorado of course, but not that kind!
How Long Does It Take?
Regardless of the time of year, we'll always aim to get rafts fixed ASAP and back to you within a week. There are times when this is more challenging than others however, especially if it's a complex job like a bear attack. We'll aim to do repairs in batches too which allows us to do a few repairs a day. This might mean holding onto a job for a few days if we know another raft is being sent. We'll do our best to keep communicating with you though and can work towards specific dates if you have deadlines in mind.
During the winter, we can smash out repairs super fast. We are undistracting and frankly relishing the opportunity to fondel packrafts again.
Spring, we hope to get rafts repaired and out of our shop within a week still, but if rivers are high, we're out paddling. Rain and snow is super distracting for river guides. Sorry.
Peak Summer we are out everyday guiding and instructing and generally sharing the stoke. We are limited by the number of crew members we have and the hours in the day. If you need rafts returned by a certain date though, please specify and we'll make it a priority.
Later in Summer and into Autumn/Fall we have time again and jobs should be quick.
We'll always work towards specific deadlines so please let us know.
