Buffalo Canoes

[smallmouthjoe]

I just got off the phone with my insurance adjuster and he giving me enough to pay off my truck and giving me enough for a good down payment on a new one. I used to hate you insurance, but now I love you.

[Wayne SW/MO]

That's great. In my last disaster, the big Taney County hail storm, I had State Farm and American Family and both did a good job by me. I was especially pleased with American Family which had my house.

No I have no affiliation with any insurance company.

Don't overlook a Program Vehicle, we've had great luck with them.

[smallmouthjoe]

American Family is who I have my car insurance through and they have been great. Really on top of getting my claim taken care of. I thought it would be at least a week or more before I would get anyone out in the boonies of christian county to look at it. It took less than 12 hours.

What's a Program Vehicle?

[eric1978]

American Family is who I have my car insurance through and they have been great. Really on top of getting my claim taken care of. I thought it would be at least a week or more before I would get anyone out in the boonies of christian county to look at it. It took less than 12 hours.

What's a Program Vehicle?

You should shave a G off that down payment and get yourself a Vagabond as a gift for putting yourself through such a traumatic experience. At least that would be my rationale, but I'm the rationalizing king and master.

You may want to mention to your adjuster that you had some gear broken in the accident as well. If you have receipts for your rods and reels, they may just pay for them...never hurts to ask. Remember, American Family works for you; you write their paychecks.

[joeD]

Sorry about your accident, glad you're OK. I agree, mostly, with all the previous posts, regarding canoes that is. But one thing that wasn't mentioned, and I believe it is critical, is your body size. Some of the higher end solos (Bell, Dagger, for example) are made for people who are less than 6 foot and less than 180 pounds. They're wonderful crafts, but they may not fit YOU (like Armani suits don't fit me... (ahem)). I have a Mohawk 15 solo, and I love it. But I'm also big and fat, so it suits ME perfectly. I also have a Penebscot 17 tandem, a workhorse of a canoe that does just about everything, for what I WANT to do. So, just because something is more expensive or lighter or faster or wider, doesn't mean necessarily that it is the right canoe for YOU. By the way, my first canoe purchase was a 16 (15'8" actually) Buffalo. I had it for 10 years and it served me well. It was relatively heavy for its size, but it was very manoeuverable in the water and could handle a multi-day load. If you wanted to paddle solo, you could turn it around and paddle from the front seat ( I had cane seats). But, because of the re-curve design, it did not track well, and was hellish in the wind. Plus it was less expensive than others (not a deciding factor though). Anyway, that's my 2 cents, mostly. Remember, it is YOUR choice for what YOU want to do. There is no right or wrong.Good luck with your canoe search.

[eric1978]

Sorry about your accident, glad you're OK. I agree, mostly, with all the previous posts, regarding canoes that is. But one thing that wasn't mentioned, and I believe it is critical, is your body size. Some of the higher end solos (Bell, for example) are made for people who are less than 6 foot and less than 180 pounds. They're wonderful crafts, but they may not fit YOU (like Armani suits don't fit me... (ahem)). I have a Mohawk 15 solo, and I love it. But I'm also big and fat, so it suits ME perfectly. I also have a Penebscot 17 tandem, a workhorse of a canoe that does just about everything, for what I WANT to do. So, just because something is more expensive or lighter or faster or wider, doesn't mean necessarily that it is the right canoe for YOU. By the way, my first canoe purchase was a 16 (15'8" actually) Buffalo. I had it for 10 years and it served me well. It was relatively heavy for its size, but it was very manoeuverable in the water and could handle a multi-day load. If you wanted to paddle solo, you could turn it around and paddle from the front seat ( I had cane seats). But, because of the re-curve design, it did not track well, and was hellish in the wind. Plus it was less expensive than others (not a deciding factor though). Anyway, that's my 2 cents, mostly. Remember, it is YOUR choice for what YOU want to do. There is no right or wrong.Good luck with your canoe search.

You forgot to mention your duck boat.

[joeD]

OOOF! Good one Eric! HAH! Honestly, that...that "thing" is quite good to fish out of, shockingly so. I know two people who want to pay top dollar for it.

[eric1978]

OOOF! Good one Eric! HAH! Honestly, that...that "thing" is quite good to fish out of, shockingly so. I know two people who want to pay top dollar for it.

The way Skip was talking he made it sound pretty sweet. Great for stability and storage and taking out a couple of idiots that can't canoe. My only concern would be having to portage the thing any kind of distance. How heavy is it?

[joeD]

Very. You don't want to go around trees too much. Long holes aren't much fun either.

[Wayne SW/MO]

A program vehicle is one that has been leased. The good side of that is that they must follow the maintenance schedule religiously. The last 2 we have purchased were priced at around 70% of new cost and both had 15K or less miles. They don't all follow this mileage, but many do and everyone I've talked to was happy with the deal.

You would probably have to call around to find to find what you want, but it would be worth checking into.