C-Forum

I have been considering buying a tandem canoe for some time and I ran across a Dagger Dimension in great shape and hoped I could get a few comments from those of you that have one or has paddled one tandem. Stern paddler will weigh around 200 and bow paddler about 120. Probably never paddle anything tougher than class 3. 16 feet seems a little long by todays standards but other than that whats good or bad.
Thanks

I don't know the boat, so I can't comment on specifics, but don't let the length deter you, unless you plan to take it on very tight rivers. The manoeuvrability and dryness is probably more important, and these depend on rocker, and the fullness of the ends, and flare in the hull (I'm sure others will know be able to comment on this for the Dimension). Good paddlers will be able to turn a boat of that size to avoid nasties, unless the river is very tight.

It really depends what you want to do with it. But I would say buy it, paddle it, learn how to use it, outfit it with flotation and thigh straps, and you will be surprise how much a boat like that can do on medium to large size rivers, lets say 20 feet or more wide.... smaller than that and it could get a little busy...
If you don't buy it I would be interested.....

Buy it. The Dimension is a fabulous tandem. It paddles way "shorter" than its 16 foot length - very maneuverable, dry, and stable. Bag it out, and it's a great big water boat. Or load it up with gear and camp out of it. I have no trouble catching the same eddies in my Dimension on the LY as I do in a much shorter solo boat. That said, it won't do very well at either extreme - steep creeking or park and play. But it's a very versatile river runner.

If you do buy it, consider moving the saddles to compensate for the big difference in weight between the stern and bow paddler. Don't want the boat riding too high in front.

Best Class3/4 whitewater tandem tripping canoe ever made, IMO. Lots of rocker. Turns and spins easily. Makes a great canoe for day trips for people who like the bigger canoes. Excellent canoe to run big water like the Main Salmon, Snake or Colorado (I ran the Grand Canyon tandem in mine). In the last year that Dagger made them, our club put in a group order for 8.

The Dimension is a fantastic boat. Very stable and a great boat for tandem teams that don't have much experience.

I have used my Dimension with first-timers on a bunch of class II-III and light IV stuff.

Its a huge boat though, so for the big water stuff you will need to outfit it very well with bags...I've personally never used a center bag in mine, so I have shied away from bigger water stuff.

On our local Tohickon creek:

This was a three "Dimensional" trip down the Grand Canyon: http://vimeo.com/44293600. It's a long video, but just the first clip of running Granite shows you how good a Dimension can be in big water.

milkman wrote:This was a three "Dimensional" trip down the Grand Canyon: http://vimeo.com/44293600. It's a long video, but just the first clip of running Granite shows you how good a Dimension can be in big water.

It looks like a great boat for big volume rivers. (Looks like a great trip, too!)

That's just about the nicest Grand Canyon video that I've ever seen. Thanks for posting. You people can really handle those tandem canoes.

Thanks for all the replies. Sounds like I better buy that boat.