I’ll be honest, I never really thought there was much difference in what anchor you choose for your raft or drift boat, other than the different types used for very specific river bottoms or volume of water. There are pyramid anchors, spike anchors, digger anchors, three sided … or even a bag of rocks.
They all work to some degree. Some better than others.
When I heard the pitch on Tornado Anchors I was slightly dubious, as chunk of metal is a chunk of metal, right?
I was wrong. After getting used to this thing the past few months (mostly on my drift boat), I gotta say I really really like it.
As the creator Keith Webster says, “The design idea was to create an anchor with more edges so that the anchor had more opportunity to grab the river bottom. This theory led to an anchor design of a series of stacked plates. The concept being that it would create a ribbed surface and more exposed edges. The anchor evolved quickly with the realization that these stacked plates could also be allowed to rotate independently. This rotation created an anchor that was able to react to its environment and create the maximum amount of drag. The Tornado Anchor was born.“
It’s got a few quirks, like a massively gauged post that you’ll most likely need a bigger d-ring than what you use now to attach it to your boat. Transporting it can be interesting as it constantly spins around said post. All in all, though, it’s certainly an evolution in anchors and I can say without a doubt a step up.
Check out the video review from Red’s Fly shop below, as they give a perfect description of how and why this anchor is superior.
It’ll cost ya some money, but it could certainly be worth it for many folks on many rivers.