Canoe opinions

[Hunter guy]

Looking at buying a canoe what’s the best to go with and why!? Aluminum or plastic thanks

Be just for going down a few tame rivers and some smaller lakes, just need some opinions thanks

[lyallpeder]

I have a fiberglass, I like it but having to store it out of the sun is a pain. I think aluminum could be stored outside. Aluminum can also be patched with duct tape for a quick fix.

Have you compared weights depending on how you’re going to transport it and costs?

[bsmitty27]

I would find a good glass boat, for what your looking at. A decent old royalex boat would be good but heavy. Stay away from cheap plastic boats.

[Blastoff]

Go fibreglass I had a plastic Coleman and dumped it for the fibreglass no longer have it now as I went with a kayak. Kijiji should have them from $100.00 to $300.00 used. Found the glass canoes just skimmed the water better, plastic seemed to drag more.

[Smoky buck]

Maybe it’s from childhood memories and the abuse I put my canoe through as a kid but have to recommend the aluminum sportspal canoes. They are light so they are easy to carry or drag. Pretty good stability and tough. I had a 14ft that would get dragged around into nasty hidden lakes, rivers, and ponds. Dragged over beaver dams and any other obstacle you can think of. That canoe went everywhere from the ocean to swamps and sloughs chasing ducks

The weight of a fiberglass I would have never made it into half the places I went. I also would have destroyed a fiberglass in less than a season

It treated me well

[58thecat]

1981 14' Coleman Tupperware garbage barge....still running strong...been on many a hunt, fishing trip and adventure.....even did the bowron trip in it....tuff as hell.


Oh and dropped it down cut lines to small remote island lakes, did a few unexpected white water too...

Lent it out lots and it came back solid as ever...not so much as the users as they had a few mishaps

[calgarychef]

My 2 cents...

I grew ip in a Coleman canoe, I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of hours in one. Heavy and sluggish but bombproof, quiet and you’re well insulated from cold water. I used mine to shoot rats in the spring a lot and it’s been pulled over miles and miles of ice and rocks. I always worry about the plastic cracking in the cold but it never did. Remember heavy and sluggish!

Aluminum, I’ve had 2 aluminum canoes (both got stolen out of my yard),
Light, noisy and friggen cold

Fibreglass/Kevlar Heavy ish compared to aluminum, both of mine were pretty nimble even the 19 foot freighter. Fibreglass is nice to repair if you have to, and you can keep adding patches forever.


NEVER Buy a new canoe. There’s oodles of them for sale all over the place, and you can find a really good one for $300 or less.

[58thecat]

Are you calling my canoe old, fat and slow?

[straight]

https://www.mec.ca/en/explore/how-to-choose-a-canoe

[scesfiremedic]

I’ve done a lot of canoeing (rivers, lakes, ocean - Queen Charlottes, white water, calm water). What are you planning on using it for? That makes a big difference in selecting the right one for you. Are you doing just a 1 hour paddle on a lake? Are you doing overnight or multi day trips? Whitewater/rapids?

I’ve paddled the plastic Coleman’s and they’re a tug boat! Not fun.
I’ve paddled aluminum- I’d never own one!

I’ve owned a few Clipper Canoes (Tripper and a Solitude). The Tripper is a beautiful boat - fast, roomy and stable. My brother and his wife paddled a 15’ Prospector shaped canoe on the N. Saskatchewan River and couldn’t keep up to me and the GF in our Tripper. They quickly sold the tug boat and bought a Tripper too.

Have a look at: http://www.clippercanoes.com/buying-guide/

Aluminum is very noisy, so if you are photographing wildlife or are looking for peace and quiet, not the right choice. They are heavy and slow! (aluminum plus gravel = noise!).

Fibreglass is very durable and easy to repair.

Trust me, if you get caught paddling in any wind, you don’t want a traditional style canoe with the large sweeping bow catching all the wind, it doesn’t make paddling very easy or enjoyable trying to steer the canoe on course. I know from experience. The Tripper or Sea Clipper are great boats! If you can afford to buy the Kevlar model, even stronger and lighter weight than fibreglass. Clippers are available at Totem Outfitters and are Canadian made!

[58thecat]

Given what the OP has put forth a fart aroumd general purpose lend it to,the kids canoe is what he would need...Coleman....I call them the garbage barge of the water....like I said got mine in 1981....

Also did a lot of fishing off king coho out in the ocean catching salmon in it chucking buzz bombs then over to the ferry docks to catch bottom fish too...never rinsed it off etc....never rusted....then back up to a mountain lake or run the puntledge River....hit lots of rocks....no repairs...

Now if I was a dedicated long hauler port ages etc then this is not for you...a clipper or something comes to mind...but sounds like you need a general purpose git'r'dun canoe...Coleman....

[catnthehat]

I have a squareback Sportspal, indestructible and as agile as a Gooney bird on ice!
However, with a small motor it hauled myself and my son and our decoys we needed for hunting, it is light enough to carry with no issues, and floats even when filled with water.
However, when I remember all of the nice canoes I have owned and paddled over the years, this is NOT one of them!
Cat

[owlhoot]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Are you calling my canoe old, fat and slow?

I believe He said Heavy and Sluggish LOL,
My old Coleman is a bit of a Sow in the water but it is stable and you can drive it up on a gravel shore, bounce off rocks, stand up for a...…..

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

I have a squareback Sportspal, indestructible and as agile as a Gooney bird on ice!
However, with a small motor it hauled myself and my son and our decoys we needed for hunting, it is light enough to carry with no issues, and floats even when filled with water.
However, when I remember all of the nice canoes I have owned and paddled over the years, this is NOT one of them!
Cat

I think you need a nice canoe and you can just let me dispose of that crappy Sportsapal for you

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

I think you need a nice canoe and you can just let me dispose of that crappy Sportsapal for you

I will be building canoes once again, starting this summer, but the Sportspal is going NOWHERE!
I will however, give you first crack at the firsst 16' strip canoe I build this year
Cat

[cphunter]

Have you ever considered a packraft? I have an Alpacka explorer 42. Awesome portable boat.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

I will be building canoes once again, starting this summer, but the Sportspal is going NOWHERE!
I will however, give you first crack at the firsst 16' strip canoe I build this year
Cat

I don’t blame you those Sportspals are great duck hunting and beat around canoes

Appreciate that but I am way to abusive for a strip canoe but definitely would be interested in seeing your work when you build one

[Mr Flyguy]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Maybe it’s from childhood memories and the abuse I put my canoe through as a kid but have to recommend the aluminum sportspal canoes. They are light so they are easy to carry or drag. Pretty good stability and tough. I had a 14ft that would get dragged around into nasty hidden lakes, rivers, and ponds. Dragged over beaver dams and any other obstacle you can think of. That canoe went everywhere from the ocean to swamps and sloughs chasing ducks

The weight of a fiberglass I would have never made it into half the places I went. I also would have destroyed a fiberglass in less than a season

It treated me well

You bet. I'm on my second 14 ft Sportspal. Can take it everywhere.

[58thecat]

If you are talking those ones wth the foam on the sides for stability I know they are thin cuz my grandpa had a few too many one trip and threw the anchor up in the air only to punch through the bottom....the swim back with the canoe in tow sobered him up...canoe didn't sink cuz of the foam that was attached to the sides...it had an Indian head on the front if my memory serves me right...sports pal...sports chief?

[Sundancefisher]

I bought a used Ram X 15 canoe. Works great. These coleman...now Pelican canoes are great for all round applications. Just note that a true river canoe versus a lake canoe are different in shape. I have paddled a lake canoe down a river...not as much fun, whereas a lake canoe is nicer to be in on a lake when the wind starts to blow.

I don't have a motor but some flat backed ones can work well for that also. You can also get different lengths.

Not the best time for Kijiji shopping but that is where I got mine.

[Hunter guy]

I just want it to float down some rivers on and nothing to dangerous something that will hold up decent I’ve been leaning towards a coleman

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

If you are talking those ones wth the foam on the sides for stability I know they are thin cuz my grandpa had a few too many one trip and threw the anchor up in the air only to punch through the bottom....the swim back with the canoe in tow sobered him up...canoe didn't sink cuz of the foam that was attached to the sides...it had an Indian head on the front if my memory serves me right...sports pal...sports chief?

Those are the ones

[Dewey Cox]

Ive got a 17' Grumman (aluminium)
I think it's great, but I've never used anything else for an extended period of time.
I like to think that during a multi day canoe trip the ability to pound out dents instead of deal with holes is an asset.

[Yoter]

I have a 17 ft. Grumman square back. Great boat with a two horse outboard.
All Grummans have a keel, square stern or double-end. Not good for river/manouverability but help reduce dfift on a windy lake. Aluminum also "STICKS" on rocks in rapids. Colemans
"Slide" over rocks. My 2 cents.

[Phil]

I have a 17' Coleman I purchased in the late 70's. It is not fast, it is not light (80 lbs) and it is not pretty but it has done everything I have asked for 40+ years.

Enough room for me, the wife 2 kids and a dog and very stable.
I have a side motor mount and with my electric trolling motor and with the battery sitting on the opposite side of the canoe it balances fine and works well.

I have used a 4hp outboard on the side mount on a moose hunt in Northern Manitoba but was very careful on how I packed to counterbalance the weight.

I had a friend who left one of these in the bush by his cabin in Northern Ontario one winter. When he went to get it in the spring he found a moose had stepped on it and the side was caved in. A couple of hours in the sun and it popped back good as new. Try that with an aluminum or fiberglass.

Phil

[raised by wolves]

Plastic and aluminum boats are heavy and slow. They suck. But they are great for someone who is clumsy, careless around rocks, or has kids or halfwit family members that are likely to treat it poorly.

Kevlar shells are great but they need to be babied. The light weight makes them fast and maneuverable but they are delicate.

Fiberglass is a great as they give the benefit of light weight, fast, nimble, and are much more robust than the kevlar boats. I have used many different canoes but the fibreglass are my favourites.

[Passthru]

Look up Hellman canoes. Best there is and Canadian made.

[Selkirk]

Originally Posted by Hunter guy

Looking at buying a canoe what’s the best to go with and why!? Aluminum or plastic thanks

Be just for going down a few tame rivers and some smaller lakes, just need some opinions thanks

'Google Is Your Friend' 👉 https://www.google.ca/search?source=...sclient=psy-ab

Selkirk

[Flight01]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

I will be building canoes once again, starting this summer, but the Sportspal is going NOWHERE!
I will however, give you first crack at the firsst 16' strip canoe I build this year
Cat

If you are at all serious about building canoes I’d like to get in on that. I’m looking to build a traditional freighter. Was just going to order from Norwest Canoes but building local would be very interesting.
Remember I’m only 800 yards down the street from you.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Flight01

If you are at all serious about building canoes I’d like to get in on that. I’m looking to build a traditional freighter. Was just going to order from Norwest Canoes but building local would be very interesting.
Remember I’m only 800 yards down the street from you.

Yup, always look at your place when I head downtown!.
And yeah, i have my forms already, just have to get after it!
Most of my work will be done down at the lake however.
If you are planning to do one at your place I could certainly give you a hand however when I am up here.
Cat