It seems everybody (or nearly everybody) uses Kevlar or Royalex. But I'd like to take a moment to show a bit of love to the Aluminum Canoe.

They are bomb proof, leave beautiful silver markings on the rocks, double as a make shift fry pan in the sun, help tan the underside of your legs while paddling and give you a great upper body work out.

Okay, all jokes aside, for the price, they are hard to beat. ALways surprised I don't see more of them.

Proud Aluminum owner here. Kid's aren't gonna do anything to it I can't shrug off.

I don't have one, but I share your appreciation of them.
I'd like to have one.

its hard to knock one out of the race... but it can be done. they are great boats though.

I've never been there with a canoe other than aluminum.
I find the 75 lbs on your shoulders helps you appreciate things more. ;)

I had an outfitter tell me last year that the companies that still make new aluminum canoes don't make them as thick as they used to and that they get holes very easily now.
The bombproof remark may no longer be accurate.
You can notice this by comparing the weigh of an aluminum canoe from the 60's with one from the last decade, the more recent one will weigh much less, and that is not because they are making them with a lighter alloy.

Aluminum here also. Got it with Wedding money 30 years ago this month (16th). A couple of scratches are the only real signs of age.
Wish I could say the same for me.

Real men portage aluminum! :)

Aluminum canoe guy here. Mine is definitely bomb proof. 85 pounds of work out material.

Used a Kevlar canoe for the first time last year. Was ok with it, but still like to use Aluminum.

I have had my alum canoe since I was 14 and now 27 years later it is in the same great shape. It has a few character marks and the alumacraft stickers are faded. It will be going on it second BW trip in July. I cant justify the cost of a new fancy craft, just yet....

My first was aluminum. I rented a Kevlar last month and glad I did with a426 rod portage.

Aluminum is where it is at! They really do make you appreciate every portage and nature's beauty after lugging one of those across a long portage.

The Al canoes are the only ones used down here by the canoe rentals on our rocky Ozark streams. I was with a group that got one stuck in a strainer and actually bent the canoe in half. Made me appreciate the force of moving water.

I noticed that Voyager North has some lightweight Al canoes (58 lbs) for rent. I'm thinking about going this route over a Champlain. Any comments?

I'm using the ultralight Alumacraft from Kawishiwi Lodge. I will use it for a solo, and they recommended it. Anyone use this canoe?

Aluminum canoes certainly have some advantages. I believe to the two biggest are longevity and storage.

Plastics and composites will break down in time but an aluminum will pretty much last forever and can be passed along. My brother now owns the family canoe we grew up with. That canoe must be more than 45 years old.

With most canoes storage can be an issue. Generally you want them at least covered up and protected from UV light. Aluminum canoes are content being chained to the clothesline post.

Aluminum are pretty durable, though if they do get banged up permanent creases or dents are left. I've seen some that look like they have been worked over with a ball peen hammer. They still function however.

Generally they paddle pretty well. They have a nice stiff hull.

IMHO if a family wanted to buy one recreational canoe that will last forever, or someone needed a cabin canoe to store at the dock permanently, aluminum would be pretty hard to beat.

One last thing -- not too long ago aluminum canoes were the high tech canoe. They were the lightest weight, the most care-free, most durable choice out there. They were the outfitter standard. They were the kevlar canoe of their time. That time was within my lifetime. As pointed out, they are still offered by outfitters.

I agree - alumium canoes deserve some recognition.

Aluminum canoes certainly have some advantages. I believe to the two biggest are longevity and storage.

Plastics and composites will break down in time but an aluminum will pretty much last forever and can be passed along. My brother now owns the family canoe we grew up with. That canoe must be more than 45 years old.

With most canoes storage can be an issue. Generally you want them at least covered up and protected from UV light. Aluminum canoes are content being chained to the clothesline post.

Aluminum are pretty durable, though if they do get banged up permanent creases or dents are left. I've seen some that look like they have been worked over with a ball peen hammer. They still function however.

Generally they paddle pretty well. They have a nice stiff hull.

IMHO if a family wanted to buy one recreational canoe that will last forever, or someone needed a cabin canoe to store at the dock permanently, aluminum would be pretty hard to beat.

One last thing -- not too long ago aluminum canoes were the high tech canoe. They were the lightest weight, the most care-free, most durable choice out there. They were the outfitter standard. They were the kevlar canoe of their time. That time was within my lifetime. As pointed out, they are still offered by outfitters.

I agree - alumium canoes deserve some recognition.

Proud owner of a Grumman from the late 70's, same kind of canoe I learned to paddle on the upper Delaware and the Battenkill as a child. Heavy, yes, but the storage and durability can't be beat. That keel is nice, too, when paddling on big windy lakes. And I'm not afraid to try a little whitewater or ground it on the rocks at a rugged landing.

With every scratch comes a story...

I rented an aluminum canoe from an outfitter in Atikokan 20+ years ago. It was one of the nicest aluminum canoes I ever paddled. It was a Beaver Canoe. It did not have the typical aluminum canoe lines. It was very sleek with a low profile. I have been looking for one for quite a while but have never found one. Has anyone ever seen one?

Omer Stringer had a canoe company called Beaver Canoe. I think it was out of Toronto. He was certainly associated with Algonquin Park and wood - canvas canoes. I don't believe he ever had an aluminum. Here is the Beaver Canoe Logo.

I have an early 70's Grumman (75 lbs) and an early 2003 square stern Osagian (85 lbs), and I like them both... but if you ask me, the Grumman is hands down a better built canoe (just between the ones that I have).

If I ever get new canoes, probably not from needing to but rather wanting to... it be a couple of double ended Grumman 17 heavy duty model (.08 hull). I don't see it on marathonboat.com anymore and will be truly be dissapointed if they don't make it anymore.

i love our 15' michicraft aluminum canoe. 70 lbs. real stable, slow, but indestructable.

We also use an aluminum canoe handed down to my paddling partner from his parents who took it to the B-dub like 30 yrs ago. We have taken it on 6 trips now. I it is a lightweight 17' Grumman. Of course light weight is a relative term. I have carried it many miles, the weight on land kind of stinks, but it does make it nice and stable in the water, even in the wind.

I have a late 60's feather-weight Grumman aluminum canoe that I have always used. Like Bannock said storage has never been an issue. It's painted an olive green so it blends nicely into the wilderness and I never worry about it. I even lent it to the youth group at church for a weekend trip and it came back in one piece. Let me see you do that with a kevlar and sleep at night!

You all may be suffering from aluminum toxicity and it is causing you to forget how many times you have cursed those heavy, hot beasts of burden.

Bannock... I think that LOGO would be awesome on a T-Shirt!

Agree with everything everyone has said. I don't care for how loud and hot they can be. Aluminum canoes have a bitter-sweet distinctive sound when dragged on rocks or hit bottom that can be heard for a half mile at least; a sound which always reminds me of my youth.

That said... I think they are a great low cost alternative and low barrier to entry for the starter and would never want to see them go away.

i sold my aluminum this year and have never been happier. yes it was 20 years old and still in great shape i will give it that.

after reading these posts i decided to follow up with an idea i had years ago. The chiseled stone canoe. im already on it. and i can see how much more i will appreciate the trails after lugging around 185+ pounds of durability.aluminum will be obsolete once i introduce this beauty to the bwca.

Used to be a boat shop in Springfield Mo. who made bumper stickers and beer coozies that said "Friends don't let friends paddle aluminum canoes" They sold white water boats in the early 90's. I have pulled alot of aluminum boats that have been wrapped on rocks. Seen them beat back into shape and put back into the water. They serve a purpose even today!

We bought our 17 foot Grumman in 1972 from a friend of my dad's who sold them to dealers, and got a "deal" on it because it was "blemished". (Never did find any blemish either.) Don't remember how ridiculously cheap it was but we didn't have two nickels to rub together so we were thrilled to get it! He threw in two marlite paddles with aluminum shafts, too! The shiny deck bothered me in the sun, so we painted it matte black (just the deck, not the whole canoe).

We replaced it in 1999 with a Bell Northwind, green gelcoat, ash gunwales, cane seats, walnut trim. Pretty. Faster. Cuts through the water really nice. But I don't think the bow paddling is nearly as comfortable for an old lady with a bad back as the old can was. You have to sit so low. On one trip when I was having a lot of knee trouble, we actually took the Grumman so that we could run up onto shore easier and I could get out slowly to save my ailing knees. This senior citizen stuff can be a pain sometimes! Literally.

In 2005 we purchased a little cottage on a small private fishing pond in Michigan and the Grumman retired to be the cottage boat. It is perfect for that purpose, and I am glad that it still has regular use. I love that boat. So many memories.

Of course, I never carried it. ;-)

nice story, and nice that its still in the family.

Thanks, Jan. I'm sure one of our kids will inherit her, like it or not.

Back when Grumman quit making aluminum canoes Canoe and Kayak Magazine asked for submissions regarding how people felt about their Grumman canoes. I wrote a short essay that was published in the magazine. I said we were naming our canoe "Heirloom". We even painted that name on her, but I only painted it with a Sharpie, so it doesn't show much anymore. And we never have called her that anyway. She has always just been "the canoe". When we got the Bell it was "the Bell".

I suspect if I had to part with only one of them, I would have a harder time parting with "the canoe". Those times back in the 70's and 80's made me the person I am today. Now whether or not that is a good thing may be open to interpretation, but I am with the folks who still don't mind hearing that scrape of aluminum on the rocks. Memories of the early trips are still very dear--everything except canvas tents! NO nostalgia about those! :-)

I have an 17' Alumacraft CL. I have thought long and hard about upgrading to a kevlar but I just got back from Stuart River and loved that I didn't have to worry to much about hitting the submerged rocks. Granted at 65 some pounds I would have loved a kevlar after the 1 1/2 mile portage out. I will stay in my aluminum for now.

You can still get Grumman canoes; we rent them from our outfitter in Ely. The Marathon Boat Works still makes them and now has the Grumman logo.

Grumman (Marathon) Canoes

starwatcher

Yes, I know you can still get them. But at the time that they closed down the Grumman manufacturing, they were saying that they would no longer be available. That was why Canoe and Kayak Magazine made a big deal of it. And then Marathon bought the Grumman name and it became a non-issue. Maybe my old issue of Canoe and Kayak is the actual "Heirloom", eh, Karl?

Canoe42-- this couple used a Beaver canoe on their trip. One of them posted on here before/after their trip with the link to their website. Maybe they'd be interested in selling?

Yes Lynda, you are correct that you have an heirloom; sorry if I missed the point. I was just was clarifying the Marathon vs Grumman deal. Quoting their website on the history; "in 1996, a group of former Grumman managers and investors formed the Marathon Boat Group to purchase the canoe and boat operation from O.M.C., and resumed production of Marathon canoes, identical in every respect to the legendary Grummans." They weren't called "Grumman" but it was funny and ironic that their address is "One Grumman Way"

starwatcher

Rented a 17 foot alumnacraft lightweight in may and was VERY pleased with it. it only weighed in the mid 50's, was very stable, and was one of the cheapest rentals available. I would rent it again if need be, and would only go kevlar if the route had extensive portaging to be done.

I still have my Michicraft 17 foot aluminum canoe. I bought it second hand back in '72. Both my sons learned to paddle it. It's been on many trips, dragged over innumerable beaver dams and log jams. I won't get rid of it, but now we have s royalex Penob, a MnII and a Magic, each for it's own purpose. The old Michicraft gets dragged out to take the grandchildren fishing.

I am always a bit put off when clumsy folks drag loaded aluminums up on portage landings. They block up the landings, make a big fuss, then leave it sit for everyone else to work around. If one wants to take an aluminum fine, but don't cave in the bottom by dragging it all over the place, leaving metal marks where ever you go..

Richard,

A lack of portage etiquette isn't exclusive to aluminum canoe owners/renters. Don't associate behavior with a choice in watercraft. I've seen kevlar paddlers do equally obnoxious things, made even more unbelievable by how easy the boats are to move out of the way.

To rephrase a quote from the guitar thread. " I love aluminum canoes, just not in the BWCA". I like a lighter canoe for portaging. Also, if I had to choose between hearing a guitar across the lake, or an aluminum canoe being dragged across the rocks, I think I would take the guitar. : )
P.S. I do realize that not all AL canoeists drop their paddles in the boat or charge full speed into shore.

I own an old aluminum Beaver Canoe... my mom bought it from Don Beland in the 70's (I think) after he recommended we paddle it on a trip he outfitted for us. I remember he had a limited number of them. It certainly was in a league of it's own back then... I have never seen another one.

Cruiser - I was curious as to what your canoe looked like so I did a search on "aluminum Beaver Canoe". The search revealed some photos of one on an elytogunflint.com site. That one had Wilderness Inquiry markings on it. A few other mentions here and there. No information of where these boats were made at first glance. There is a reference to them in a Adirondacks canoe forum and in a Cliff Jacobson book.

They look great and appear to be collectable as a racing canoe. The seats and floatation bulkheads are interesting in the photos of the Beaver I saw. Do you have any photos of yours.

I was surprised to see you have been a BWCA.com member since 2008 but this was your first post. One tree does not always mean New Member.
I am glad you posted this as I can now keep my eyes open for a Beaver canoe at garage sales or in dusty old barns.

I love this thread. Long story short, my old Coleman 15 and my brother-in-law's 17 foot Sears aluminum had probably logged 1000 miles each by the late 80's. I have NO problem with an aluminum canoe

Alumacraft Voyager: 17 feet and only 56 pounds. Best canoe money can buy in my opinion.

quote Chilly: "


Alumacraft Voyager: 17 feet and only 56 pounds. Best canoe money can buy in my opinion. "

+1

Come back y'all when you are over 50. We did two Quetico trips in our 15 foot Grumman but in 1989 went to a longer glass boat. We did not want to lug a 17 foot aluminum. Our aluminum was a thicker ply for whitewater.

And in 1991 we discovered Kevlar..45 lbs..two weeks capacity easy. By then we were in Wabakimi when for the most part the portages were overgrown and disused. Kind of in love with our Kevlar then as we could climb over trees with it.

So with age the romance may ebb..but you probably will keep tabs on your first aluminum canoe. Mine is by the shores of Long Island Sound in Connecticut with a friend. I use it on non portage trips there.

The problem is now that we face 70 we need a boat whose float takes are filled with helium.

Say what you want......the best canoe is any canoe that gets used. A canoe that just sits somewhere is a bad canoe, no matter what material it's made from.

I still have my Alumacraft Quetico 17 from the mid-60's. It's been through the BWCA without one complaint though it's painted more than a few rocks up there. At 69 lbs it's not light, it has a V-keel so it tracks straight and true on the lakes and like a barge in small rivers and creeks, and it can be noisy as hell. I love it. I learned to canoe with it and it brought me home in weather I would hesitate to go out in again. The only repairs I've had to make are replacement pads. I use a 2hp Evenrude as a side-mounted motor and it goes like a bat out of hades. The side decoration stickers have faded with time as have I. I will not sell it. It will be handed down to my son and his son. There is nothing like your first canoe is there...

Had four of them bad boys when I started out. The 75# ones were bomb proof... they were even Ben proof. :) I agree with YC though... I couldn't imagine portaging 75# any more very far. My 63# Old Town is about all I could muster now if I had to. But my 38# Encounter... well maybe 40# with all the added stuff is what I like now.

In the late 70's or early 80's there was a man who lived in Taneyville MO who started a canoe company he called Beaver Canoe Co. Canoes were his design, made of aluminum by Osagian Canoe Company of Lebanon MO. Most of his canoes were made to float the Ozarks rocky streams. But 12 Boundry Waters models were made, 11 were shipped to Minnesota, one is owned by my neighbor. These canoes are shallow about 33'' wide, and paddle better than any aluminum canoe I have ever paddled. I didn't have any way to weigh the canoe but would guess the weight in the low 50's. Like many start up businesses this one didn't last long. This info came from my neighbor and is the best he can remember.
Bruce

aluminum canoes have a long, rich history in the north. nothing to be ashamed about.

Proud owner of an early 70's Alumacraft here. I'd go anywhere in that canoe. It is getting a bit harder to portage it than in years gone by but I'll still do it and with a smile on my face.
Gotta love those silver streaks on the rocks. I'll go days without seeing another heavy on the water but when I see those streaks I know I am not alone. I'm part of the aluminum brotherhood and my brothers and sisters with their aluminum's are out there too. I like to see that bright shiny boat across the lake. I think there should be a special tip of the head or wave between fellow aluminum paddlers.

I have always had aluminum canoes, dont know what Im missing.
Have two, one grumman and one alumacraft.

Everyone should enjoy the experience of an aluminum canoe before being spoiled with kevlar.

I used to have an Osagian heavy aluminum canoe...had to go 90 lbs. Yikes I paddled and portaged that thing for the first couple years of canoe tripping. May it rest in pieces..All I can say is RECYCLE! Gimme Kevlar!

Back in 1980 my mother in law bought a Alumacraft 17 ft...the canoe was on many canoe trips over the years, and was the first canoe I tripped in...it still exists in the family, but doesn't see water very often.

Ah the distant bang from across the lake, as one is set down at the end of a portage.

proud Grumman owner checkin in,

I own a Grumman also and it's in mint shape. I only use it on waters around here in Iowa. I break out the kevlar for the BWCA.

quote awbrown: "Say what you want......the best canoe is any canoe that gets used. A canoe that just sits somewhere is a bad canoe, no matter what material it's made from."

Well said my friend.

I grew up in the canoe rental business and have seen first hand the punishment aluminum canoes can take. However, I too am now into sleeker and lighter hulls. What year did Mad River make the first Kevlar canoe? I think my first Kevlar purchase was around 1980.

I'm a metal user too. That's all I've tripped with since around 1980. I have thought about a Kevlar but now my son does all the heavy carrying. I told him we could rent a kevlar sometime but he said "no, it's tradition to take our aluminum". We generally do one trip portages and he carries the 80# canoe and heavy duluth pack. It starts the trip probably around 70 lbs. I carry the lighter duluth, day pack and paddles. It's nice to have a strong camping partner.