Tired of leaving your expensive whitewater raft outside and exposed to the elements? Tired of watching its color fade as the sun’s UV rays damage your rafts’ finish and degrade its PVC or Hypalon material?
Well it’s time to get Over It.
Literally, not figuratively. The team at Over It has developed raft specific covers designed to protect your whitewater raft from the damage exposure can cause. The Over It covers use very tightly woven fabric that blocks 98% of damaging UV. It will also shed most precipitation and any remaining material will filter the water through rather than pool.
Heed the raft manufacturer’s warnings!!
“Do not store your boat in direct sunlight, as the UV light will cause the material to break down. Do not store your boat under a tarp in the sun; excessive heat will decrease the life of your raft.” – MRM
This is why Over It designed their raft covers with tightly woven fabric. It allows for breathability so that under the cover doesn’t turn into a sauna.
“The breathability of our material is superior to any cover on the market, which lets your boat dry when it’s wet and stay cool in the heat. “ – Over It
When reviewing the Over It raft cover it’s very apparent that the cover has been designed specifically with whitewater rafts in mind. From the slots to accommodate oar towers to the multiple sewn in d-rings everything is very purposeful.
Over It Raft Cover Aesthetic Design Review
From a design aesthetic perspective I wasn’t sure I would like the draped approach Over It has taken. When asked about why their raft covers have this draped design Kevin Kabler, President Over It. Raft Covers had this to say –
“This is done for a few reasons… It makes it more universal since it will sit differently on different boat and frame configurations. One doesn’t have to fight the elastic to get the cover over the boat. You can create the same effect by threading a strap or bungee through multiple D-rings.” Kevin Kabler
Once we had an Over It raft cover to test, the advantages of the draped design were very apparent. Its shape and size allows for variability. For our purposes we’ve tested it with a 16’ RMR raft with and without its Down River Equipment frame, oar towers, and Bimini. In all configurations it was very easy to quickly and easily cover the raft and secure it to the trailer. Taking that a step further, it also accommodates three kayaks on top of the raft. After all, they don’t like the sun either and I’m not sure how much the neighbors appreciate the constant look of a kayak swap meet outside of our Durango CO office.
Q&A With Over It
When Paddling Life caught up with Kevin Kabler, President Over It. Raft Covers we had a few more follow up questions:
PL – Do you have anything specific that you’d like to call out that distinguishes the Over It covers from the competition?
Over It – “Everything… unique breathable long-lasting material that is made in the USA. Won’t pool water. Simple design to cover a wide array of boats and frame configurations. Sand color blends in with most landscapes to keep attention away, and keeps heat down. Openings for oar towers. Cataraft specific covers – medium cataraft cover will be available in the coming months.”
PL – Over It is based in Salida CO.? Where are the covers manufactured?
Over It – “Yes, we are based in Salida. The Over It raft covers are manufactured in Colorado. “
PL – How have the global supply chain issues affected Over It?
Over It – “Luckily, our main material is made in the USA and we didn’t have any issues with that. The only issue we ran into was some backorders on some webbing, but we were able to easily work it out.
Shipping costs and times (domestic freight) did cause some delays in getting materials, but only by a couple weeks. And we did struggle with finding labor earlier this year, as everyone seemed to…”
You can read more about Over It and their raft covers at https://raftcovers.com/
Over It raft covers are available to purchase at our partners CKS Online.
For more info on raft storage check out The Ultimate Guide to How to Store Your Raft
Do you have an Over It raft cover? Comment below and let us know your experience.