Attaching the Hull Straps

The River King frame comes with a set of six hull straps for attaching the frame to the hulls.

Rather than the dozen or more separate buckle straps used for most inflatable catarafts these six straps use simple snap-style buckle fasteners. This greatly reduces the amount of time needed to assemble or disassemble your boat and makes it easy to adjust the position of your hulls under the frame while on the river.

Note: You can actually use as many hulls straps as you wish but six are usually adequate for most fishing rivers. If you need to add hulls straps you can use conventional buckle straps or you an add additional River King straps like those described here for a more permanent setup. If you add conventional buckle straps install them so that the aluminum buckle part does not contact the fabric of the hull. This will keep your hulls looking new without discolored rub spots..

One end of the River King hull strap is anchored to the underside of the lower deck. The strap goes under the hull then up the side of the hull and into the adjustable end of the buckle strap. That end snaps in to the buckle strap receiver that is attached to the upper deck by a short loop of strap.

Installing the hull straps includes installing the three receivers along the outside edge of each of the two upper decks - and installing the six hull straps and hull strap anchors, three along on each side of the lower deck.

Attaching the Upper Deck Receivers - Position the receivers along the outside edge of the upper decks so that two are near the ends of the frame and one is near the center - like the picture above. The end anchors can be on the end of the frame or one or two stations back from the end. The center receiver should line up reasonably close above the joint between the decks if you have a two-piece lower deck.

The receivers can be attached at any (outboard) upper deck station. These stations are located at the ends of the upper decks and every 7-5/8 inch along the frame. Like all items attached to the upper deck deck stations they are anchored with a screw passing through a the hole in the 2 inch wide strap at the ends of the loop.

The screw can either be a screw that is already being used to attach a cross brace or it can be the screw that is part of an upper deck anchor. If it is a cross brace position then you can remove the screw holding the cross brace in position, place the ends of the strap loop under the cross brace and then reinstall the screw through the hole in the hull strap loop end.

Attaching the Hull Straps Using the Short Lower Deck Anchors - The straps are connected to the lower deck hull strap anchors, like the upper deck loops, with a screw going through a hole in the end of the strap. One piece of the anchor mounts on the surface of the deck with the screw passing between any two slats. It is positioned near the edge of the deck with the strap going down around the deck and then up to the upper deck anchors..

The strap is stapled to the bottom piece fitting that accepts the carriage screw. When installed the strap side should go against the slats. When the nut is tightened the strap is squeezed between the slats and bottom piece. With the screw passing through the hole in the end of the strap this provides a very secure anchor for the hull strap end beneath the lower deck.

Note: All frame structural screws are 5/16-18 stainless steel. In all cases they should have a flat washer, a split ring lock washer and then a brass nut for fastening.

Attaching the Hull Straps Using the Long Lower Deck Anchors - The Long Lower Deck Anchors are used to anchor the end of the hull strap wherever two lower deck sections are adjoined. This Top Piece also serves to hold the two deck sections together and effectively makes the lower deck into one long section when it is attached and the hull straps are tightened.

The hull straps passing under the hulls with this River King hull strap attachment saves a lot of assembly and disassembly time. Occasionally, you may slide over rocks that will temporarily grab the strap. This is usually not a problem and you'll only feel a slight bump.

However, if you float a low river in the fall for example, when you'll pulling the boat over many gravel bars and rocks, this continuous grabbing could wear and possibly tear your hulls straps.

In this case you can still attach the hulls to the frame in the conventional way assuming your hulls have D-Rings positioned correctly for that purpose - as the NRS hulls that we offer do.

In this case just use conventional buckle straps through the D-Rings and attach them to the frame upper and lower deck wherever it's convenient. The outboard ends of the short or long cross braces make good attachment points for the upper deck. Loop the straps up and over the deck slats for the lower deck. (Don't pull directly on the stringers attached to the underside of the lower deck.) You'll need at least six buckle straps for each hull.