C-Forum

Hi everyone, I would really like a new canoe, and am considering asking for one possibly as a joint christmas/birthday present. Obviously, my dream boat would be the L'edge, but I'm afraid it's out of my budget range. Could you all recommend some good canoes that can be bought used or new for less than $1000? To give an idea of my skill level, I can run stuff like Lower New, Middle Cranberry, Middle Fork/Tygart with no problem at all, and haven't flipped over on any of them the last 2 or 3 times I've run them. However, I do not know how to roll, but I am going to learn soon, and once I have a solid roll I will quickly move up to some IV+ V- stuff. I have ambitions to ultimately run some pretty tough runs like the Green Narrows, NF Blackwater, Great Falls, etc., and would hopefully be able to keep this next boat through thetime that I will have the skill to run such rivers. So, what would the best boats be for a mixture of creeking and big water in my price range? Thank you!

What type of boat do you have now, or what have you been using?

I ran the middle cranberry once... I can't believe you hit that without a roll. The level was 5ft when we did it, didn't seem like that much water, but it certainly wasn't your momma's class IV. I don't know what normal flow is though.

Get yourself a plastic boat, Prelude, Spanish Fly, whatever you can find thats plastic. For stepping it up, they will all do you well, and since its plastic, the resell value holds well. Its going to be an investment, but well worth it.

swimingmexican wrote:What type of boat do you have now, or what have you been using?

I use a Dagger Encore, a boat that I like and have no problems with; I have just constantly read that boats have been improving so much, and this is a pretty old boat

markzak wrote:I ran the middle cranberry once... I can't believe you hit that without a roll. The level was 5ft when we did it, didn't seem like that much water, but it certainly wasn't your momma's class IV. I don't know what normal flow is though.

Get yourself a plastic boat, Prelude, Spanish Fly, whatever you can find thats plastic. For stepping it up, they will all do you well, and since its plastic, the resell value holds well. Its going to be an investment, but well worth it.

It certainly isn't easy! But 5 ft. is actually a pretty high flow. I've run it as low as in the mid 3's up to the high 4's, never gotten on it quite as high as 5. The character of the river changes about every .3 or so that it rises or goes down, and it's always a new experience. It's probably my favorite run!

I've never swam/flipped on anything except for the first rapid (which happens to be one of the few with a pool below it) so I don't know from experience, but I've always thought that a swim would be more humbling than dangerous. I've run tis stretch 5 times I think, and have never noticed a particularly large amount of undercuts. Nevertheless, I might just not be very perceptive, and be putting myself in a bunch of danger eacht time I go out!

Thanks for the suggestions, I will definitely check em out

You sound like a capable canoeist, but the jump from an Encore to a Prelude is a pretty big one. You'd be going from a large stable canoe that will plow through a lot of water features to a short, tippy canoe that requires you to be on your toes. You could probably make the transition pretty fast, but you'd want to start on easier runs and work your way back up to Class IV.

I agree with milkman. The transition from really big boat to small boat would be quite an experience.

You should try a Viper 11 or an Ocoee. If you want to go shorter, try a Fly, but you'll miss the speed of a big boat.

Where are you located? I have an Esquif Taureau that I would sell to you for $500.

duh i got it, demo boats til u learn to roll one, then if ya got the money by then <chance> buy the ledge~

Probe 12 or a viper 11

Nothing worse then getting held back by your equipment... take the leap to the boat you'll need for class V now and you'll learn to love it. Its like buying shoes a size too big when you're a kid, knowing you'll grow into it. I found the Prelude to be way more stable than many people will tell you on this board, ridiculously stupid predictable (goes and does what you'd expect it to do) and surprising easy to roll, once i had it outfitted properly.

If you have an endless supply of money and can afford new boats every season, get yourself a viper or whatever. Just my 2 cents. Although in all honesty, you can probably find yourself a used viper, probe, detonator, whatever for $500 on craigslist. A boat that will last you through your progression would probably run more like $1,000 used.

Sent you a pm.

markzak wrote:Nothing worse then getting held back by your equipment... take the leap to the boat you'll need for class V now and you'll learn to love it. Its like buying shoes a size too big when you're a kid, knowing you'll grow into it. I found the Prelude to be way more stable than many people will tell you on this board, ridiculously stupid predictable (goes and does what you'd expect it to do) and surprising easy to roll, once i had it outfitted properly.

If you have an endless supply of money and can afford new boats every season, get yourself a viper or whatever. Just my 2 cents. Although in all honesty, you can probably find yourself a used viper, probe, detonator, whatever for $500 on craigslist. A boat that will last you through your progression would probably run more like $1,000 used.

I have to agree. My son went from a yak to a prelude for all practical purposes. He paddled a probe and ocoee 6-7 times till he found a prelude. Big jump but it forced him to get better quicker. This all happened since July. Loves a canoe now!

markzak wrote:Nothing worse then getting held back by your equipment... take the leap to the boat you'll need for class V now and you'll learn to love it. Its like buying shoes a size too big when you're a kid, knowing you'll grow into it. I found the Prelude to be way more stable than many people will tell you on this board, ridiculously stupid predictable (goes and does what you'd expect it to do) and surprising easy to roll, once i had it outfitted properly.

If you have an endless supply of money and can afford new boats every season, get yourself a viper or whatever. Just my 2 cents. Although in all honesty, you can probably find yourself a used viper, probe, detonator, whatever for $500 on craigslist. A boat that will last you through your progression would probably run more like $1,000 used.

Agreed. I went from an Encore to a Maxim. Yeah, I have swam a lot out of the Maxim, but I have learned a lot quickly. Now I have a L'Edge and a Probe 14 along with the Maxim, and feel I have a pretty decent "quiver" of canoes now. Get something you can grow into - you can always step down a class of river without cost.

Also - do you want new-new or new-to-you? I got my L'Edge for a VERY good price - shop around...