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I am soon buying my raft when the weather warms up & i wonder what accessories i should buy along with it.. Below is my list & please... feel free to add some things i might have been missing out.. I've been thinking about it for almost a year..
here it goes:
seats & anchor set-up
repair kit/patches
frame
3 oars
throw rope
ice chest/storage box
PFD
additional oarlocks
air pumps
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I raft with my friend & he has a 14' Otter.. And well, he outruns the rest of us!!! and even until now, i cannot figure out why! his boat just floats faster than ours.. what we have are cats, self sailing boats, & tub floors.. anyway, that Otter seems to be a good one! but first you have to figure out w/c size u need.. my friend had 4 other persons riding on his Otter & it's even overloaded i think.. but the river was gentle & he didn't have any problems with it..
as for the oars, you need to figure out if u want to use pins, oarlocks, or clips.. but for extreme whitewater rafting, i prefer pins & clips.. oarlocks are for more general use.. and if u evr opt for oarlocks, u still hv 2 decide if u only want stoppers or uprights to go along with them..but personally, i prefer them w/ uprights.. and perhaps it's a good idea to carry one extra pin or oarlock bec they do break.. but as long as the oarlocks are clipped in properly, one spare is enough.. they dont break that easily anyway.
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Air pumps are a separate issue.. a small hand-powered wonder Pump will do good.. but actually for speed & ease of use, larger Carlson or an NRS barrel pump is preferred. Foot pumps require less energy (i think), but they are not as fast as the hand-pumped type & they don't give as much pressure in the boat. A small high speed 12-volt pump wit batt clips for your boat can also be helpful. Buy a good 12-volt pump. That would cost u around 100 USD. But you will still need to top them off with a hand pump..
Only have one seat for the Oarsman and let others sit on a twart or to the side.. It may not be that comfortable for them but it's more flexible & it will allow people to get up & move around a little bit.. You can also do it w/o the rower's seat & sit on the cooler if u have one. In the past, i never really considered this an option but it worked just fine.
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Let me just add that u also have to consider what u want to wear..  I find a breatheable dry suit comfortable, whether rain or shine.. They allow you to get over the side & push the boat off the rocks w/o getting wet.. They might even save your life! But initially, there are other less expensive options to consider but i still think dry suits are the best!! Get the ones w/ socks & not simply those w/ ankle gaskets.
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lynette
Raft Driver
Posts 17
Points 17
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do you have an ice chest or a storage box? get one that can fit the frame & is long enough to fill the space between the side tubes. you also need lots of cam straps with different sizes to hold the frame in place and they very helpful to attach things to & to hold your gear in a pile. 10 would not be enough.
Consider getting a cargo net to cover & hold the gear pile, you need something to keep things from floating away if you ever dumped something somewhere. A flipped raft is inconvenient, i know. But a flipped raft plus your gear floating away is a much more disaster!
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1. Lots of big & small dry bags.
2. Couple of books (a) The Complete Whitewater Rafter by Bennett (b) River Rescue: A Manual for Whitewater Safety by Ray & Bechdel
These books will giv u the basics in rafting as well as extensive lists of gears!
3. Pin kit, dont forget! 
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Well... i suggest that you consider Oar river rafting paddles. They are very light and easy to pack and very stiff when used on rafting trips. I ADORE MINE!
And... of course, aside from everything mentioned by the others, dont forget to spend some extra bucks on oar tethers! bring a duct tape too as a part of your kit. and a carpenter's utility knife and fire starter kit, NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THEM!
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get a flip line! just a short rope in a small bag that attaches to the outside of your raft, usually one on each side. the purpose of which is that once your boat turns upside down, u can at least climb on top & reach for that flip line, then pull the end to the far side, stand up, then pull again the opposite side up, and flip it on top of u...so you can go backinto the water. it takes a bit of practice though.. but he, remember to keep your arms in front of your face, bcause the boat can hit you hard.. Flip lines really are helpful in wild waters
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Don't forget to bring with you a small propane plumber's torch, one u can use to light wet wood on fire & stoves. You need something to always keep a fire going and those ones are easy to pack...
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