Seeking opinions on the dagger G force 6.3

[ebell]

Looking at getting a playboat. Found a 6.3 in my budget range. Don't know anything about them, but am interested in any input on them.

thanks
eric

[Victor Caballeros]

I have a Dagger G froce 6.3 if you want to try it out on the War Eagle. Also I'm doing the Mexican Rain Dance for some water! I would love to run war eagle one more time

[ebell]

sounds great victor. yes, you need to run the upper upper part for sure.

eric

[Victor Caballeros]

give me a call this weekend and I'll bring it out for you to try 479-799-ONE, ONE, TWO, TWO

[ebell]

victor,

was out of town this past weekend. i would like to try it out sometime in the future though.

thanks
eric

[Fish]

Great little boat, very comparable to much more modern designs in terms of performance. A bit tight for me at 6'3" and size 11 feet, but I could paddle it with wetsocks on and not get too sore on play runs. I'd say about 160 to 190 is going to be a good weight range for it.

- Fish

[JTarver]

I had one for a few years, and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! It's a steep learning curve for playboating, but the balance points on it are wonderful, and I really liked how the volume was distributed. Any trip you want to learn, that boat will throw it. Fish is right, 160-190 is the best weight range for it. I have size 10.5 feet, 175 lbs, and 5' 7". I fit very well in it, was alwasy comfortable even on longer play runs, and really miss the boat. I will probably get one again someday when I have extra cash laying around from when I win the lotto. lol

Anyway, it's a fantastic boat, and I have no complaints on it. Plus, you can always make star wars references to people about how the force is with you, etc. etc.
Joe

[Ben Rodda]

I had one and it was a pretty fun boat. After I paddled it I found that now I really like boats with smooth lines rather than edges and such. Hard edges and odd shapes on boats do add a bit of responsiveness to them while at the same time take away from the stability in some manner. Responsiveness and stability are always a tough balance to strike.

While the g force is stable in an upright position when you get it on edge and in current it can tend to be slightly trippy. Add in to the fact that the stern is so short and has little volume you can find that the boat really likes to stern squirt.

I happened to be on the river one day and Brad Ludden was there (pro for dagger). I mentioned to him my frustration with the stern, He said that several of the dagger pros had the same frustration and that the best thing I could do was to add a block of foam to the stern and shape it to match the boat. I went out and got a 12"x12"x4" block of foam and glued it to the boat. I ended up shaping it so that it essentially followed the shape of the boat. The end result was perfect I had a bit more control over the stern and also found that surfing was a little more enjoyable as I had a bit more volume to push me up stream.

[Fish]

[quote="Ben Rodda"While the g force is stable in an upright position when you get it on edge and in current it can tend to be slightly trippy. Add in to the fact that the stern is so short and has little volume you can find that the boat really likes to stern squirt.[/quote]

I bought my G-Force at the old Dagger factory in Harriman, TN after being on the Ocoee and seeing a Dagger-pro-dude do a loop in one. The boat had just gone into plastic production and I thought, "man, I gotta get one of those things and learn to do that!" So Kev and I headed up to Harriman, called the factory on the way and they had me a blem model waiting when we got there. We took a quick tour of the sacred kayak birthing grounds, and then headed immediately over to the Little R. of the Smokies to test out my new ride. Put in above the "Screamin Meanies" and noticed coming out of the eddy that the boat wanted to play a bit. Ran the first drop clean, hit an eddy, went for the next one right at the top of the second drop, turned and scoped out a line and then crossed the eddy line to ferry all the way across the creek to where I wanted to run the drop. Hit the gas in the current and... I was going nowhere. The boat stalled and I slipped backward toward the part of the ledge you didn't want to experience. Just as the bow started to pearl, I let off the gas, switched edges, and clawed my way into the eddy again with my a** end hanging over the ledge! Caught my breath, considered a short portage, but decided to go with the "fool me once, shame on you..." philosophy and make another try. This time I got a better run at the eddyline and hit it high and fast like my life depended on it. The boat slowed down more than I'd have liked, but I made the ferry and ran the drop just fine. Kev and I bounced down the rest of the run with me making durn sure I didn't get caught napping again.

I loved the boat (though I never did quite master that loop thing) - it was my first time to paddle a boat that short, which is why it took a bit of adjusting to get used to the slow ferry speed, etc. But, man you could surf a wet spot on the pavement in that little machine - it made boring runs fun and big runs full-bore crazy! If you're looking for solid stability, it's probably not that boat. If you're looking for a playboat, it was way ahead of its time in that category. I had paddled a Perception 3D before that, which was far more unstable (I remember a trip in the 3D down the upper Tellico where my view consisted almost entirely of a mix of sky and underwater features), so I loved the relative stability of the G-Force. Good little boat!

- Fish