Tired of renting canoes for $100. Thinking of buying one.

[aic]

Cabela's sells primarily Old Town canoes. I go once a year in a wisconsin river leading to the mighty mississippi. I could go more if I own one. I have a suv and van which I could put on top. Have no expertise on canoes.

 

[phisrow]

My family has had an Old Town canoe(not sure of model or anything) for years and years now. It has been through some tough times; e.g. wrapped around a rock in heavy currents and pulled out by a tractor, and is still ticking along.

Unless they have cheaped out between now and then, those are pretty solid canoes. I don't know if they are your best bet; but they ought to be just fine.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: aic
Cabela's sells primarily Old Town canoes. I go once a year in a wisconsin river leading to the mighty mississippi. I could go more if I own one. I have a suv and van which I could put on top. Have no expertise on canoes.

Are you normally the only one that goes, or do you normally go as part of a group? Just wondering. If it's only you, you could go for more of a kyak-type boat, like an Ocean Kyak Frenzy. They're not exactly cheap but, they're light, tough, stable, and from my experience will float in anything that's more than about ankle-deep water.

Nate

 

[moshquerade]

$100 to rent a canoe? for a day?

i have a Pelican canoe. i got it for less than $300 @ dicks sporting goods.

 

[aic]

I go for a 3-4 day trip. Just me in the canoe and my camping gear. Go with 2-3 other guys who are luckily sane so no wild white water. Kayak would be great but I do have to pack my gear so canoe maybe the best option. Just guessing.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: aic
I go for a 3-4 day trip. Just me in the canoe and my camping gear. Go with 2-3 other guys who are luckily sane so no wild white water. Kayak would be great but I do have to pack my gear so canoe maybe the best option. Just guessing.

you should really buy one (it will pay for itself easily with those rental costs) or look in your classified ads for a seller. a lot of fisherman upgrade from canoes and sell them.

 

[NTB]

Originally posted by: aic
I go for a 3-4 day trip. Just me in the canoe and my camping gear. Go with 2-3 other guys who are luckily sane so no wild white water. Kayak would be great but I do have to pack my gear so canoe maybe the best option. Just guessing.

If you're hauling a lot of gear, I guess a canoe would be a better idea. That said, the thing I was talking about wasn't exactly a standard kyak. Take a look

I'd love to have one of these myself; I've used my cousin's once or twice and they're a lot of fun

Nate

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
$100 to rent a canoe? for a day?

i have a Pelican canoe. i got it for less than $300 @ dicks sporting goods.

And, I got my Pelican canoe from B.J.'s wholesale, $299.99. It came with the paddles. For a couple of years, I considered it one of the best purchases I ever made, because of all the time my family spent in it. I haven't used it in 2 or 3 years (mainly because I have 4 kayaks, a 14 foot boat with a 4HP motor, and an 18 foot boat with a 190hp motor) but I'd never part with it. It's been perfect, especially for longer trips. I've done a lot of fishing from it, and my family of 4 went on a 4 day wilderness camping trip in one. Several of my friends have both kayaks and canoes; they continue to use their canoes almost as regularly.

Downsides of a cheaper canoe: The extra weight - 30 or 40 pounds more than really light canoes, means that by Archimedes principle, it'll have to displace an additional volume of water equal to that weight. Therefore, it has to displace about 4 to 5 more gallons of water. That's not a whole lot more, especially given the size of the canoes. That makes it sit a little deeper in the water, but not more than an inch or so more than lightweight canoes. Another downside is that since it's heavier, it's a pita to put on the roof of your vehicle by yourself. And, a pita to get it to the water from your vehicle, especially if you're by yourself. It'll also be slower, in case you were thinking of racing it.

Positives: you don't care if it gets scratched. You don't care if you run into rocks in the water. You can abuse it while having fun, without worrying about it. It retains its value. Even if the hull is all scratched up, you can resell it for almost the same price you paid for it - sometimes you can actually sell it for more. (Shop around for used canoes; you'll see what I mean.)