A few weeks ago I had the chance to test paddle an Old Town Guide 119 on Bone Lake in Polk County Wisconsin. To be completely honest I was not expecting to enjoy paddling the Guide 119. So you can imagine my surprise when I found myself having a good time.
A very good time.
It was not too windy out that day but there was some wave action on the water. It was actually a good day to test out such a small solo canoe as the Old Town Guide 119.
This Is Not A Review
Since this is not a product review I am not going to go into much detail on my new canoe. The point of this post is to just let people know I did decide on canoe model from my previous post on the subject. I wanted something that could take a beating. Something that wasn’t too expensive. It had to hold me and my meager camping gear for river tripping as well as smaller lake paddling in the BWCA and around where I live.
By and large I wanted something I felt good and comfortable in. The Old Town Guide 119 felt pretty stable to me… and I’m 6′ 1″ tall and hefty at a current weight of 260 pounds (down from 325 several months ago).
People are going to question my decision on this canoe. Sure, there are bigger and lighter canoes out there. But they are not as durable and you can pay thousands more for them. I’m cheap and don’t want to spend thousands. My Guide 119 cost me $699, it hold up to 500 lbs, and weighs around 48 lbs which is a manageable weight for loading and unloading on my SUV. It also has pretty darn good stability for a top heavy dude like myself.
This past weekend I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods not far from where I live to buy the Guide 119 (Dick’s is the only place to buy the Guide 119, more on that in another post). They only had one in stock and it was the display model. It looked a little banged up from being on display and I didn’t want that one. So I went home and ordered a brand new one online.
My new Old Town Guide 119 will be arriving at my house in several days. Stay tuned for updates and a thorough product review.
I am planning on using this new little canoe for a BWCA trip later in September on a few smaller sized lakes.
Looking for more information on my new canoe? Since writing this blog post I added a new page to my website: Old Town Guide 119 Review.
TD
