How Much Does It Weigh?

[Dave Osborn]

Larry Meyers, on another post, brought up the subject of developing a shpiel for a comeback when the inevitable "Nice canoe, but what does it weigh?" comment comes up.
Just wondering what others say when confronted with that comment.....

I tell people that "it doesn't weigh anything when you are paddling it"!
Sometimes I add in that " it takes two people to carry most other full size canoes, same with a wooden one.....the difference is really in how you feel when you are paddling it".

 

[Dave Wermuth]

On day one I say, "he ain't heavy, he's my brother."
On day seven I say, "it weighs four ounces less than a battleship".

 

[Paul Miller]

I have been to many boat shows and have heard the question many times, at many of the same shows as Dave.

I've even uses a system to hold the canoes in place on the rack as many want to lift one end to see how heavy it is. Of course they didn't pass high school physics or geometry or they would understand the principal of the fulcrum. With the canoe on a rack 8 feet wide you only picking up 3/4 of the canoe so it should feel lighter than it is.

Back to my reply; I ask them a question to guess how old the canoe is (usually built pre-1930's) and then ask the average size of a male from that time period or even back to the turn of the Century. It was about 5'7" or 5'8" and 145 lbs.

Then I mention the average male is now about 6' 200 lbs, benches 250 lbs, and complains about a canoe that weighs more than 45 lbs. Of course men in the old days worked for a living and were much tougher than the average male today and that's why the didn't complain about canoes that weighed 80 or 90 lbs.

I usually don't get much of a response.

I will admit I don't portage much.

Paul

 

[MGC]

I have been to many boat shows and have heard the question many times, at many of the same shows as Dave.

I've even uses a system to hold the canoes in place on the rack as many want to lift one end to see how heavy it is. Of course they didn't pass high school physics or geometry or they would understand the principal of the fulcrum. With the canoe on a rack 8 feet wide you only picking up 3/4 of the canoe so it should feel lighter than it is.

Back to my reply; I ask them a question to guess how old the canoe is (usually built pre-1930's) and then ask the average size of a male from that time period or even back to the turn of the Century. It was about 5'7" or 5'8" and 145 lbs.

Then I mention the average male is now about 6' 200 lbs, benches 250 lbs, and complains about a canoe that weighs more than 45 lbs. Of course men in the old days worked for a living and were much tougher than the average male today and that's why the didn't complain about canoes that weighed 80 or 90 lbs.

I usually don't get much of a response.

I will admit I don't portage much.

Paul

When my father was a young man he worked for the Maine Forest Service and he guided. They carried 20 foot Whites over the NE Carry and into the Allagash. It was "the way". I am sure they suffered as we do now.
When my father and I did the Allagash he carried our fiber-glassed Ideal over NE Carry and then Mud Pond and then over the Tramway. He never complained although I know he suffered. Dan can attest to how heavy that beast was.
When I carry my 20 foot White many years later it reminds me of him and our trips together. I suffer but never complain.
When my son carried his Traveler over Mud Pond Carry and said it was the hardest thing he ever did I enjoyed telling him it my 4th time. I love watching people die with a 40 lb canoe on their shoulders . It gives me motivation. I make sure that I don't show any pain or suffering when I pass them with my 75 - 100 lb canvas canoe. When I put it down at the end of the carry I love to have them look at it and admire it's beauty and ask what it weighs. When I get back in the water, it's all worth while. Nothing paddles like wood. I smile as we pull away.....