Canoe And Kayak Nudist
For those who enjoy paddling down a river, or across a lake or chasing a shark in a canoe or kayak. Share your experience or encounter even if it's with the game warden.
- created by gabare
Preferred Canoe Type: Aluminum, Fiberglass, Wood, or Whatever...?
Return to DiscussionsI have done some canoeing, and have paddled both aluminum and fiberglass canoes - aluminum some years ago, fiberglass last year. I would like to own a canoe sometime in the future.
I was wondering if anyone has a preference to the building materials used for their canoe?
{Thanks in advance....}
Thanks, J_L. Most of what I foresee doing would not include any white water stuff. Mostly canoeing on the local rivers and canals, including the nearby Dismal Swamp Canal {S.E. VA. & N.E. NC}.
Thanks, J_L. Most of what I foresee doing would not include any white water stuff. Mostly canoeing on the local rivers and canals, including the nearby Dismal Swamp Canal {S.E. VA. & N.E. NC}.
Fiberglass would probably be your cheapest. They are fairly lightweight also. Both of my canoes are fiberglass, and one of them is 30+ years old, and the square-back one is almost 20.
It is basically a series of tradeoffs among cost, durability, weight, and intended use. Wood is just too expensive for me to even consider. Royalex is fairly lightweight and durable but roughly twice as expensive as polyethylene. Single layer poly is the cheapest but somewhat heavy. Another factor which may be important (it is at my age) is buoyancy. My wife and I recently capsized a rental canoe made of single layer poly which had no inherent buoyancy and it dang near sank before we could get it to shore. Multi layer plastics and Royalex have a middle layer of closed cell foam which provides buoyancy in the event of flooding. For purchase of a new boat I would probably opt for Royalex. If I came across a used aluminum for a good price I would likely pick it up. That is what I started out paddling back in the early 1960's so it would be fun to have just for nostalgia.
if you want something to beat around in on small lakes and streams i bought a pelican 15.6 ram-x last year at end of season new for $200. bucks. it's not the greatest but they say ram-x will take a beating. i was pretty patient since i had a kayak so i checked internet and craigslist but like everyone they overpriced their treasure. i bought mine in october or november at sports authority, i had actually went in there looking for a canoe and didn't see what i wanted and caught it out of the corner of my eye up on a high rack as i was walking out the door and made aB line for it.