Who knows Canoes?

snowdance

snowdance

Member
looking to buy my first canoe. Nothing special. Live block from the Fox River. I found a 15' American Fiber-Lite Patriot fiberglass W/birch look. Its a 4 person 630 LB. capacity. They want $150 for it. Is this a good price? I know this is a cheaper model, but canoes are not cheap and I cant afford any more. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
B

booondocker

New member
For that price you aren't likely to go too far wrong. Fiberglass is NOT aluminum, and they tend to be heavy, so expect to work more than with metal canoe. Other than that....it will be fine. Sometimes opportunity knocks and you have to be ready. Fiberglass can be repaired very easily.

If it doesn't work out...you can sell it again and buy lighter.

I would not buy it if you intend to do lots of portages, if it is considerably heavier than the aluminum unit.
 
J

jim_golding

New member
I have done a fair amount of canoing in the Sylvania Wilderness over the past 4 years with others. Overall the group finds aluminum canoes to be much lighter and easier to handle/steer especially when doing 5-10 portage a day some of which are very long. The fiberglass ones don't seem to track as well as they don't have a very good keel. It could have been the type they were using. For $150 you can't really go wrong though. When the one guy did move up to an aluminum one after a few years he said it was a lot better than the fiberglass. So if you are just going to be messing around, then the fiberglass one would be fine.
 
X

xcr440

Well-known member
snowdance said:
I found a 15' American Fiber-Lite Patriot fiberglass W/birch look. Its a 4 person 630 LB. capacity.
Click to expand...

15' is a pretty short and more manuverable canoe than most (17'-19' is more common) and at 630lbs cap., with two of you and gear and "beverages" it will glide pretty well......Not sure of the comparison, but I had a 17' Old Town Penobscot that was only 60lbs. Royal-X was what I was told the composite was......
 
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98panther

New member
IMO my from google search...... That brand seems to have been sold by Sears, and was lighter than most other fiberglass canoes. But from my experience..... Any canoe that floats, and in reasonably good condition. $150 is a deal. You can always sell for that or more.

I have a Gruman alum. I bought in the late 70's I won't sell it for $150 or even double that.
They are just fun to have around, and cost nothing to maintain or keep. I have had many larger boats over the years and always kept my canoe.
 
snowdance

snowdance

Member
I ended up purchasing another canoe. Same brand, but a 17' that came with 2 paddles and the cartop carrying kit. Same price. Took the maiden voyage last night on the mighty Fox river. Went about 8 miles and she didn't take any water on. She's a little rough, but nothing a little paint job cant fix. Thanks for everybody's advice.
 
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