Collapsible Canoes
By Rocky Thompson on March 28th, 2007
The clothing manufacturer Bergans of Norway has a line of folding canoes, though sadly they lack any cool Nordic-sweater designs. The Ally Canoe uses aluminum poles to keep a sheet of plastic with you and all your gear in it afloat. The 715 Ally can hold 3 or 4 people and their gear—they make these things for fly-in trips. It’s a lot cheaper and easier to transport in your canoe for a fly-in if you can put it in a bag. Just don’t forget the canoe poles, it’d be a lot worse than that time I forgot the tent poles.
“Just don’t forget the canoe poles”– ouch. As a former midwesterner, I’d thunk you’da known you use canoe paddles. If you use a pole, you’re a fancy Italian singing to ladies and stuff.
It’s a shame these are so expensive, they’re freaking awesome in person. The picture doesn’t do it justice. They have a pseudo-skegged sweptback touring model, too. I lust for one of these boats.
[...] Folding kayaks and canoes are expensive, but I know that if I tried to make my own it would either fold in the middle of a lake or not fold when I was trying to pack it up. Tom Yost has a website with detailed instructions to make your own collapsible kayak. Saying you need to be “handy†is like saying you should probably wear shoes if you’re running a marathon. [...]