Solo Canoes

[Al Agnew]

See my reply to you about the Buffalo in the other thread. Saw and responded to it before I saw this one. No way I'd go with the Buffalo at that price when I could get a Pack for not that much more and the 119 for less, not to mention the Mohawk, which is also a much better choice than the Buffalo. Mohawk is under new ownership, and so far there has been little said about whether their canoes still have the quality they did before. If I was going with the Mohawk, I'd go Royalex and not Royalite...Royalite seems to be much less durable. You can order Mohawks factory direct.

If you're interested in spending the money for the Wenonah Vagabond, which in my opinion is the best choice of all for the average angler on Ozark streams, one possibility is to order it from Piragis Northwoods. They are up in Ely, Minnesota, but offer free shipping. (The way their free shipping works is that whenever one of their employees wants to travel to visit relatives or something, they load him up with boats and he drops them off at your door...might take a few weeks for it to happen, but they are nice folks that are very good to work with.) I don't know who carries Wenonahs in your area, but in St. Louis The Alpine Shop is a Wenonah dealer, though they don't always have Vagabonds in stock.

[eric1978]

I don't know who carries Wenonahs in your area, but in St. Louis The Alpine Shop is a Wenonah dealer, though they don't always have Vagabonds in stock.

I was there about ten days ago. No Vagabond at that time, I looked for one. Lots of Bending Branches, though.

[smallmouthjoe]

Thanks for the help guys, I don't think I'll be getting that buffalo. That is a pretty short wall on it and I do fish in the winter so that may not be the best option. Those wenonah's look nice but man there a lot of money. The mohawk solo looks good I think I might go with those if I can't find a guide. Man, I wish solos were easier to come by, I feel like I'm a private eye looking for someones long lost relative. I've only been in one solo before so I really want to try the particular model out before I buy it, but that may not happen. Thanks again guys.

[eric1978]

Thanks for the help guys, I don't think I'll be getting that buffalo. That is a pretty short wall on it and I do fish in the winter so that may not be the best option. Those wenonah's look nice but man there a lot of money. The mohawk solo looks good I think I might go with those if I can't find a guide. Man, I wish solos were easier to come by, I feel like I'm a private eye looking for someones long lost relative. I've only been in one solo before so I really want to try the particular model out before I buy it, but that may not happen. Thanks again guys.

The Wenonahs are awesome canoes, but for us poor folk, I think you can get pretty close for a LOT less money. Did you call the St. Peters Dick's store?

[Wayne SW/MO]

Wayne, the Mohawk Solo looks good and very similar, but I thought they went out of business. No?

I think the original owner shut it down when he couldn't sell it. I'm not sure how long it was down, but I don't think it was very long.

I've had mine 4 or 5 years and I can't complain, its light at 39# and has a very good secondary stability. The initial stability is mediocre, but that's the price for a narrow beam. Its very agile and of course because of that it doesn't track well, but I get around a lot of that by using a double paddle.

[smallmouthjoe]

The Wenonahs are awesome canoes, but for us poor folk, I think you can get pretty close for a LOT less money. Did you call the St. Peters Dick's store?

I called the St. Peter store and they had one left. My schedule is crazy right now, forty hours of work,13 hours of school and about 20 hours of study time a week to maintain my gpa. I'll call them again when I know that I have a day to drive there and back. I wonder if they could ship it to me? I'll check it out.

[eric1978]

I called the St. Peter store and they had one left. My schedule is crazy right now, forty hours of work,13 hours of school and about 20 hours of study time a week to maintain my gpa. I'll call them again when I know that I have a day to drive there and back. I wonder if they could ship it to me? I'll check it out.

I don't think they'll ship it to you, but I think they'll ship it to the Columbia store for free.

GPAs are overrated. Blow it off, that's what I did. (Maybe that's why I didn't finish).

You go to U of MO Springfield?

[smallmouthjoe]

Yeah, I go to Missouri State home of the worst football team in the country. I need to keep my GPA up because I need a 3.2 to get into grad school. If i didn't want to go to grad school i would be happy with a 2.0. Those people at Dicks in Columbia probably hate me. I bet their thinking, this guy is calling again, this is the fourth time today.

[eric1978]

Yeah, I go to Missouri State home of the worst football team in the country. I need to keep my GPA up because I need a 3.2 to get into grad school. If i didn't want to go to grad school i would be happy with a 2.0. Those people at Dicks in Columbia probably hate me. I bet their thinking, this guy is calling again, this is the fourth time today.

Screw those people at Dick's, it's their job. What's your major? I went to Mizzou and their football team stunk, too when I was there. Good thing I didn't care and was too busy fishing and drinking.

[Al Agnew]

Speaking of price, it's all in whether you can afford it and whether it's THAT much better to justify the expense. I agree with others that there probably isn't enough difference between the Pack and the various incarnations of the 119 to justify the price difference. Ten or twelve pounds difference isn't that much. And, I'd say about the same thing for the Mohawk Solo 13. The greater length and slightly better design would barely be worth the price difference between it and the 119s to me. Now...I think I'd like Mohawk's Solo 14 better. It should track somewhat better and it will hold more stuff.

Of course, the next step up in both price and value would be the Vagabond. It's definitely better overall than any of the others...better tracking, holds more stuff, lighter for its size. Is that worth the extra $300 or so over the next cheapest? Maybe not. But I could afford it and fell in love with it so I bought it.