Blackfly Option Review

Alden · Post by **Alden** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:26 pm

I just wish I could have gotten his antics on video!

An eventful day for sure. One of the kayakers with us swam and broke his leg. We ended up at the ER.

Not a good run to swim on, for sure.

Nice footage and paddling!

Craig Smerda · Post by **Craig Smerda** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:45 pm

Alden wrote:I just wish I could have gotten his antics on video!

It wasn't Gary Busey... was it?

RodeoClown · Post by **RodeoClown** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:43 pm

no, he was holding up a different finger.

MrTgrips · Post by **MrTgrips** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:48 pm

I thought kayaking was illegal!

Alden · Post by **Alden** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 9:41 pm

Two different fingers!

Me to meth head: "Are you a landowner here?"

Meth head: "I own both sides of this F-ing river!!"

Jeremy: "I don't think that guy is a landowner anywhere."

YTcanoe · Post by **YTcanoe** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:55 pm

Bump for Option reviews.
I'm heading down to a land of unfrozen water soon.

YTcanoe · Post by **YTcanoe** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:44 am

Any new OPTION info or reviews out there?
May order soon.

jatakasawa · Post by **jatakasawa** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:55 pm

Contact Gumpy (Joe.) He's been killing it on the creeks in the Poconos with it. One thing I can tell for sure from the Facebook photos is that it boofs well, but he's in a better position to give you more feedback.

gumpy · Post by **gumpy** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:41 pm

lovin the option more and more. been out creekin every weekend in it, and i can't say enough about how sweet this boat is. boofs awesome, very dry, nimble, predictable, and surprisingly quick! really a quantum leap forward in design. this is not your typical banana boat. very modern, very high performance, yet excellent stability. not tubby. feel free to ask me here, or even pm me about anything specific. or ask jeremy, he's very approachable and will return your call or email promptly.

TheKrikkitWars · Post by **TheKrikkitWars** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 5:47 pm

gumpy wrote:lovin the option more and more. been out creekin every weekend in it, and i can't say enough about how sweet this boat is. boofs awesome, very dry, nimble, predictable, and surprisingly quick! really a quantum leap forward in design. this is not your typical banana boat. very modern, very high performance, yet excellent stability. not tubby. feel free to ask me here, or even pm me about anything specific. or ask jeremy, he's very approachable and will return your call or email promptly.

OK, Given a choice between a L'Edge and an Option (all other things being equal), which would you prefer?

markzak · Post by **markzak** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:21 pm

I personally HATE comparing boats, providing feedback and doing reviews because in my opinion all of the boats on the market are great boats. We're really comparing small differences here and there, but I realize a small difference on a $1,500 or + investment is a big deal.

So here's my take after paddling Joe's Option, recognizing what I just said. I didn't roll it and I didn't boof it, Joe can attest that it rolls and boofs like a dream.

Joe's last summary is right on. I jumped right into his option outfitted for him, my butt wasn't even on the saddle, but it felt fine, I ran with the test. Immediately, my first reaction was that the boat was fast. Especially for me, coming from a Prelude, to note how fast the Option was. It has really continuous stability from primary to secondary and beyond even, where you feel very comfortable and in total control of the boat until the gunnels are at the water line, the edge is only really noticeable for carving eddies. Just sitting in flatwater you can lean it all the way over with no paddle in the water and lean it all the way back upright. Really cool.

Its far more responsive than my Prelude for snapping eddies. The speed and snappiness work really well together.

The boat surfs like a DREAM. I've surfed all the plastic creekers out there and I would take the Option into a hole any day over any other boat I've paddled. I think that consistent stability I mentioned above plays into the surfing really well.

The only somewhat downside that I found was it was a very slow boat when full of water. It handles great with water in it, even unnoticeable with a few inches of water in it, but when it is full to gunnels, completely full of water, it is a real hog. But theres no reason the boat would ever be full of water unless you were really surfing it hard in a hole on purpose. But all plastic creekers are pretty much a hog when filled to the gunnels anyway. Generally, the boat was very dry, stable and handled everything great. Very comfortable when paddling.

Surfing the option on the Nescopeck:

markzak · Post by **markzak** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:32 pm

If I had the choice between a L'edge and a Blackfly, I'd like to say I'd lean maybe a little towards the Blackfly Option right now. Recognize though, that I'm not in the market for a boat right now. Additionally, if I was in the market, I would get into an Ion and try that out first. I actually think the Ion could be a killer creeker for a more advanced paddler. But that remains to be determined on my end and I hope to answer that after the Armada.

I might choose an Option over a L'edge based on price; Jeremy is/was a Pennsylvania local and that gets points in my book; and just generally enjoying paddling Joe's Option for the reasons I gave above (speed, some snappiness but not edgy, and really cool continuous stability).

I haven't provided a full review on the L'edge, which I've paddled on multiple different occasions in high and low water. In short, its a great boat too. And I don't like comparing boats, especially not publicly. If you want to hear more thoughts, PM me and we'll hook up by email and phone. What advice and feedback I have might apply better when I understand your specific paddling style, skill, etc. Generalizing feedback that is applicable for boaters from class II to class V+ is impossible.

MarkWid · Post by **MarkWid** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:53 pm

Anyone on the heavier side of 225# have any thoughts? I know the L'edge is a good big boy boat, but the Option looks like it might be a bit on the small side.

I know I should just take one for a test drive, but if MarkZ can't get his butt on Joe's saddle there's no way my fat a** is going to fit.

markzak · Post by **markzak** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:22 pm

I didn't fit well because of his ankle block set-up. I would imagine any sized paddler would be being able to outfit the boat to be comfortable and effective. I can't speak about how it would move in the water for a larger paddler though.

Post by **PAC** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:23 pm

Hopefully BlackFly Canoes (Jermey or rep) can be at the Spring Armada over the 4/29-5/1 weekend for folks to give the boats some demoing. Although its not steep creeking (North Branch is a solid II with a III tossed in) folks of different sizes and back grounds can give it a go to provide feed back for playability and stability!

CU there.