Boats allow for many options. All of these factors make it very popular to view a river from the perspective of a floating boat, and rafts and drift boats are two of the most popular watercraft for this purpose. Know your watercraft and how to use it. Modern rafts became popular after the World War II era as a means to travel rivers that could not be navigated in any other craft. Where wooden boats were once eaten up by large rocks and boulders, canvas and rubber rafts could travel without significant risk of serious damage, many times just bouncing off rocks that would shatter a wooden boat.
Rafts also have the advantage of being able to be transported deflated.
Before drift boats attained their current level of popularity, rafts were the primary means used to float rivers. Drift boats have their roots in old European whaling dories, which had very large, high, pointed bows to slice through waves and allow the current to be pushed underneath the boat rather than over the bow. Drift boats retain this design. But while dories were made of wood, modern drift boats are made primarily from aluminum and fiberglass, which offer many advantages over wood. Aluminum boats are durable, heavy-duty craft that allow you to scrape and brush minor rocks without causing serious damage, hold up better to typical wear and tear, and are affected much less by wind because of their weight.