I've been to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area 5 times

Two tomes as a kid so no Canoe carrying

But the past 3 years I've gone age 55,56 and 57

My Daughter and Son in law carried my 17' Coleman ram x for me the first year

And she said she wanted to sink it. Second year I used their Xtra Canoe
A 55# green Winona

I'm looking at possibly selling my Smith & Wesson 6" barreled .44 Mag 629 V comp. Performance center model

And my current Canoe the Winona Canoe and investing in a New Canoe

Is Winona the toughest? Lightest? Or are there other brands out there that rival them?

These guys claim to have the toughest material.

https://www.novacraft.com/blog/tuffstuff-part1/



https://www.novacraft.com/blog/tuffstuff-part2/

Just make sure it has a keel. On some of those larger lake crossings up there, and in a crosswind, you will be amazed at how fast a canoe will go sideways and not foreward....until you smash into the rocks. Been there, done that.

I had the old Ram X 17 footer as well. I think everyone that's had one, sold them, too. Go down to 15 foot and they become a lot more manageable. I still prefer a wider/heavier (but shorter) canoe for most things. Ever tip a light canoe? I did in Alaska. Lucky to still be around after a 20 minute swim. Always a trade off for going lighter/narrower (like everything in life I guess). Wear your life jacket and tie your stuff in the canoe when going sleek.

There are several other videos of them being dropped off cars, drug through gravel and thrown into the river. The most impressive is one of a full wrap in current then popping back into shape on the bank.

Now it might all be BS and internet photos photoshop but I'd give it a look. At least they look to have good hull designs.

the ideal thing to do would be to go paddle as many as you can

bring you , your paddle and your vest and some bags filled with weight approximating your load out

I have paddled some nice Winona but even different models differ

I have a Penobscot 17 old town I bought in 2000 I like it , it is neither the lightest nor strongest but I got it for a good price and in the water it glides very nice so it was my compromise , I got an employee discount through a family member.
it is also a real balance on weight capacity to flat water , but handles waves and moving water also

when I did BWCA or a long trip in similar waters in US or Canada it was in a aluminum rental and I would have liked to sink a few of those.

those experiences led me to my 17 Penobscot

North Star, We-no-nah, etc for BWCA type trips

Lightest canoe I’ve ever handled is a Radisson Sportspal. I own it and have used it extensively. I also own a Wenona but save it for bigger water, it’s in nicer shape. So when it comes to push pull and drag canoe trips, I take the Sportspal. I also can load/carry it by myself. I’m considering getting a new one as well as the sail kit. Paddle on Wayne.

Those Nova Craft canoes are amazing but man are they proud of them. Pretty much for someone with an unlimited budget. They are well known as the cadillac of river/whitewater canoes, but they do not make a model with a keel that I know of. Crossing lakes in the BWCA with much of a wind at all and you are really going to be sorry if you buy a canoe without a keel.

I'm not a fan of expensive canoes because they tend to get stolen if you live in a rough neighborhood like me. Just my worthless 2 cents.

Look at Hornbeck Canoes, Olmsteadville,N.Y.

OLD TOWN Stillwater

They ain't cheap. That's why I'm still risking hernias with my Old Town Tripper. But a guy can dream, can't he. LOL

I like my tripper just don't like moving it on land.

I have been drooling over those nova crafts for awhile now. They sell them at a small hardware store not far from me. One day....

Raddison.

As with other products, canoes have three virtues you can have two of the three:
*. Price
*. Lightweight
*. Strength

We-no-nah and Old Town make canoes worth consideration. Best to float test any canoe you may be considering.
Best of luck to you; all the info above is right on!

I have the absolutely heaviest canoe ever made. Think it is an old Coleman. Gave it away when I moved.

Fully concur with _aR. The higher you go up the tougher-lighter scale the higher the price unless you get lucky. We lucked on a Winona super lightweight fiber from a guy who scared himself silly running white water wanting to be an olympic canoeist. $400 for a $2300 canoe and he just walked away(big long scrape on one side but only cosmetic). Greater canoe for portaging but it is not the workhorse my 70's alumacraft is. Have to treat if much like a birch bark one would need to be.

I bought a 17 ft Coleman RamX in the mid 1980s.
It was never light, but it seems to have gained a few pounds every year.
Heck, it's so heavy now, it's a struggle to load by myself!

it depends what your terrain looks like a decent canoe dolly would be very handy on a lot of portages

around half the ones I recall from BWCA that we took a set of mountain bike tires on a cart would have worked fine to pull most of the portage

this guy made one I wouldn't bother folding it up just flip it over and toss a bungy on it over the packs in the middle a little bigger wheel would be nice

skip to the end to see what it looks like and how it works




it wouldn't take but a couple 2x4 bunks to strap the canoe to and a couple cross wise with a 3/4 inch axel to put these wheels on https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200660579_200660579

Put oar locks on the heavier canoes....especially if solo. You can row a loaded down canoe in the BWCA (Or anywhere) a LOT easier, faster and longer than you can with paddles. After using oars exclusively now by myself I don't understand why people even use a paddle unless floating a river or messing around in a farm pond. It's night and day.

I built a set of portage wheels out of wood decades ago. I still use them in the BWCA. Many of the store bought ones are pretty crappy. I like the one pictured above, however. That said, many portages up there are too rocky/hilly to use wheels.