Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Hi I was wondering which one of these would be better for my wife and I they are both at dicks e will be flaying many different rivers and I will be taking it fishing with a buddy. I want to deck it out for fishing also. Any input would be great.

Any one please

No knowledge of these watercrafts.
My guess would be 14' would be better than the 16' for moving rivers, and the 16' would be better than the 14' on flat waters.

just based on some googling, this appears to be the same boat as the mad river Adventure 14' and 16', just sold by d*ck's under a slightly different name.

The Dicks website only has about 6 reviews on one, maybe 15 reviews on the other model.

If you want to access a much larger number of reviews (more than 50 on each model), go to http://www.paddling.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and search their reviews using the Mad River Aventure name.

In general, I can tell you that these boats tend to be somewhat heavier and slower than "traditional" ABS canoes, so they are not popular in some circles. But just quickly browsing the reviews, they seem to be well liked by a large number of owners.

Jonest 's comments are on track; I would add that at 81#, the 16' is going to take some effort to load and unload. Whether 81# is a big number of not depends on how big and strong your wife is. (unless of course you're going to help her load it)

As Cowper mentioned, both boats are heavy. I assume you'll be lifting it onto a rack, so keep that in mind. That said, I think given the small weight difference between the two if I were forced to choose I'd go with the sixteen. However, though you didn't ask, I'll point out that there are lots of nice used canoes that size for sale that don't weigh nearly as much and will be easier to drag over shallow gravel bars and load on a rack. Also, can you clarify what you mean by decking out for fishing? If you're planning to add some sort of casting deck to a canoe I'd advise against that. Maybe you have something different in mind than I do. In any case, good luck with the decision. Fishing from a canoe is something I come to love more every day.

Yes I know Richard I just like to have my own things so if anything were to happen it's my stuff not someone else stuff

Everyone takes me out of it for now ok take Richard up on his deal and wait for a good buy on here

I have an adventure.. I like it.

That said.. Gat a traditional canoe. They are more versatile and well worth the extra $.

FWIW I bought an Explorer 16 this year and would marry it if it were a woman and I weren't already married or if it were a woman and my wife and I believed in bigamy. In other words, I'm very happy with it. Extremely versatile with great initial and secondary stability and easy to tote.

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