More on Royalex

[Guest]

Wow. That's quite a difference from Royalex. In Canada that would approach 3000 smackers, and there are plenty of good composites around for that price!

Yeah, 2599 is not even close to the final price of rx. Too bad.

Agreed that Tuff Stuff is not comparable to Royalex in price, but it is a composite material, and appears to be the latest and greatest composite fiber bi-weave combination (Innegra/Basalt). I have no idea what the lamination schedule for Tuff Stuff might be, whether it also uses layers of S-glass, kevlar, carbon or whatever.

But it does compare in cost to other high end composite lay ups.

 

[memaquay]

Compares in cost, but not in weight. Generally for a 16 foot canoe in Canada in the 3000 $ range, I would expect it to be well under 50 pounds. Let's face it, royalex was popular because it could take a beating, and was cheap. Other than that, there wasn't a lot of good to be said about a royalex canoe. I bought them for our school club to replace the tin can fleet. If I had an unlimited budget, I would probably have replaced the tin cans with a lightweight composite canoe.

 

[Guest]

Let's face it, royalex was popular because it could take a beating, and was cheap. Other than that, there wasn't a lot of good to be said about a royalex canoe. I bought them for our school club to replace the tin can fleet. If I had an unlimited budget, I would probably have replaced the tin cans with a lightweight composite canoe.

It’s just that middle ground price point that is the dwindling choice.

I don’t remember the percentage, but a whopping lot of new canoes that were sold were Royalex and it filled a market for folks who wanted a decent canoe that took a bit of a beating without the weight of poly.

It may be that smaller builders like Millbrook begin to fill more of that void, especially among folks who have done a little research and not just bought the cheapest canoe at Dicks.

There are some truly awful poly canoes on the market, evidenced by the number of low-end poly canoes for sale Craigslist and the like. Canoes so bad they turn people off the sport, largely because of the weighty design; molded gunwales and seats and stiffening kiss-offs disguised as a 24-pack of cup holders.

But I don’t know what the better currently available poly canoes might be. With weight only a middling consideration what are the better poly canoes on the market?

 

[memaquay]

With poly canes, I've found weight to be the defining factor. Everything else about a good poly canoe is, in my opinion, at least as good as royalex. I've got an Old Town Kineo, more or less a Disco. At 16'6", it is listed at 87 pounds, but is actually 90. The hull is extremely slippery and is excellent in all white water situations. You can also drag it fully loaded over most surfaces with little damage. I temporarily pinned it one day on a very large rock in strong current, the hull bent considerably then popped out, no wrinkles, no deformations.

All in all, I love my poly canoe. I only take it on white water trips now, or trips without portages, or trips where my son comes along and carries it. Its hard to believe that 8 years ago I carried that beast up Diablo port, a mile long torture chamber up here. Whew, I've gone down hill quickly, but the old Kineo is still going strong.

Oh ya, and it was 799 new, on special!

 

[Mihun09]

I was at Wilderness Supply in Winnipeg this afternoon and they apparently have 2 Royalex boats still, did not say which ones but neither are prospectors. I can find out what they are if anyone is interested.

 

[Mihun09]

All in all, I love my poly canoe. I only take it on white water trips now, or trips without portages, or trips where my son comes along and carries it. Its hard to believe that 8 years ago I carried that beast up Diablo port, a mile long torture chamber up here. Whew, I've gone down hill quickly, but the old Kineo is still going strong.

Oh ya, and it was 799 new, on special!

If it makes you feel better, Christine carried our 72 pound Jensen design 18 footer both ways on the Aiken's Lake portage, 1.8km each way, a few years ago.

 

[Iskweo]

And now I would be lucky if I can carry my lunch across that port.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

With weight only a middling consideration what are the better poly canoes on the market?

I haven't paddled many poly canoes (although I've looked at quite a few with disdain) but I found the Discovery 169 to be a pretty decent ride. It actually makes a pretty good poling platform - but what self-respecting poler would want to be seen in one.

 

[Canotrouge]

The big problem I've had with Poly, is that you can't outfit them with anchors for tight straps and anchors for gear. Nothing stick to it(that is affordable and easily available) the other problem with poly is that they tend to develop oil canning way faster than the same boat in RX. So fo us up here Poly is not a good option, other than "flat water" day tripping...

 

[memaquay]

Canot is right, those things are very slippery, and nothing sticks to them, even repair material, in the unlikely event that you rip a hole through one. I'm not even sure if G-Flex will work. Mine oil-canned from the first day I had it, and although I found it quite disturbing at first, it didn't really change the performance. I bought it as a work canoe for portage clearing, so speed wasn't the primary consideration. Once it was packed with a big load, the oilcanning became un-noticeable. Having said all that, I still think good poly canoes get a bad rep in the canoe community. For someone who is young and strong with a limited budget, something like the Disco is the perfect canoe. Now, their lesser cousins, the pelicans and the big box canoes with the aluminium pipes along the keel lines are a different matter. They fall into the category of the Moped; fun to drive, but you don't want anyone seeing you doing it.

 

[Mihun09]

Aren't the Pelicans and Coleman's now what you would call a disposable canoe? Rotomolded in China where it is cheap and they won't be returned to for warranty work. Not really fixable. Cheap. Buy one, if you break it, throw it in the landfill and buy another, repeat as necessary.

 

[Guest]

I haven't paddled many poly canoes (although I've looked at quite a few with disdain) but I found the Discovery 169 to be a pretty decent ride. It actually makes a pretty good poling platform - but what self-respecting poler would want to be seen in one.

Maybe if had been pinned a few times and was hogbacked and covered with stickers.

The Disco 169 does seem to be one of the better poly canoes. At least it is still available with wood seats and thwarts.

The Disco 158 as well. Was the Kineo a brief rename for that canoe?

At least one of the Disco’s was incredibly prone to the bottom warping into waves of poly. Some fatty with a flat bottom, maybe a discontinued 164? I recall seeing stacks of them at the Old Town factory 20 years ago with the bottoms already warped into a sickening series of waves.

It was (is) possible to do repairs and outfitting on Poly boats. There was a 3M product, DP some-four-digit-number, that would stick with proper prep work, as will G/flex with an alcohol wipe and flame.

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/g-flex-epoxy-adhesion-data/

What’s left in the poly canoe world to recommend other than Old Towns? And even then, 90 lbs…meh.

 

[Robin]

I haven't paddled many poly canoes (although I've looked at quite a few with disdain) but I found the Discovery 169 to be a pretty decent ride. It actually makes a pretty good poling platform - but what self-respecting poler would want to be seen in one.

Doug D in his Disco is a pretty good poler, not sure about the self respecting thing though

 

[memaquay]

Now that's my kind of canoeist. Shorts and boots, cigarette on the water, and that cooler probably has some beer in it. Rock on dude!

 

[Guest]

and that cooler probably has some beer in it

No, it’s full of Budweiser.

I’ll have DougD in the shop next week working on a boat. I should probably pickup a case of the cheapest beer I can find.

 

[Mama]

I like our Royalex canoe, but on a trip with alot of portaging it is pretty heavy and it would be nice to have Kevlar

 

[tump_lion]

paddled a disco 159 a few falls ago on the Grand River in ontario (a free rental/outfit day-trip) -- nice and stable, when going with the current, and a shallow draft, but a little barge-y when the water slowed down...the molded tractor buckets are a little restricting as far as bum-shuffling...

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Doug D in his Disco is a pretty good poler, not sure about the self respecting thing though

.....But he's not actually in it now - is he?

 

[dave0]

Yeah, yeah, I'm the poster child for canoeing! I bought that boat cause it was cheap I was pretty broke at the time. But, I have paddled, poled and sailed that boat for many, many miles. First thing I did was take out those ungodly plastic seats and put in cane. That dropped almost 12 or 15 pounds right off the bat. Going to finish a trip we started long ago this summer and plan on bringing this boat. If I were on a trip with many portages I'd opt for one of my other hulls.

As far as beer McCrea, I'll bring my own swill! ;-)