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- Jul 23, 2019
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Im looking into possibly getting a solo boat as my partner is moving abroad to go back to school. We have a 17.5 prospector that is too big for me to paddle on my own. I know there’s a handful of these posts around but I didn’t see anything too recent and everyone’s preferences are different as well.
Me and what i paddle:
5’10”
150lbs
28 years old
fairly fit
Live in British Columbia
gear is likely 50lbs + food depending on the length of trip
I try to avoid paddling lakes and prefer to paddle class 2 rivers. As I get back into it I’ll want to be able handle some class 3. Anything above that I’d line/portage if tripping or get a specific ww play boat.
I’m experienced enough I guess but not well practiced. I hadn’t paddled much in the last 5+ years till getting the prospector this year. Before that I had been in a tandem up to maybe class 2+ and kayaked class 3-4.
Ideally I want something I could take out for the day or up to a couple weeks. I’ve got dreams of multi-month trips but I’ll find a boat suited to that when it actually happens.
I imagine I’ll buy new as I don’t see many used coming up (solo ones anyway) anywhere near me.
Canadian made boat would be a bonus as our dollar and duty is terrible. The Canadian solos I’ve looked into all seem like they have a lot more lake tripping DNA in them than river running though.
The Northstar Phoenix IXP and Hemlock SRT (don’t know anything about the durability) keep coming up in what I’ve read so far (really expensive to get to the west side of Canada though). If anyone has other suggestions or comments about those that’d be great. Although solos don’t take hits as hard as tandems durability is bigger factor than weight. I’m not against something like t-form but composites seem to be so strong these days and easy enough to fix that they’re probably worth the weight saving.
Cheers
Me and what i paddle:
5’10”
150lbs
28 years old
fairly fit
Live in British Columbia
gear is likely 50lbs + food depending on the length of trip
I try to avoid paddling lakes and prefer to paddle class 2 rivers. As I get back into it I’ll want to be able handle some class 3. Anything above that I’d line/portage if tripping or get a specific ww play boat.
I’m experienced enough I guess but not well practiced. I hadn’t paddled much in the last 5+ years till getting the prospector this year. Before that I had been in a tandem up to maybe class 2+ and kayaked class 3-4.
Ideally I want something I could take out for the day or up to a couple weeks. I’ve got dreams of multi-month trips but I’ll find a boat suited to that when it actually happens.
I imagine I’ll buy new as I don’t see many used coming up (solo ones anyway) anywhere near me.
Canadian made boat would be a bonus as our dollar and duty is terrible. The Canadian solos I’ve looked into all seem like they have a lot more lake tripping DNA in them than river running though.
The Northstar Phoenix IXP and Hemlock SRT (don’t know anything about the durability) keep coming up in what I’ve read so far (really expensive to get to the west side of Canada though). If anyone has other suggestions or comments about those that’d be great. Although solos don’t take hits as hard as tandems durability is bigger factor than weight. I’m not against something like t-form but composites seem to be so strong these days and easy enough to fix that they’re probably worth the weight saving.
Cheers