what canoe?

[Frans]

Guys (in the bisexual sense... girls not explicitely excluded by this salutation)

I'm looking at canoes... what would be a good source for a general purpose lake/easy river canoe, that would allow one to haul some stuff?

I just plug in Canadiantire.ca and mec.ca and see an immediate price difference of $1000 between MEC's cheapest and Crappy Tire's offer, so I figure I'd better educate myself before parting with the cash.

Frans

[Homesteader]

Ya gets what you pay for. I am looking at the evergreen prospector from MEC, if you can get ahold of Bigbull he knows his canoes pretty good. The prospector design is supposed to be one of the best allround designs, with good secondary stability. Depends on your needs I guess. Are you going to be packing it around lots, lighter is better for that purpose for sure. I don't think the kevlar jobs are any stronger, but they are lighter and just as strong. If you just want something you can leave somewhere or you know it's going to get beat on then pick up a decent used one, then if you like it and learn more, move up to what you want then.

[Deercove]

If you buy a cheap prospector design, and are able to avoid knocking it around, running onto rocks, and portaging it, you should be fine.

[Tundra Monkey]

One thats got a spot for a kicker :evilgrin:

tm

[Deercove]

...I am looking at the evergreen prospector from MEC, if you can get ahold of Bigbull he knows his canoes pretty good....

I have had the fibreglass MEC evergreen prospector for a few years. I like the weight for portaging and the ease with which it moved through the water and have gotten use to its responsiveness to paddler movement. I would not recommend it as an expedition canoe as it is lightly constructed.

[CNP]

Guys (in the bisexual sense... girls not explicitely excluded by this salutation)

I'm looking at canoes... what would be a good source for a general purpose lake/easy river canoe, that would allow one to haul some stuff?

I just plug in Canadiantire.ca and mec.ca and see an immediate price difference of $1000 between MEC's cheapest and Crappy Tire's offer, so I figure I'd better educate myself before parting with the cash.

Frans

X 2 on you get what you pay for.

The CTC 15.5 canoe is heavy (80 lbs!), but extremely durable. I don't know what it's made of but it's not glass/kevlar/carbon. It's an ice breaker resembling a canoe.

Glass/Kevlar/carbon canoes are lightweight and easily carried by one person...the better ones will have the centre thwart milled into a yoke or padded to make it easier for one man to carry overhead. You can get one of these canoes at half the weight of that CTC brute. Longer canoes are faster, easier to keep on track and can carry more.......I wouldn't go less than 16 feet (15.5 is close enough).

[murphy]

Try these websites for canoe info.
www.myccr.com
www.westerncanoekayak.com

[The Fisherman Guy]

I bought a flatback canoe from a guy who runs a factory out of Cochrane. Excellent canoe; holds three comfortably(up to 700 lbs), durable, good construction, and very reasonably priced.
The man, Larry, that helped me was very knowledgable, and a great guy who has a variety of different canoes from 12' to 38', for all kinds of water activities.

I strongly reccommend him and his canoes, made in the Northwest by Northwest paddlers. I bought mine for 1000 bucks, new with a yolk and 3 nice ash seats. Plus my electric motor fits fine on there!

PM me if you want any more info.

http://www.northwoodscanoe.com/

[Dark Wing]

The guys I know who do a lot white water canoeing all use Clipper canoes. Google the sight for all the info you need. Like the guys say you get what you pay for. Years ago I took a half day canoeing course , a good idea if you want to do a little river paddleing.

[calgarychef]

Frans I'm shocked!!! You a big time hunter guy and supporting MEC??? Spend your money elsewhere my friend, they use the profits from YOUR purchases to support groups who would end hunting. If you're not too picky you can always find nice canoes in the bargain finder. If it's for fla****er use a keel is nice on the rivers a keel is not nice.

the chef

[jrs]

I have a 17' Coleman Canoe from Costco (was $600), we (me and my brothers) have used it a ton. We used to canoe up and down the Oldman for fishing, it can be loaded to the gills with gear (750 lbs of people, tackle, coolers, rods, rocks i found on the way out) and can handle abuse. Its a good sturdy unit on rivers, I've used it for lots of lake fishing as well, haven't tipped it yet. The Canadian tire 15' is a beast compared to the longer models. I have one for work, its tipped many times and has a crack in the hull even after light use with a maximum of two people and maybe 50 lbs of gear. I've tried more expensive canoes and appreciate the better handling and stability but depending on what you're going to use it for it may not be worth spending $3000. I really want to use it for deer hunting sometime but haven't found a way to be more effective than walking.

[Dark Wing]

The Canadian tire 15' is a beast compared to the longer models. I have one for work, its tipped many times and has a crack in the hull even after light use with a maximum of two people and maybe 50 lbs of gear. I've tried more expensive canoes and appreciate the better handling and stability but depending on what you're going to use it for it may not be worth spending $3000. I really want to use it for deer hunting sometime but haven't found a way to be more effective than walking.[/QUOTE]

I had one of my worst canoe trips with a the 15' colemen( did it have the flat back). We had 3 guys in the boat and a little bit of fishing gear. The water was up to the gunnels and every time we hit rapids we sunk. Did the muskeg river in high water from below the falls to the Smokey river, glad it was a fairly tame river.

[prospector]

For a good general purpose canoe I would suggest checking out the Mad River Explorer 16TT. We've used this (and several other brands) on flat water and mild whitewater weekend trips. These have a very versatile design and construction and would be my first choice for under $1000. Valhalla Pure Outfitters has them for $799 - a pretty solid buy in my opinion. They also have a unique gunnel system to attach accessories.

If you're going to use the boat on moving water it would be safer to avoid a keel. If you end up sideways in shallow water it can catch on the bottom and dump you pretty quickly. Something in a plastic/abs composite like Royalex or Triple Tough will serve you much better for rivers, they can take way more abuse, which will happen on pretty well any river. Fiberglass layups may be cheaper, and kevlar much lighter, but not as durable for bouncing off rocks. The one I mentioned above has decent rocker (curved front to back on bottom) to allow quick maneuvers, but is still easy to handle on flat water - tracks well. If you're looking for compromises this one is hard to beat. Good luck in your search.
:)

[bsmitty27]

if you are looking for a rec canoe for puttering arround for 2 people and stuff for a day the old town guide 14'7 is hard to beat. it is sluggish because it is only 14'7 and it does oil can a bit. But if you are not interested in winning races or not going to be carrying more than 500 lbs of stuff It is a good buy on sale at times for 499.00 at crappy tire.

From what you have described I do not assume you would be portaging much, this being the case, weight is not as much a factor (although you want to be able to load the canoe your self) I would stay clear of expensive composites the only real advantae they give is light weight. if you are not portageing I would not worry about it. That breaks your decesion down to fiberglass or a poly material. If you like glass go with galss. but poly boats are very forgiving if you are doing much river paddleingthey are a little more durrable. a little heaver though.

Good luck

Brad

[Frans]

Frans I'm shocked!!! You a big time hunter guy and supporting MEC???

Never said I would BUY it there... just checked their website for info.

Frans

[murphy]

I agree with Prospector's comments about the MadRiver Explorer. Good value there. Great first boat for someone who doesn't know canoes that well and way better than anything Can Tire or Costco would have.

As far as Clippers go, there are diff models and choose carefully. The Ranger I have has been on alot of rivers and in the big waves alot of water comes in on the bow paddler's lap! It does track well and is very stable and holds alot of gear.The ranger's shape was changed after I bought this one though and they may be better now. I think their prospector would be drier in waves but wouldn't track as well and may be harder to keep straight in the wind. Western canoeing has a canoe selector on their website and a section on the various shapes and how they affect performance.

I bought a Nova Craft prospector this year from Totem in Edmonton and can definitely recommend it for river tripping. It's quite dry and turns quick, but it would be more challenging for a beginner to keep straight sometimes. It was over $2000 in royalex lite but a poly one would be alot less.