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I hate articles like this

Odyssey said:
A daily dose of salt is required for all articles on the world wide web. And then of course context and perspective is everything. You only have to peruse these CT threads to see there is a spread of interests paddle related despite our commonality. Some of you push my buttons on a regular basis and I hate you for it (lol), but hate is too strong a word cause I'd buy any and all of you a beer, or tea or soda or coffee no feathers ruffled and no questions asked. We all have our biases and foibles, even me (so she tells me). Just this summer I was chillaxing sitting in my old man lawn chair sipping fortified coffee watching my gkids engineering some sand castle projects on a northern beach when a couple of gangly teens ambled into the water to goof off on their paddleboard. My knee jerk thoughts were that they'd be much better off in a nice paddle craft, say a reliable cottage type canoe or a pair of plastic play yaks rather than on a cheap Styrofoam slab. "What's the matter with kids these days?" But that's just my bias showing I guess. At that precise moment a fellow grandparent sidled up to me in her lawn chair and gave me a friendly smile. I thought "keep a safe distance from my fortified coffee and things will be just fine". She did and they were. We chatted and compared our colliding worlds. She from her high-end urban condo, me from my bare bones bungalow, but oh the shared gripes of this world. Ha. Next thing I see those 2 goofy girls are having a whale of a time on their plastic garbage scow. No need for carbon fibre blades and composite hulls, nor ash gunnels and trad designs. Reminded me of the kids having a hoot on Christmas morning with empty cardboard boxes. GT racers and video game consoles lost amid the wrapping paper. Go figure.
There must be happy Sun Dolphin paddlers out there somewhere I swear but I'll never be one of them. That NC prospector is nice but a bit "too much canoe" for me. I've been pondering the NC Fox for awhile.
Each to their own.
Click to expand...

I’m with you for the point about not being a sun dolphin paddler, and I give a disgusted looks every time I see one. But at the same time, it made me think back to my early teens. I had an Old Town Otter kayak, maybe 10’. I bought it myself for $100 from a friend of my older brother. I’d fish out of that thing night and day. It also makes me think of my friends little kids and what they paddle. What we call crap and cheap, because we’ve either been through the trial and error phase, “graduated”, or splurged.. we now know what quality is. But those kids, hell, those parents too aren’t even remotely thinking about waterlines or sculling or scratches. To them, they saw an article or ad about KAYAKS… CANOES.. having a blast on a beautiful summers day, where your tan darkens and the kids are busy and to them that article was right. This tank of a canoe, #3 on the list, and these 3lb aluminum paddles are great for the family to trip down the congested and drunken river float. The shock of a $1,000 canoe doesn’t always scream fun to people.

I’m aiming this back at myself because I realize I could be calling someone out who may be apart of this forum or a spectator through a search engine. The last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from getting on the water and enjoying serenity or enjoyment

Besides, I went through and graduated from a few different boats to get what I have now. And my best, might be someone else’s disgusted face looking at a sun dolphin.
 
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Erkthered I think you missed the point, it's not about buying a cheap canoe due to lack of skills, knowledge, or finances, it's about the author claiming that these canoes are the "best" at anything and giving the above a false impression. In some cases these are the worst for the recommended use, it this were an ad people would be screaming "false advertising"
Articles like this actually put people's lives in danger.
 
I own a pelican 15.5. Its been on some crazy long multiple week trips with tons of portages. And whats that river in Alabama... white river? Buffalo? Anyway its a pretty famous river with rapids. My cousin wrapped that canoe hard around a tree, like a taco. Took 3 of us and a big stick to pop it off. I almost took it on my trip this winter, except its a big, heavy, too wide, end swapping piece of plastic junk. I do feel like it was worth the price as far as fun goes. And I avoid articles like that, always useless.
 
Misreadingtheriver said:
I own a pelican 15.5. Its been on some crazy long multiple week trips with tons of portages. And whats that river in Alabama... white river? Buffalo? Anyway its a pretty famous river with rapids. My cousin wrapped that canoe hard around a tree, like a taco. Took 3 of us and a big stick to pop it off. I almost took it on my trip this winter, except its a big, heavy, too wide, end swapping piece of plastic junk. I do feel like it was worth the price as far as fun goes. And I avoid articles like that, always useless.
Click to expand...
It's good to hear from a happy Pelican user; maybe not a proud owner but a happy user/abuser is good to hear from. Fun in the sun.
 
I think articles like that can be very useful, if the guy knows what he's talking about.
There are people that don't want to put in the effort to research canoe design and construction and would rather have some guru pick for them.
Some of his choices are pretty good, others not so much.
I have a Cliff Jacobson book, Canoeing Wild Rivers. In it, a number of people, known for doing serious canoe expeditions, talk about their favorite canoes. If I were going canoeing down the Yukon or something, I would find something like that helpful.
 
At a time like this, I would like to mention that the internet has become a giant source of misinformation. It is why we have a divided country domestic terrorism, and lots of other problems. Misinformation about canoes and kayaks is rampant. Be careful what you believe.
 
ppine said:
At a time like this, I would like to mention that the internet has become a giant source of misinformation. It is why we have a divided country domestic terrorism, and lots of other problems. Misinformation about canoes and kayaks is rampant. Be careful what you believe.
Click to expand...
Well, I don't think it's all misinformation, and not sure pre-internet there wasn't misinformation disseminated - albeit much more slowly. If the educational system would teach people to be more discerning, more people would separate the sh!t from the shaft.
 
Any one can be hired to write a blog. People with no knowledge write them all the time.
Generic articles and the best things to buy tend to be a waste of time.
We have to find a group like this one to get the Truth.
 
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