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We will ship your new Souris River canoe to most points in Canada and the continental U.S. for only $300.

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Le Tigre Canoe!

Choosing the Perfect Canoe

Choosing the right canoe for you can be a challenging prospect. These pages are intended to help you make the right choice. If, after you've reviewed these pages, you are still unsure, feel free to contact us and talk with one of our experts.

Design Considerations

There is a reason why canoes come in so many shapes. What may appear to be subtle differences in hull design can have dramatic effects on handling. One design is rarely better than another; rather, different designs will excel under different conditions.

It is worth noting that some designs are more general-purpose than others. Our Quetico line is a good example of a general-purpose design. A Quetico 16 is well suited to solo paddling, tandem day-trips, and short canoe trips. Our Tranquility, on the other hand, is a superb solo canoe, but it simply is not built for tandem use. Likewise, our Wilderness 18 is an aggressive tripping canoe, but it is not suited to occasional solo paddling.

What does this mean when choosing your canoe? You should choose a canoe for those activities you will do most often. Whether you choose a general-purpose canoe or a more specific design depends on whether you want to use that same canoe for those activities you only do occasionally.

Handling Considerations

Our design choices affect how each of our canoe models handles under different conditions. This page compares different handling characteristics among our models.

Model Chooser

Our Model Chooser chart will ask you a series of common questions, and recommend different models based on your answers.

Our Model Chooser application is nearing completion. Check back soon.

The second step in choosing a canoe is to evaluate your canoeing habits. Be honest with yourself here. While we certainly won't hold it against you if you buy two (or more) canoes from us, most people will buy one. You will be happiest with a canoe that is best suited to the paddling you do most often. Also consider that some of our canoes are very specialized, while others are more general-purpose. If you are going to buy one canoe, lean towards a general purpose design (like our Quetico models).

Here's an example. If you plan on doing a lot of solo canoeing, but want the ability to paddle tandem on day-trips or short canoe trips, the Quetico 16 may be the canoe for you. Its length and relatively low sides make it an ideal solo canoe, paddled backwards from the bow seat (there's no thwart in the way). Outfitted with two seats, it's ready for tandem trips when you are. However, if you want a no-compromize solo canoe, look at our Tranquility. It is a highly specialized solo canoe. It'll carry a good load for a week-long canoe trip, but it won't carry a second paddler. Finally, if you paddle mostly tandem on multi-day trips, but want to be able to paddle solo on rare occasions, a Quetico 17 may make more sense. (You can remove the front thwart on all our tandem canoes for paddling solo – see reason #13 for buying a Souris River Canoe.)

The following chart will guide you to the canoe suited to your interests. If you're still not sure, feel free to contact us and we'll help you out.