C-Forum

I like to think of myself as being as cheap as the next guy (well, maybe not PAC :D ) but lets be real here folks. $15 at Wall Mart will get you an el cheapo telescoping paddle that is 1000x better than nothing and a total turd to use. After that we get into the realm of backup paddles that actually...

I'm far from the most experienced ALFer here but here is the basic way of things: This year starts Saturday March 8, 2014 with a fair few folks rolling into town and boating a day or two before and runs 10 days or so with folks dropping in and out through this period. The game plan daily is to meet ...

Just a quick Google search for a price:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Devcon-Flexan ... d/19690937

Much of this has already been said so I'll just restate a few points based on starting out in a short canoe. 1. Most old heads have great advice but they have no idea how hard it is to make a short canoe go forward under power for a newbie. This is no fault of there own but it is very true. Short ca...

DISCLAIMER : I don't see it but I am often referred to as a "Polar Bear" by paddling friends. My thoughts on things like cold weather gear are often discounted because of this, something that I don't get seeing as I like to be warm just like the next guy. In the words of Craig Smerda "Buy a drysuit...

Peter, Having spent a season in the cut Option I can say that I miss the edges in my Stinkeye (Blink). They are similar in many respects but my slightly enlarged Stinkeye is significantly edgier and boofs better than the Option for me. I paddled Gumpy's new Octane 85 on some class II and really like...

Adding a bit of foam to make it snug is probably not essential but a good idea. As far as screwing the saddle to the thwart, not likely necessary for the front because of the thigh hooks but it will help stiffen up the back of the saddle. The same effect can also be achieved by adding foam "bridges"...

Just a couple of thoughts Probably something that you have already considered but I'll point out that most rental cars are not well equipped to haul open boats. You may be better off to make contact with people that are already driving down that may have room to haul you and your boats locally for t...

Not to dampen things here but you really need to try the Probe 14 before you buy it. I have paddled one once with my wife and tandem we were at the time 400lbs combined. With the lighter partner in the bow we found it MUCH wetter than a VertageX and slow. Personally I would take a VertageX any day o...

I've seen them before. I'm not sure what they are made of but the hull design is very poor for use as a water craft. It would be ok as a pool toy or fun to take on a tubing trip but not something to take boating.

Speaking from experience as someone who is over 230lbs, the Option hull performs just fine for heavy boaters. The point about the higher shear lines relates to the dryness of the boat, not the hull performance.

I'm going to say an Option, especially the 3rd gen with the deeper ends, will handle 225-230lbs reasonably well, it'll just be a bit wet. A L'Edge will carry a bit more weight and an Octane91 is very near unsinkable.

More of a preventative measure but we rince booties out with clean water and put them on a boot dryer overnight after every trip be a day trip or multi day. Seems to keep them from ever getting the classic Oder of bootie.

Yes, there are a lot of open boaters headed for Beaverfest. As near as I can guess at this point it'll be between 15 and 20, possibly more. We will be tricking in starting Friday afternoon and camping at the Talorville putin. The link below has a nice printable map of the Beaver Flatwater canoe rout...

I've paddled an Outrage a bit at as much as 240lbs and it is a great boat. Buy it, it's a good boat and it'll handle your weight just fine.