ultralight canoe

Squatch · Jan 19, 2018

Is anyone here using an ultralight pack canoe. I have a decent solo boat. But the idea of a 12' solo that weighs less than 20lbs and could be thrown on the camper roof rack is appealing for travels.

I've been wanting to try one of these for years! 15 lbs for a 12' canoe!!!
http://www.hornbeckboats.com/boats_bjc_12.php
I'll probably be going back to Vermont this spring, I might have to stop in at Hornbeck. The Blackjack is impressive but their classic 13 fishing set up is probably a better fit for me. It's heavy though at 22lbs! Ha Ha Half the weight of my plastic solo 13'er.
http://www.hornbeckboats.com/custom_fishing.php

Couple more companies that offer similar stuff.
http://northstarcanoes.com/

http://placidboatworks.com/

http://www.swiftcanoe.com/pack-boat

Wandering Sagebrush · Jan 19, 2018

I built an Iain Oughtred Wee Rob 12 ‘ double paddle canoe. Even with oak in the keels and stems, it came in at less than 30 pounds. You might think about building, and I’m sure you could shave at least 5 pounds off my total.

It's a glued lapstrake boat. I used 4mm Okume plywood for the strakes.

takesiteasy · Jan 19, 2018

Here's another build-it option- I've built several of these skin-on-frame wee lassie canoes. They're 12 feet long and weigh about 20 pounds. They are much stronger than they look- skin is ballistic nylon water-proofed with a 2-part polyurethane coating that stays flexible. Makes a very tough skin. Super easy to toss on the truck, portage and paddle.

Squatch · Jan 20, 2018

Nice Boats! I have actually helped build a couple of strippers. But never built one myself. Though I've kinda planned on doing it for years. If I do it'll probably be this one.
http://www.greenval.com/kite.html

The main problem here is that the local rivers I float and fish are rocky and not kind to composite boats. Plastic rules in these parts for durability. So it would probably be limited to quiet flat water.

Squatch · Jan 20, 2018

takesiteasy said:
Here's another build-it option- I've built several of these skin-on-frame wee lassie canoes. They're 12 feet long and weigh about 20 pounds. They are much stronger than they look- skin is ballistic nylon water-proofed with a 2-part polyurethane coating that stays flexible. Makes a very tough skin. Super easy to toss on the truck, portage and paddle.

Is that a geodesic airolite?

Wandering Sagebrush · Jan 20, 2018

Squatch said:
Nice Boats! I have actually helped build a couple of strippers. But never built one myself. Though I've kinda planned on doing it for years. If I do it'll probably be this one.
http://www.greenval.com/kite.html

The main problem here is that the local rivers I float and fish are rocky and not kind to composite boats. Plastic rules in these parts for durability. So it would probably be limited to quiet flat water.

The Kite is a stunningly beautiful canoe... It looks a bit tricky to build with all that tumble home.

takesiteasy · Jan 20, 2018

Squatch said:
Is that a geodesic airolite?

No, but uses the same construction concept. Boat is based on the classic Rushton Wee Lassie design. Some differences from the airolite system- we use nylon instead of Dacron for the skin, we don't use the kevlar roving (found it's not needed), all joints are lashed in the traditional style or riveted, we use a 2 part poly skin coating.

We do take the boats into the BWCA wilderness with no worries. Cuts are easily patched in the field with tape, although we have never had to patch one. The skin will wear over time with scrubbing on sand or rocks. It can be renewed if neccesary. But, as you say, probably not the best choice for rocky, shallow, fast-moving streams (although I'd be willing to try).

I volunteer at a small non-profit in the Twin Cities where we build boats with high school apprentices as a work readiness program. We do lapstrake designs as well as the skin-on-frame boats. The boats are sold to help fund the program.

http://urbanboatbuilders.org/

Squatch · Jan 20, 2018

Great stuff. I've seen several varieties of this concept. Including several that were covered in Kevlar and epoxy.

Kudo's to you on the program.

Squatch · Jan 22, 2018

I've been doing some reading on the skin on frame boats. Very interesting. Kudzu boats has a video of him beating the skin with a hammer and such to prove how durable the skin is. Impressive!

takesiteasy · Jan 22, 2018

Squatch said:
I've been doing some reading on the skin on frame boats. Very interesting. Kudzu boats has a video of him beating the skin with a hammer and such to prove how durable the skin is. Impressive!

There are some YouTube videos of people really abusing them on purpose to show their strength. The fragile looks are deceptive. Here's one example:

Wandering Sagebrush · Jan 22, 2018

When you think about what the Inuit and other indigenous people accomplished with skin on frame boats, it tends to make you stop and reassess how capable these boats can be. They certainly ain’t flimsy death traps. I’ve often thought about building another canoe, but a tripping boat in the method takeiteasy has built.

takesiteasy · Jan 22, 2018

Wandering Sagebrush said:
When you think about what the Inuit and other indigenous people accomplished with skin on frame boats, it tends to make you stop and reassess how capable these boats can be. They certainly ain’t flimsy death traps. I’ve often thought about building another canoe, but a tripping boat in the method takeiteasy has built.

Yeah, both the Inuit skin and lake country birchbark canoes are very capable boats and I'd take the nylon skin any day. We borrow the lashed frame technology from the native designs. We build some 17' canoes- we call them "wilderness travelers," based on the Atkinson Traveler design. They have been very reliable on the BWCA trips that the apprentices take at the end of their apprenticeship. So much easier to portage a 35# canoe!

Wandering Sagebrush · Jan 22, 2018

My big Lincoln 18' is a take off from the Tim Stewart Indian Girl 16 design. The blasted thing weighs in at just over 80 pounds. It was fine when I was 30, but add 40 years... not so fine. My super glass Lincoln 17' 5" is 65 pound and still doable (maybe), but I would sure like something a lot lighter.

takesiteasy · Jan 22, 2018

You've got lots of boats!

I agree, the boats are getting heavier as I get older. I actually love the small kayaks we build- 24 pounds with the floor boards and seat back. Not good for tripping though- no room for cargo.

Wandering Sagebrush · Jan 23, 2018

takesiteasy said:
You've got lots of boats!

<snip>

When The Bride and I tied the knot, we suddenly had a family with four little ones, each bringing two to the union. At first we started out with all four in the big 18 footer, then added the Downriver boat as the kids got bigger. I have serious 'packrat' disease, so we still have them both, plus a plethora of other watercraft that we've collected along the way.

It's been a fun journey, but I wish they were all lighter.

TGK · Jan 23, 2018

View attachment 30329 View attachment 30329For anyone interested in traditional skin on frame kayaks or canoes living near or coming through Portland, Oregon, you need to check out the Lincoln Street Kayak and Canoe Museum on the SE side of Portland.

http://www.traditionalkayaks.com/museum.html

The Lincoln Street Kayak and Canoe Museum (LSKCM) is dedicated to presenting a diverse variety of indigenous small watercraft forms in a contextual and educational setting. Each form represented here reflects centuries or millennia of development influenced by cultural tradition, environment, external pressures, resources, function, practicality, and aesthetics. Despite their broad variation in shape, construction and use, each vessel is a proven design that served the designer/builder/user's needs, aiding them successfully in hunting, fishing, migrating, trading, and for general navigation. Perhaps no single object created by genus Homo better represents our ancestors' ingenuity, survival instinct, and desire for exploration than the canoe. Today, the canoe remains a powerful symbol and metaphor for individualism and adventure and is among the few objects aiding human transportation that is still created by hand in a non-mass-production context.
The bulk of the LSKCM's watercraft collection is made of full-sized functional replicas of traditional Arctic hunting kayaks. Harvey Golden built these replicas in order to compliment his museum studies with an element of experimental research. These vessels are the largest and most complete assembly of pan-arctic kayak forms in the world. Many of the kayaks in the LSKCM can be seen under-construction and in-action at Traditional Kayaks.com.

While I don't have an ultralight solo canoe. About 12 years ago I picked up a 17.5' Souris River Kevlar Canoe that comes in around 45 lbs. Not bad for 17.5'. After years of lifting a wood/canvas canoe onto the roof of my FWC, our backs started to rebel, so we sold some other toys to get the Souris River Canoe. It's made in Canada near Boundary Waters. Great paddling canoe. Photo here shows it loaded up for camping and room for a Golden Retriever.

takesiteasy · Jan 23, 2018

TGK said:
P9030017.JPG

P9030017.JPGFor anyone interested in traditional skin on frame kayaks or canoes living near or coming through Portland, Oregon, you need to check out the Lincoln Street Kayak and Canoe Museum on the SE side of Portland.

...

That looks like an interesting collection of boats- quite a body of work to reproduce all those different designs. I would like to visit one day. We have relatives in Oregon so it might happen! Thanks for posting the link.

Looks like you put your Souris to use! We also paddled with a Golden Retriever- actually, 3 different Goldens over the years. Good times!

TGK · Jan 24, 2018

Per the Traditional Kayaks website, official hours are only 2hrs every Thursday. While total speculation on my part, if someone was coming in from out of town, one could contact the owner to see if an appointment could be set up for a visit.

Wandering Sagebrush · Jan 24, 2018

That’s quite a load in the canoe! Quite an interesting museum as well, I had no idea it was here! Thanks for sharing!

TGK · Jan 24, 2018

Yep, it was quite a load, but not quite as bad as it looks. Photo was taken a few years back at Waldo Lake and the paddle was only about 2.75 miles over to the west side of the lake to a dispersed camp site. The two 5 gallon water jugs were empty and the river bag only had a light sleeping bag and clothing. Used a gravity fed water purifier to filter lake water for consumption. However, given that we also had an 80 qt cooler, we weren't exactly roughing it. Certainly not how one would pack for a long canoe circuit.

ultralight canoe

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