Kayak vs Canoe - Your Personal Pros and Cons

[Odyssey]

My strictly personal 2 cents.
There are enough similarities between the two paddling craft families to please anyone wishing to cross over seeking different experiences on different days. But neither is a gateway drug for the other. You'd really have to try a selection of boats to know what suits you. I have paddled cockpit, rec, and SOT yaks, mostly because they were there and I felt like paddling something, and enjoyed the three differences. I've only paddled tandem flatwater tripper canoes, a fair number of them, and have also (day) soloed them. As much as the yaks were pleasant outings the canoes are/were wholly life transformative. Tripping canoes are the real and only deal for me. Canoe tripping to me is more than a recreational lifestyle choice, it feels more of an alternative immersive outdoor universe. Everything else is just play dabbling.
Which is why I first came to CT and (so far) continue to drop in; a friendly forum of like-minded canoe trippers sharing a fire.
The unfortunate inclusion in this site of candy cane stuff like racing, kayaks, and SUPs is quite frankly a bit of and insult to canoe tripping.
But we might all get along.
NB Although pennies are still legal tender in Canada, they are no longer produced and distributed (since 2012/13).

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

candy cane stuff like racing, kayaks, and SUPs

Brad, are you having a hyperbole day? There have never been forums here for kayaks or SUPs, and there won't be as long as I own it. We rarely have a thread about kayaks, like this one comparing kayaks to canoes, which many folks have found informational and interesting enough to post in or view.

 

[Seeker]

Canoes-only here... have used kayaks, never "got it"... pack canoe is lighter, faster, easier in/out, greater cargo capacity, can move around more, etc. Full sized canoe is even better because you can stand up and stretch if you need to.

I've tripped with people who kayaked because it's what they had... no shame. just more work.

 

[ErktheRed]

Canoes-only here... have used kayaks, never "got it"... pack canoe is lighter, faster, easier in/out, greater cargo capacity, can move around more, etc. Full sized canoe is even better because you can stand up and stretch if you need to.

I've tripped with people who kayaked because it's what they had... no shame. just more work.

Define more work? Do you mean for moving through portages?

 

[boy&hisdogs]

Define more work? Do you mean for moving through portages?

I'm not the guy you are asking but as an owner of both, they are both more work to paddle and more work to carry.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I'm not the guy you are asking but as an owner of both, they are both more work to paddle and more work to carry.

Also as the owner of both, they are more work to pack and unpack with a lot of gear. And, especially as one ages, they are more work to get into and out of—think: beaver dams—unless they have really big cockpits and no skirts.

 

[Punkinhead]

Also as the owner of both, they are more work to pack and unpack with a lot of gear. And, especially as one ages, they are more work to get into and out of—think: beaver dams—unless they have really big cockpits and no skirts.

One group I paddle with is mostly older folks in recreational kayaks. When they get stuck in a shallow spot they'll put an inordinate amount of effort into trying not to get out. They'll jerk themselves front to back to try to get the kayak to slide forward and abuse their paddles trying to pole off the bottom. Anything to avoid crawling out. And as kayaks go they have very large cockpit openings.

One thing they will NOT do under any circumstances is learn to read the water to avoid the rocks and shallow spots in the first place. They happily bounce down the river while chattering loudly enough to ensure that any wildlife has plenty of heads up to disappear. If they didn't make such good bottom prying tools they probably wouldn't waste time bringing paddles along.

 

[ErktheRed]

As the owner of both, I agree with some of that. If they’re paddling a chain of lakes or going where most canoeists go, yes! Absolutely more work. Packing and unpacking can also be a little more of a challenge as smaller dry bags get wedged in the far tips or between the skeg box. But with rec boats the cockpits are upwards to 30” of an opening, however, I can see how aging joints or injuries making getting in and out more difficult.

I think the word kayak is getting lumped with all forms of kayaking when there’s so many variations and types of people who use them. In my experience and only from my experience, people party more in kayaks and they’re in one they picked up for a steal of a deal. No hate, but i don’t share the same interests. I live in a Very touristy area and see these fools flipping their kayaks on rivers full of strainers or trying to paddle out to an island and don’t understand currents or weather. Everyday. Kayaking is not any harder to paddle if you want to know how. Recreational kayaks are just as wide as canoes but can have more chine lines giving them greater initial/secondary stability than other kayaks. Sea kayaks, yeah ok they’re narrow and have small cockpits but I personally find them comfy once the seat is dialed and skirt goes on. More work to paddle…. Mmm I might disagree with that too. Roto or composite they move effortlessly with each paddle stroke, but can see how they might feel heavy and sluggish in the first three stokes. Once I’m at camp taking my 15 dry bags out isn’t that horrible and I’d be doing something similar in my portage pack anyways.

I guess my point is that I don’t think kayaking is any more work than a canoeing. Portaging my gear up steep rocky hills for a mile isn’t something I’d do with a kayak. Kayaking a week during the gales of November on Superior isn’t something I’d do in a canoe.

To call myself out, there’s a lot of members on here who have been paddling more years than I’ve been alive. My hat goes off to you, and I hope to be that person someday as well but there is a place for kayaking and kayakers

 

[Steve in Idaho]

One thing they will NOT do under any circumstances is learn to read the water to avoid the rocks and shallow spots.....

I know you're talking about a particular group, and I get it. Been around such a crowd myself occasionally. But to be fair - or perhaps to point out another disadvantage to kayaks (and possibly pack canoes) - sitting closer to the water makes reading the river more difficult.... especially for those with little experience.