Packraft Design: Creating High-Performance Inflatables

inflation manipulation: how alpacka raft's team designs its high-performance whitewater boats

At the end of 2024 we got lucky and had a super interesting and informative interview with Alpacka Raft Design Engineer Dustin Partridge before he left for three months of packrafting in Patagonia, Chile. We’re super stoked on Episode #11 and the focus on packraft design, the process of making packrafts, who is involved in that process (everyone at Alpacka), who the various whitewater boats were designed for and which boats you should consider for wherever you are in your packrafting journey. This is the first full episode of 2025.

Dustin is Alpacka Raft founder/owner Sheri Tingey’s right hand man, and a long-time employee at Alpacka. He came on board as the 15th or 16th employee and worked his way from flooring boats to learning how to build every piece and part of a packraft. And when it became apparently that both his pattern making and computer-aided design skills would make the company operate more smoothly and make Sheri’s job easier, she “stole” him from production.

In this episode, Dustin and I talk about Alpacka’s design process, his mentorship with Sheri, the design of the Valkyrie versus the Mage versus the other whitewater boats (and which boat suit which kind of boater), and the work he finds most difficult and is most proud of at his job. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!

PS. In addition to packrafting, Dustin also runs Tough Mudder races, and the mug shot we used for this episode is from one of those races.

Just a note to say we’ll soon be rebranding this podcast as, The Packrafting Life, a new entity owned and operated by myself and my husband, Steve “Doom” Fassbinder, that also includes all things related to The Bikeraft Guide and The Packrafting Survey.

~Lizzy Scully

YouTube Video featuring the Mage on Rio Negro, a Class IV river in Chiapas, Mexico.

This is an excerpt from Episode #11 of, “A Beginner’s Guide to Packrafting,” set to footage Steve Fassbinder took January 2025 of he and Andy Burr in their Mages on the Rio Negro, a Class IV river in Chiapas, Mexico.

The narration features an excerpt from the above Episode #11. In it, Dustin talks about the design features of Alpacka Raft’s different whitewater boats, focusing on the Mage and Valkyrie, but also discussing the Gnarlwhal, Wolverine and other “flat bottomed” boats.

Dustin and Lizzy discuss who should be in what boat and why. Some highlights from the YouTube video are outlined below:

2:37: How much should you have your seat inflated with your Mage?

The seat is there for comfort, but also so you can have your tailored sit height for how you handle the boats (depending on how much you inflate it). In regards to inflation,the seat is set up so that it will cover 75-95% of the people using the Mage.

4:30: The two differences between the Valkyrie and the Mage

Tube diameter and stern shape. The Valkyrie has a more advanced, “shaped” floor. Whereas the Mage has a flat floor, but the pad sits in the boat and pushes the floor down to give it its secondary stability. This design provides some of the capabilities of the Valkyrie, but it’s easier to manufacture.

5:28: Is the Mage more stable than the Wolverine?

That depends. The Mage has both a primary and a secondary stability. Gnarwhals, Wolverines and Expeditions are flat floor boats. So when you sit in the boat it is more stable in a primary position. On flat water it does not want to rock side to side at all.

Secondary stability is when you start to lean to one side and get on the secondary edge of the boat. On flat-bottomed boats, you’re on a round object. So the boat does not have a position that feels stable. It takes a lot of practice to be able to hold that edge without flipping over.

The Mage IS intentionally more stable in a secondary position. It is more stable also than a Valkyrie because it has bigger tubes and is a wider boat. It’s hard to get over the tube when you’re leaning over.

7:10: The Valkyrie is smaller and less stable, but more playful and engaging

The design of the Valkyrie’s floor increases your ability to get on edge and stay on edge and carve in and out of features on the river. It makes the boat more playful and engaging. You can do things that the Mage can’t do. But the Mage is better for big water like the Grand Canyon, as it has more capacity. And it is still a highly capable and fun whitewater boat.