# Can You Help Me Identify This Raft?



## BullSCit (Nov 12, 2003)

I just bought this raft yesterday, and was told it was a Hyside Mini-Me. It had a blown seam at the front of the raft and the seller filled it with a couple bottles of fix-a-raft. It held its air over night, but my brother who knows much more than me on rafts, says he isn't sure it is a Hyside by looking at the pics, and that the knock-off Mini-Mes had some pretty bad seams. Can anybody confirm if this is or isn't a Hyside? The seller said that the metal ID badge fell off a while ago, and as can be seen, no Hyside placards anywhere on it. Thanks for any help, and let me know if any other pics would help.

BS

Sorry, don't know how to properly add photos, should just be able to click and say show image, as the images are on photobucket. Thanks!


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## Learch (Jul 12, 2010)

*Pictures no worky*

Your pictures aren't working. If it was a Hyside there should be logos on it and a serial number that you could contact Hyside with to get more information. Hyside Mini Mes are pretty recognizable.


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## BullSCit (Nov 12, 2003)

Learch said:


> Your pictures aren't working. If it was a Hyside there should be logos on it and a serial number that you could contact Hyside with to get more information. Hyside Mini Mes are pretty recognizable.


Can anyone see these links:

20140508_202234_zpsa1cd4f03.jpg Photo by HysideOrNot | Photobucket

20140508_202151_zpsea2166d8.jpg Photo by HysideOrNot | Photobucket

20140508_202127_zpsf23278d9.jpg Photo by HysideOrNot | Photobucket


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## nicho (Mar 18, 2009)

That's a cool little boat!


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## waterismyfriend (Mar 30, 2012)

*What is the serial #?*

It has the same geometry as a Hyside Mini-Me, but there were about 5 different fly-by-night companies that knocked them off and sold them. It has a darker color than standard Hyside blue so if it is a Hyside it is probably from the Rio Bravo Series (early 2000's). If it is a Hyside though, you should see some signs of where the orange parallelogram badge once was. On this boat there would have been at least two... The Rio Bravo series also had several issues with seams blowing out, so it could still be a Hyside...

Zach


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## BullSCit (Nov 12, 2003)

waterismyfriend said:


> It has the same geometry as a Hyside Mini-Me, but there were about 5 different fly-by-night companies that knocked them off and sold them. It has a darker color than standard Hyside blue so if it is a Hyside it is probably from the Rio Bravo Series (early 2000's). If it is a Hyside though, you should see some signs of where the orange parallelogram badge once was. On this boat there would have been at least two... The Rio Bravo series also had several issues with seams blowing out, so it could still be a Hyside...
> 
> Zach


I can't find a serial number or anything on it, and that is kind of what started this process. And I don't see anywhere that the Hyside logos were. Here is something else different about it, there is a zipper under the thwart right in the center of the floor. Here is a picture of it. Have little to no chance of being able to open it though. The guy I bought it from seemed like a good guy, and seemed to know a lot about rafting, so I don't want to bother him until I'm fairly certain it is not a Mini-Me. 

http://i1368.photobucket.com/albums/ag161/HysideOrNot/20140509_084542_zpsb072c00d.jpg

The main reason I am concerned is that I'm going to be using this raft with my wife to take our 3 and 5 year olds down some local Class IIish runs. If it already has had failed seams, what will stop the others from failing, and could it be so quick that my kids could be in danger? I guess that is a problem when you have one chamber per side on these smaller rafts.

Thanks again to all for the help.


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## formerflatlander (Aug 8, 2013)

Tributary makes a 9.5' raft with the airecell system (zippered bladder). And their boats are blue also. Would be important to know as I believe hysides are hypalon and tributaries are a pvc boat, requiring different repair kits.


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## BullSCit (Nov 12, 2003)

formerflatlander said:


> Tributary makes a 9.5' raft with the airecell system (zippered bladder). And their boats are blue also. Would be important to know as I believe hysides are hypalon and tributaries are a pvc boat, requiring different repair kits.


Yeah, but aren't the Trib's tubes also zippered bladders too? Is there an easy way to tell if it is Hypalon vs PVC? The guy said it was Hypalon, and was one of the bigger selling points for me.


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## waterismyfriend (Mar 30, 2012)

Well, the seam failure that I see is by no means repaired, and will grow over time, maybe very quickly, or maybe slowly... He may have momentarily stopped the leak but the integrity of that tube is completely compromised unless the closing seam gets rebuilt. I run a raft repair center in Denver and am the warranty repair center for Hyside, as well as many others. Don't go far from shore with the kiddos in that boat. 

That zipper is actually one that Hyside used to sell, made by YKK I believe. Strange that the floor has a bladder though. I bet the bladder has a serial # and country of origin stamped on it, though I'm afraid if you open that zipper it'll never close. If you decide to open it be sure to soak it with 303 before pulling on the zipper car... Do the valve caps have the Hyside stamp on them?


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## waterismyfriend (Mar 30, 2012)

It's not an Aire, it's definitely Hyside or Hyside knock off. I'm almost positive it's a Rio Bravo Series boat, or built in the same factory. I'll check with Hyside and see if they every tried an air cell floor. I know they made some boats with drop-stitch floors once upon a time, so who knows...


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## BullSCit (Nov 12, 2003)

waterismyfriend said:


> Well, the seam failure that I see is by no means repaired, and will grow over time, maybe very quickly, or maybe slowly... He may have momentarily stopped the leak but the integrity of that tube is completely compromised unless the closing seam gets rebuilt. I run a raft repair center in Denver and am the warranty repair center for Hyside, as well as many others. Don't go far from shore with the kiddos in that boat.
> 
> That zipper is actually one that Hyside used to sell, made by YKK I believe. Strange that the floor has a bladder though. I bet the bladder has a serial # and country of origin stamped on it, though I'm afraid if you open that zipper it'll never close. If you decide to open it be sure to soak it with 303 before pulling on the zipper car... Do the valve caps have the Hyside stamp on them?


Zach,
Thanks again for the info. How much would it cost to get something like that fixed or is it even worth it for a boat this old. The zipper has 3F stamped on where you would normally see a YKK. And on the valve covers, it is stamped Leafield C7. Is the boat worth $500 (how much I paid for it)?

BS


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## dirtbagkayaker (Oct 29, 2008)

BullScit, Can you post up some of the seam issues. The boat looks to be in fare shape. I can't imagine a full blown failure in class 2 waves... The boat looks like is was built tough. I'd just over compensate with good pfds. Are those the kids in the pics??


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## dirtbagkayaker (Oct 29, 2008)

waterismyfriend said:


> Well, the seam failure that I see is by no means repaired, and will grow over time, maybe very quickly, or maybe slowly... He may have momentarily stopped the leak but the integrity of that tube is completely compromised unless the closing seam gets rebuilt.


O - I didn't see that. That needs fixed before I'd take it out!


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## waterismyfriend (Mar 30, 2012)

Hmmm, it may or may not be a Hyside. Just not enough information to be sure. It was probably built in the same factory as the Rio Bravo Series, but it may have just been a prototype. Hard to say...

It probably is worth $500, repair will probably be around $200. I haven't launched my ad campaign on the buzz yet(should be on here in June though!) so I have to recommend that you send it to someone who is advertising on here. It's not too difficult of a repair, but one that I would highly recommend you do before putting your kids in the boat.

Happy boating my friend!

Zach Sack


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## zbaird (Oct 11, 2003)

A bit late to the discussion but I agree with Zach. I would think it was at "best" a rio bravo prototype or a knockoff. Some of the knock offs were fine and others had glue that failed once it was in the sun a few days, some of those pretty impressively. Hopefully it is just a spot that wasn't set well and isnt a boatwide problem. 

Since you are in Utah, I would have recommended syd sports for the repair but I heard they are out of biz. Not sure where else to send you up there. I'd be happy to have the boat in my shop if you wanted to ship it down. Since it is a light boat, the shipping wouldn't be a killer like some of the bigger boats.


Thanks for the recommendation Zach. I assume you were talking about me since Im the only repair guy with an ad on here, for the time being at least. Awesome that there is a new repair shop in denver with a guy named Zach running it. It seems Zachs are taking over the industry. I am already mixed up with DRE's Zach all the time since I do all their work and Im sure having another repair Zach in town will make for more fun yet. Id love to meet you and grab a beer, coffee, shoot some toluene maybe. Whatever suits your fancy.


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## BullSCit (Nov 12, 2003)

Thanks both Zachs. I called the guy up and he did say it was a prototype, but that was it. He told me that he never mentioned the company Hyside, even though my wife remembers him saying it, and his ad for the boat says Mini-me 9'6". I guess I should have been smarter on my buy, but I've found in the past that people that boat are usually pretty good people and like I said he seemed like a good goy. How you sell a boat that could have something like this happen when the guy brings his 3 year old with him, I guess the adage above is not always true. I'll be in CO several times this year, so will bring it with me.

Thanks again - BS


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## JHMainer (Jun 27, 2011)

Hey BS, There were several early start ups that were making these boats that had some major glue issues with the manufacturer, which eventually lead to them dissolving. These glues issues looked exactly like whats happening to your new boat. So I would make sure the glue on this boat isn't compromised before I invested a penny more. 

It might be a Big Water Raft Company boat, but i am unsure. I also thought they took all of the boats back so this wouldn't happen. If the seller knew this when he sold it, that is unfortunate, but karma is a b*&%@.


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## waterismyfriend (Mar 30, 2012)

zbaird said:


> A bit late to the discussion but I agree with Zach. I would think it was at "best" a rio bravo prototype or a knockoff. Some of the knock offs were fine and others had glue that failed once it was in the sun a few days, some of those pretty impressively. Hopefully it is just a spot that wasn't set well and isnt a boatwide problem.
> 
> Since you are in Utah, I would have recommended syd sports for the repair but I heard they are out of biz. Not sure where else to send you up there. I'd be happy to have the boat in my shop if you wanted to ship it down. Since it is a light boat, the shipping wouldn't be a killer like some of the bigger boats.
> 
> ...


I sure was talking about you Zach! A beer or MEK shots would be delicious, heck we could do both. Toluene gives me a terrible hangover...


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## zbaird (Oct 11, 2003)

bs,

Good idea to make sure the boat wont fall apart before investing more. Put the boat in the sun, you dont have to pump it up and i wouldnt recommend full pressure if you are going to leave it in the sun for days. Let it sit a few days or so. If it is one of the really bad ones like an EOP, the seams will peel easily. I havent seen any black EOP's but you never know. 


water, 

MEK shots, never could get it past my nose. Beer it is.

720 240 3628


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