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ownership

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With the outfitting selection available, usually all brand new, from paddles to pfds, canoes to coolers, tarps to tents, why would anyone want to buy?
Just show up at the outfitters, choose and use to your heart's content. And then return it.
Is owning your own equipment all about cost savings, or is there more to it than that? Why own, when you can beg, borrow, or...rent?
 
For me buying my own gear is not about saving money, it's about using the stuff that is the best for my purposes and almost none of it is available from an outfitter (plus where I paddle there are no outfitters with "real" gear).
 
I like to do what I want, when I want … waiting for outfitter equipment requires planning. I like to get up, have a coffee and think about where Jake and I feel like hanging today - maybe out on a sand bar on a wisconsin river channel, or might want to paddle/explore a back channel … spontaneous opportunity. Rack the canoe and off we go. If too many people, rack the canoe and off to plan B.

I am blessed however. I live in the woods and have a couple of lakes and multiple Wisconsin River access points within 7 miles of my house. It is easy for us to get outside and do our thing.
 
There's quite a few canoe liveries nearby but I can't think of any that offer full outfitting for a camping trip. It's also convenient to toss my canoe on the car and hit the local river or lake without having to wait for the outfitter to open so I can paddle a few hours on any given day.
 
I needed an additional canoe for a trip and also wanted to test drive a 17' Keewaydin, $200 for a weekend.:unsure:
 
If you only did one trip a year to a well outfitted area like the BWCA renting might make sense. I go too often and day trips it can be short notice. Most of my gear was bought or made years ago so I know I’m ahead financially. I’m also a tinkerer so I’m able to make or customize my own gear to suit my needs, like the reflector oven.
Jim
 
I sometimes compare the work and expense of owning my cruising sailboat to chartering in the Caribbean every year...
My canoe and kayak are mostly used in the winter, when the rental outfits are closed. And they never rent sailing canoes.
 
No one in Maine does full oufitting
Yes there is outstanding canoeing
but no liveries
Liveries need volume
Ely and Algonquin and Temagami and perhaps Quetico are the only areas I know of doing full oufitting
 
Half of my enjoyment of the canoe is maintaining them and my gear in the off-season. I'm not even sure about any cost savings, but,
...you just can't sharpen an ax, knife, or fish hooks too much,
...can't apply too much snow seal to leather pack straps and Bean boots,
....can't sew too many repairs to seams on packs, tents, and tarps,
...can't practice too many new knots in the shop in front of the stove,
....can't restore too many beat-up old canvas canoes.

I would really miss an off-season without my gear to fiddle with.
 
simple, over the last 60 years I've probably spent no more than $6-7000 on gear, that's about $100 a year, and gets me as many as 25-30 paddling opportunities yearly for the price of a 7 day rental.
AND it's my gear- I know every quirk or issue with it, never have to settle for that last tent on the shelf or last boat on the rack, and there's no worry about damaging something that isn't mine...
 
I rented canoes for day trips in the many places I lived as a young professional with a young family—Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Texas, California—before I bought my first (of about 18) in my mid-30's. I've also rented canoes and kayaks many, many times when I was (cheating) on business trips all around the country.

Renting a canoe on the Big River in Mendocino, California, in 1980 convinced me to buy my own. After that, it was off to Planet Canoe Addiction and I've never needed to rent canoes or gear when at home or traveling from home.

I last rented about ten years ago when I visited a boyhood friend in Alaska for two weeks. Other than the OT Penobscot from REI Anchorage, most of the canoes and paddles available were junk.

I've never gone on an extended Canadian wilderness trip, but if I did I would much prefer to paddle my own Hemlock SRT. However, I could paddle any reasonable solo canoe if I had to, and I wouldn't mind using rented camping gear. I'll never go on such a trip now, of course, because of cost. When I had relative youth and income, I didn't have time. Now that I have time, I don't have the youth or money.
 
I've never gone on an extended Canadian wilderness trip, but if I did I would much prefer to paddle my own Hemlock SRT. However, I could paddle any reasonable solo canoe if I had to, and I wouldn't mind using rented camping gear. I'll never go on such a trip now, of course, because of cost. When I had relative youth and income, I didn't have time. Now that I have time, I don't have the youth or money.

If you don't count the gas to drive to Labrador, my 30 day paddle last summer cost me a grand total of $300 for the shuttle guy. The spring and fall trips on the rivers that flow into James Bay (South part near Moosonee), I've done 8 different rivers there and again other than $200 - $300 for a shuttle, one night in Motel and the train ($120) back from Moosonee to Cochrane there are no other expenses. Those routes are definitely wilderness, most only get a handful of groups each year and I have never met another paddler on any of them. Three of those rivers pretty much require a freighter canoe shuttle across the bay from the mouth of the river, that option would add another $500 - $600 (two canoes).

Tripping in the far (NWT/Yukon/Nunavut) north are really expensive and in many cases you will definitely meet other groups. Of course you could see Musk Ox or possibly a barrenlands grizzly or polar bear which you won't see around northern Ontario.

It's a two day drive from your home to those James Bay rivers.
 
I've never gone on an extended Canadian wilderness trip, but if I did I would much prefer to paddle my own Hemlock SRT. However, I could paddle any reasonable solo canoe if I had to, and I wouldn't mind using rented camping gear. I'll never go on such a trip now, of course, because of cost. When I had relative youth and income, I didn't have time. Now that I have time, I don't have the youth or money.

If you don't count the gas to drive to Labrador, my 30 day paddle last summer cost me a grand total of $300 for the shuttle guy. . . . It's a two day drive from your home to those James Bay rivers.

Thank you, recped; you've convinced me about affordability. I never considered Labrador and have never researched James Bay rivers. Now if I could only solve the old age issues, I could be there.
 
No one in Maine does full oufitting
Yes there is outstanding canoeing
but no liveries
Liveries need volume
Ely and Algonquin and Temagami and perhaps Quetico are the only areas I know of doing full oufitting
And most of the Adirondacks
 
I have two solo boats, no tandem. I've tried to convince my wife that having a reasonably priced tandem made sense, even for the annual trip I take with my daughter and her family. I also told her owning a tandem would allow us to do some canoe camping and day paddles together without spending lots of money each time. I said it would pay for itself in a few year. She said my "fleet" is big enough and I can go solo anytime I want for as long as I want. I figured that was a pretty good deal so I abandoned the idea of owning a tandem. We'll just rent for those annual trips...
 
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