Do you have issues with a jam cleat? You get to your hole or spot along the bank and let go of both oars to release your anchor, you have to tie it off to ensure you don't drift away, then when you go to launch you have to tie it off again while you're floating away.
If you've spent enough time on a raft, you've cursed at that cleat. We have. And after one too many fumbled tie-offs, we got tired of cursing and started building.
The Big Hole Anchorlok is a drop-in upgrade for the factory NRS anchor system. In place of the stock jam cleat, it mounts a marine-grade top of the line cam cleat — the kind sailors trust for halyards and sheets under serious load — onto a 6061 aluminum plate that attaches using your existing hardware. The result is dead simple to describe, and a real difference in the boat: pull the line down, it locks. Lift the line up, it releases. One hand. Under tension. Done.
We built it the way we wanted for our own boats. Assembled with marine grade stainless - steel hardware, the mounting plate is machined and finished to hold up to years of UV, water, and the kind of abuse river gear actually takes. The cam itself bites anchor line from 1/8" all the way up to 1/2", so whatever you're running, it'll hold. Working load is 300 pounds. Breaking strength is 750. That's enough for any fully-loaded 15'+ raft and smaller — which covers just about every fishing rig and overnight setup on the water. We also offer additional springs and rebuild kits for the cams if you want that extra security and fixability while on long overnight trips.
Need more line clearance for your frame? The kit ships with an HDPE riser and included hardware to raise the cleat off the deck. Don't need it? Leave it in the in your garage. The whole thing comes pre-assembled — installs with just a screwdriver, about five minutes, no drilling, no complicated instructions. It works with NRS anchor systems including the 2:1 and Slipstream models.
A note on where these come from: we build them by hand in Silver Star, Montana, a stone's throw from the Big Hole, the Jefferson, the Beaverhead, and the Madison. Every cleat that ships out has been assembled, checked, and packed by us. When you message us about fitment, you're talking to the person who built the part. We like it that way. We think you will too.
If you've ever wished anchoring your raft felt less like a wrestling match and more like flipping a switch — that's what this is for.