Harry Rock in his Explorer which was modified slightly for him but I don't know what the modification was. The demise of individual canoe companies I think means less special adaptations can be requested.
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Mad River Canoe - Been Nice to Know You
- Thread starter Mike McCrea
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My first tripping canoe was a MRC Horizon 17. 68 lbs in Royalex. I was a stud. Wonderful boat. Sorry to see the company go.
I had the Mad River Canoe catalogs when I was a teenager and to this day, many years later, I think of Mad Rivers as the perfect image of a canoe, even more so than a wood canvas OT or Chestnut. The Explorer, Malecite, Lamoille, TW, etc are what I think of when I see the word "canoe". I have an old FG Malecite in the shed that I love to paddle but weighs a lot at 75#. Even after paddling faster and lighter boats from other companies I still dig these old Vermont MRs.
I’m going to look at what I think is either a Malecite or Explorer, hoping for Malecite, in the next few days. It’s been maintained pretty good from my understanding. I already know I want this, but I won’t know the material until I go and see it. The seller mentioned she had reached out to MR with questions to appropriately come up with a selling price, and that MR told her it’s the version that “can hit rocks”. This wasn’t her canoe and it’s not language, but she’s doing her best.
So my question is… if it’s the Malecite FGX or expedition Kevlar, would this be decently suitable for areas that are rougher on the boat than my North Star in starlite? Understanding Royalex or T-formex is the better material for abuse.
Also, if it’s the explorer, which I know they made in Royalex, how much different is it than the Malecite? And is it decent to paddle solo?
So my question is… if it’s the Malecite FGX or expedition Kevlar, would this be decently suitable for areas that are rougher on the boat than my North Star in starlite? Understanding Royalex or T-formex is the better material for abuse.
Also, if it’s the explorer, which I know they made in Royalex, how much different is it than the Malecite? And is it decent to paddle solo?
Oh I guess I got one of the last ones made. Took it last fall to a boat in site. I didn't know I had to portage it from parking lot to water, 200 yards. About broke this old mans back. I didn't know much about canoes when I bought it. It's heavy and a bit slow, but it's durable, and it has served me well.
Been to Congaree Swamp. Local lakes camping trips 
It'll sure carry a load of stuff.
Roy
Been to Congaree Swamp. Local lakes camping trips It'll sure carry a load of stuff.
Roy
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The MRC rabbit was caught smoking within 8 feet of the entrance to Pelican Corporate HQ. It was his third offense.
As a kid in the '80s I had a Mad River catalog. It was really slick, like the American girl and yeti catalogs I see today.
Their canoes were high quality. The Explorer is a wonderful all around canoe, and the v bottom stiffens the Royalex up. However, they never seem to have established themselves in the big tripper, canoes canoeist love market. Kind of like Old Town. But if your strong suit is marketing a general use product makes sense.
I'm curious why Pelican doesn't try to bring that back. I get slick Yeti catalogs, and American Girl did great with my girls. But nobodies set me a slick canoe catalog. If Yeti can charge silly prices for nice imported tumblers couldn't Pelican sell some high quality canoes to these poor saps fishing from 9 ft sit on tops?
Of course they'd have to offer something better than polypropylene. Something like a 60-70 lb composite, like the base model Clippers.
Their canoes were high quality. The Explorer is a wonderful all around canoe, and the v bottom stiffens the Royalex up. However, they never seem to have established themselves in the big tripper, canoes canoeist love market. Kind of like Old Town. But if your strong suit is marketing a general use product makes sense.
I'm curious why Pelican doesn't try to bring that back. I get slick Yeti catalogs, and American Girl did great with my girls. But nobodies set me a slick canoe catalog. If Yeti can charge silly prices for nice imported tumblers couldn't Pelican sell some high quality canoes to these poor saps fishing from 9 ft sit on tops?
Of course they'd have to offer something better than polypropylene. Something like a 60-70 lb composite, like the base model Clippers.
How'd this go? Curious what you found
Almost a new owner of a used, but we’ll kept 1999 red Explorer in royalex. Almost because I haven’t quite convinced my wife that we actually do need this. If we don’t get it, the seller is posting it for double the price.
Paper canoe catalogs appear to be a thing of the past. Old Town stopped printing paper catalogs in 2019. They had a good run as shown in the link below.
Benson
The Royalex Explorer is a great general canoe. Great for 1-2 rapids and occasionally hitting rocks.
My understanding is the Royalex Explorers are normally 36" wide. This is a touch wider than some canoes marketed as tandem/ solos. On moving rivers it would be fine solo.
If she promised it to you below market value I'd go for it. You can always resell it. I really like having a Royalex boat for rivers, it's way more fun than worrying about messing up a nice composite canoe.
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From what I recall, the story behind this boat is a bit more exotic. Well, at least as exotic as cross breads between different Mad River Canoes might yield.
For a short while MRC mad a Royalex tandem called the Freedom which was along the lines of an Explorer with a more whitewater focus including less V, increased rocker and an even more flared entry. This model also gave its name to the Guide, therefore making it the Freedom Solo though the hulls had little in common.
What I recall from Harry is that this boat is the one and only Kevlar Freedom ever produced. MRC made it bespoke for him when they were his sponsor.
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In my experience, it's often easier to get forgiveness than permission
(of course, I'm divorced so take that into consideration as well).
The hesitation comes from a lot of things happening at once for us. Major vehicle repair has put us down to one vehicle. And our camp van needs new fuel lines, so my wife is hesitant to spend the money on this when we could be doing some vehicle work. Valid reasoning.
I think she’ll come around once she sees it in the backyard all cleaned up and ready for adventure…
I think she’ll come around once she sees it in the backyard all cleaned up and ready for adventure…
Better be careful, she might make you move out to that camper van.
I wonder if a Madriver in royalex would handle much different then the one I have that's made from the heavy stuff?
Roy
I wonder if a Madriver in royalex would handle much different then the one I have that's made from the heavy stuff?
Roy
Wait, is Royalex not the heavy stuff? I thought all the Royalex boats were up in the 70-80 pound area.
65-75 lbs is probably more representative for a 16ft Royalex/T-formex tandem. Mad River made triple layer polyethylene canoes branded Triple-Tough. They were about 85 lbs.
As an average guy, I found that last 15 lbs to be the worst. I can shoulder a 70 lb canoe comfortably and carry it a few hundred yards through the woods. But 85 lbs seems ungainly to shoulder and unwise to carry over uneven ground.
Yes I've the triple layer back breaker. I took a small trip last fall and had to portage everything from the parking lot to lake shore, about 200 yards. I thought for sure that beast was going to break my back.
Roy
Roy
can confirm.. my MR Explorer was a shell with rotten gunwales, overgrown by vines, when I picked it up free off Craigslist. After repairing multiple cold cracks and replacing the gunwales, it is a fair 65lb. That's the upper limit of what I am willing to carry anymore. In fact we used this on our first BWCA trip, as the lightest flatwater boat in the stable.. the OT Discovery at 85lb was not an option. The Explorer is a 1976 boat..
My first and only solo whitewater boat is the MR Outrage, paddled a number of other boats, this is still the most responsive while still forgiving hull I know. It's from the mid-90s so I confidently expect it to outlive me..
there's a good selection of flatwater boats these days, if you have $3000 or more to spend. Whitewater is still a niche in a niche sport, luckily there's still a few makers building boats - Esquif, Silver Birch, Empty Canoes are what I can think of.
But yes, the MR rabbit and all his boats are sadly missed..
