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I'm firmly in the no exterior skid plate camp. Ugly, slows the boat down, can't sand Kevlar, not sure they even protect the place that get's the most wear. Internal skid plates are another matter. I usually order them on my composite canoes. Not so much for wear, but for impact protection. I...

Right now, I have a Northstar Northwind solo, in Blacklite and an Esquif Echo. I would say the Northwind is better at whitewater but slower on the flats than I thought it would be. The Echo would be everything I thought it would be except it's low freeboard rules it out for anything more than...

I periodically send friends an email with the subject line, another thing I should have done when I was younger. I turn 70 in 2024. I have a compromised cardio vascular system, but other than that, my only major problem is arthritis in my left hip. I can still do a lot, but a couple things I...

Who makes the Foxfire? Is that an old Bell design?

Northstar designs their boats so they are widest at or just a few inches below the gunnels. This gives them better secondary or ultimate stability but may reduce initial stability a bit. I have a North Wind solo that is designed that way and it seems pretty stable. Not as stable as my Wenonah...

I have a road bike, a few in fact, but I put slicks on my gravel bike and use as my main road bike. If I want to go off road I use my MTB. But I could get along pretty well with just the gravel bike. Slicks for road, and fatter knobbies for off road. But I'm at a disadvantage on group rides...

I own a North Wind 17 and a North Wind solo. I got to take both on river trips in 2023 and here's what I think about them. With the North Wind series, Northstar decided to sacrifice some speed in favor of seaworthiness. I knew this when I bought them but I expected them to be faster than they...

A white water solo a flatwater solo a white water tandem a flatwater tandem, a white water kayak and touring kayak, an inflatable kayak, There's seven. Then there are the in between rivers. You could paddle your banana boat through Ruby-Horsethief, but it would be slow and frustrating, or you...

That was exactly my point in a response to someone else's post. Not only are there a ton of boats, with varying degrees of rocker, etc. bearing the name prospector, but there are a number of boats that could be called prospectors, but aren't. I liken it to calling a vehicle a pickup. A Chevy...

So you've paddles a real prospector and not some poser. Can't say I have. I feel you about the knees. I won't even kneel for a day paddle. Around these parts you can sell a used prospector about an hour after it goes on Craig's List. I kind of liken it to ethnic food. I may like Italian, you...

You could buy a 16' Prospector tandem and never have to buy another canoe. You and your wife/girlfriend can take it down that class II+ river one weekend, paddle Labyrinth Canyon, the following week, and paddle it solo by paddling backwards from the bow seat, the weekend after that. Sometimes I...

Northstar's Phoenix could be regarded at their version of a solo Prospector. If I were looking to buy something that can handle class II+, yet still do OK on flatwater, my first choice would be the Phoenix in IXP layup. Cliff Jacobsen has high praise for it.

I'm not sure what you mean by responsiveness. There is turning responsiveness and straight line responsiveness. If you want a really stable canoe with good speed and a lot of capacity, the Wenonah Encounter would be a good choice, but a bit of a bear to turn. If you order if from a dealer...

This is why I posted a thread about the touring kayak option. Much better in wind. Also faster than the Encounter. On a Stillwater Canyon trip I tried to catch two people in sea kayaks and got my butt handed to me. Being able to carry a river toilette or cooler is a huge advantage for a...

Now hold on guys (and any gals). I didn't say touring kayaks are better. I didn't say you should buy a touring kayak instead of a canoe. What I said was you should, at least, consider them next time you are shopping for a solo boat. I'm not selling my Northwind solo or my Echo. But now I have...

That's just my crossover kayak. My touring kayak holds a couple weeks worth of gear.

I'm not saying buy Chevy, I'm saying take it for a test drive.

You can argue the pros and cons of paddling solo with a single bladed paddle vs. a double bladed paddle all day long. I've made my choice. I'm not a suffering is good for the soul kind of guy. I can go faster with less concentration and frustration with a double bladed paddle. Most solo canoes...

Well, that's an interesting thought. My first canoe was a Discovery 174 and I changed the thwart lengths to make it more suitable for whitewater, but sold it before I ever got to try it out. If you pull in the gunnels, it has the effect of reducing the rocker, which wouldn't be good and...

Forgive me if I've said any of this before. Just got a watched thread notice in my emails and thought I'd jump in. I've had my Echo for a couple years now, at least, but haven't taken it on a trip. I spent quite a bit of time and money converting it to a pack style canoe, using parts from...