Big Dog Force OC1 review

[the great gonzo]

A few people have asked me about my impressions of the Big Dog Force OC1, so here they (finally) are. I wanted to wait with them until I had a good variety of runs done in it. So far I have run the Ottawa river in Canada as well as the Caldera in Panama, the Chorro (Labyrintho) section of the Naranjo, the Volcan and the Pilas, San Miguel and La Virgen sections of the Sarapiqui here in Costa Rica. Other boats I have recently paddled and that I will use for comparison purposes are the Prelude, L'Edge and Option.

First off, I love the Force. I have access to a number of boats here in the Esprit fleet in CR (L'Edge, Option, Ion, Prelude, Spanish Fly, Taureau). Bob McKee from Big Dog and Cacho (Roberto) from MiTierra have been generous enough to let me borrow the Force OC1 that Bob was paddling last January when he paddled here in Costa Rica. Once I had the boat more or less set up and fitted for me it quickly became my go-to boat. Haven't paddled any other OC1 since.

It is, for being about a foot shorter than the three above mentioned boat, just as fast. maybe a tad slower than the Prelude, but on par with the Option and L'edge.
The Big dog Force accelerated extremely well, a few strokes get it up to top speed quickly. This is aided by the ease of doing crossbow strokes thanks to the low bow deck. top marks for it in that aspect.
It is very stable. The primary stability is not quite as rock Solid as in the L'Edge, but just a hair behind it, about on par with the Option and miles ahead of the Prelude. Secondary stability is outstanding, I have yet to use a righting pry in it. I had several near flips that would have required a strong righting pry in the Prelude st stay upright, but the Force recovered with just a lean alone. The stability is very confidence inspiring and lets me concentrate on the line instead of keeping the boat upright. Even full of water, it retains it's stability really well.
It is the most maneuvrable of the 4, thanks to its short length. Spins as easily as the Prelude, carves as nicely as the L'edge. I think this is due to the hull shape being rounded in the ends, with a flattish semi-planing hull with rails in the center.
It is, considering it's low volume and shape, surprisingly dry. That is, not as inherently dry as a L'edge. If one just floats straight down into big waves, it will be wet. But a bit of angle and edging makes a huge difference there. The one criticism I have concerning dryness is that the splash lip that has been added does not seem to work as well as I expected it to. It's shape is not quite aggressive enough, and so instead of deflecting water outwards, it seems to deflect it upwards and then it seems to fall inward, with a lot of it ending up in the boat anyway.
Boofing it is a delight, dead easy, and a good way too to keep it actively dry, waves can be boofed in it, too.

I am not going to get into comments about the outfitting, as the boat I am paddling here in CR is a prototype with a non-production foam saddle. The outfitting of my boat in Canada has been significantly modifyed, as I prefer my boat outfitted C1-style without foot pegs but with thigh straps.

To summarize it, it is an awesome boat for technical paddling with it's maneuvrability. I would call it the surgical tool of open canoes, that easily allows one to slice and dice through rapids and drops. It's handling is in a way very similar to a C1, which I really like, as I probvably spend more time in C1's than in open canoes. A great boat that will be my go to OC1 for the next few years to come.

Anyone who is joining us here at Esprit this Winter in Costa Rica is welcome to try it. If anyone has more questions, let me know.

Cheers and a Happy New Year!

TGG!

[VTBoater]

Thanks for the great review!

I wonder how it would compare to the Ion? I ask mainly because of length, I guess--not sure if the hull shapes are compatible.

[the great gonzo]

Cant really compare the two. The Force is primarily a creeker/riverrunner, which will play as well, while the Ion is in my opinion, more of a riverrunning playboat, but one can creek in it, too
Last time I paddled the Ion was over a year ago, so my memory is a bit fuzzy.
They are not really comparable length wise, the Ion is only 6'10 " long, while the Big Dog is 8'2" long, over a foot longer. This added length for the Force combined with the Ion being quite boxymakes a big difference in speed with the Force baing quite a bit faster. Handling wise they are also, as far as I can remember from my time in the Ion, totally different boats. They are targeted at different audiences imho.

TGG!

[DougB]

Sounds pretty good. I am looking into another boat. I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on a Spanish Fly but I'd really like to try this out first after reading your review.

[the great gonzo]

Doug, you are welcome to try my boat in the spring. I will be at MACKfest, if there is water.

TGG!

[Pierre LaPaddelle]

Thanks, TGG, for the comprehensive comments. Much appreciated.

Would be grateful for one more slice of information: how does the Force roll, compared to the Option, the Prelude, and L'Edge?

(And -- Happy New Year!)

Rick

[the great gonzo]

Rick, once properly fitted the Force is the easiest rolling OC1 since the old Dagger Quake.

TGG!

[Pierre LaPaddelle]

. . . the Force is the easiest rolling OC1 since the old Dagger Quake . . . TGG!

Thanks, Gonzo. Makes sense, as its design was based on a kayak hull.

That said, I should be asking you how the Force compares to mutually-known C-1s. How would you compare/constrast it to, say, the Fink?

Thx.
Rick

[the great gonzo]

. . . the Force is the easiest rolling OC1 since the old Dagger Quake . . . TGG!

Thanks, Gonzo. Makes sense, as its design was based on a kayak hull.

That said, I should be asking you how the Force compares to mutually-known C-1s. How would you compare/constrast it to, say, the Fink?

Thx.
Rick

Rick,

Yes, you should ! The main differences between the Force and the Finkenmeister are, apart from one being decked vs one being open, that the Force trades off a little bit of speed for a more noticeable gain in maneuvrability and a substantial gain in primary and a noticeable one in secondary stability.
Can not comment about resurfacing and such things in the Force, as I have not taken it off any sort of significant drop yet.
If Big Dog ever decided to make a C1 version of it (I am talking about a proper C1 here, not a riveted or bolted on cockpit rim a la Taureau C1, they would have the (however small) C1 creeking market absolutely cornered IMHO.

TGG!

[kmcinturff]

Thanks for the excellent review! Is this boat comparable to a Taureau? I always thought they looked a little similar?

I would love to hop in one sometime, but I haven't seen any to try out. Would be great to have a test paddle event, or perhaps try one out at ALF.

[the great gonzo]

There are some superficial similarities as far as the deck shape is concerned, but the hulls are quite different. It's been a few years since I was in a Taureau, but I did not particularly like it, very slow and busting my knuckles on the seam was not enjoyable, either. After a few rapids I happily switched back in my own boat, a Prelude at the time.
I can't really do a comparison, since my memory of the Taureau is fuzzy, but the Force is faster and overall suits my paddling style better.

sorry, I will not be able to make it to ALF, but I will be in Southern Ontario at MACKfest in April. I will be at Esprit once again this summer, so if anyone is in the Ottawa river area and wants to try it out, just give me a shout.

TGG!

[Frankie]

Eli Helbert will be bringing a Big Dog Kayaks OC1 Force to the ALF 2013 - hopefully whoever wants to will be able to have a quick demo of the boat then.

Happy 2013,

Chris

[Eli]

Frankie beat me to it...I will have the Big Dogs Force and numerous Esquif Canoes at ALF. If anyone wants to demo a canoe before then, please contact me directly at eli@thecanoeguru.com. I also have the Big Dogs Kaos available in my fleet...

[Gavin]

I have a demo now and I have one more new one in stock. I am in North Alabama. I need to do some more outfitting to the demo, but you all are more than welcome to try it. Email me at rainsinc@gmail.com is you need any help. Cheers,

Gavin

[sbroam]

Chris and Eli showed up at our Ice Man races down on the Saluda (http://saludayakerz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6459" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) - it was great meeting you, Chris, and seeing you again, Eli! I got to hop in the Force OC1 briefly. I really didn't fit in it between the factory outfitting and Eli's added foam, but I was impressed. The negatives first - it is heavy (no surprise) and it was hard to get a grip on it to lift/dump it (not much "gunwale"). But... even though I couldn't even get my butt down on the seat it was stable, predictable, nimble, and quick. I was immediately comfortable enough to spin it in a small hole and cross currents. I can completely relate to Martin saying it paddled like a C-1 - it felt a lot like my Remix (crossed with a Spanish Fly).

My 13 year old hopped in it and after a couple of minutes said he liked it - I asked what he liked and he said "i can make it go where I want easier than your Spanish Fly".