mreed81 Posted April 14, 2016 Posted April 14, 2016 All, I am in the market for a new solo canoe, roughly right around the $1,000 price point. After looking online for a bit I came across the Old Town Pack solo. It's 12' long and seems to be a good fit. Does anyone have personal experience with this craft, or similar, or advice for other canoes? I like that it is very lightweight and it appears it will be able to hold a decent amount of gear for solo trips. Will this canoe hold up when dragging over gravel in shallow water, etc? I am asking for advice because this is my first canoe purchase. Is it worth it to spend the extra $200 something dollars for the "fishing" version with a lower seat, bench, and anchor?
Al Agnew Posted April 14, 2016 Posted April 14, 2016 Owned a Pack for a long time. Not the best choice out there, but plenty serviceable. Royalex canoes are hard to come by these days so if you have the chance to buy one you can't go too far wrong. The Pack is short and it's a little bit wide for it's length, so it doesn't track very well. Holds enough gear if you don't carry everything but the kitchen sink on overnighters. Some people find it to be tippy, but you can improve on that by moving the seat forward a bit. It's a good canoe to use with a double bladed paddle if you're wanting to cover some territory--I used to carry a take-apart double blade but use the single blade while actually fishing. If you're a do-it-yourself kinda guy, you can modify the Pack however you want to, instead of getting the fishing version that may not be to your liking. Raise the seat, lower the seat, move the seat, put drink holders in it, rod holders, whatever.
Gavin Posted April 18, 2016 Posted April 18, 2016 How much do you weigh? That's an awfully little boat. You will be allot happier with a 14-15' solo.
Members DownStream Posted April 24, 2016 Members Posted April 24, 2016 There have been Royalex canoes for sale in that price point on the saint Louis Craigslist for a while. If that helps.
mreed81 Posted May 11, 2016 Author Posted May 11, 2016 On 4/18/2016 at 4:39 PM, Gavin said: How much do you weigh? That's an awfully little boat. You will be allot happier with a 14-15' solo. 165 lbs. I won't be doing any camping or super long trips. Just day trips for several hours, mostly on the Bourbese. Does that make much of a difference if I go with a 14' or 12' canoe for short trips?
ollie Posted May 11, 2016 Posted May 11, 2016 I own a Disco 119 and I am 6' 1" and pushing 250 pounds. I have no problems in the boat at all. Just sayin......... mreed81 1 "you can always beat the keeper, but you can never beat the post" There are only three things in life that are certain : death, taxes, and the wind blowing at Capps Creek!
mreed81 Posted May 12, 2016 Author Posted May 12, 2016 21 hours ago, ollie said: I own a Disco 119 and I am 6' 1" and pushing 250 pounds. I have no problems in the boat at all. Just sayin......... Good news. Thanks. The deal with the used Pack fell through so I just ordered a Disco 119 since they no longer make the Pack.
ollie Posted May 14, 2016 Posted May 14, 2016 The new Disco also has the seat in the middle of the boat so you shouldn't have to move it or at least mine was. Of course I was paddling a Pam100 for over ten years so to me I felt like an upgrade! lol "you can always beat the keeper, but you can never beat the post" There are only three things in life that are certain : death, taxes, and the wind blowing at Capps Creek!
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