Yes another canoe thread... SORRY!

Trying to buy my first ever new canoe. Alright so here's my criteria:
- I had an evergreen prospector for ~10 years now. 52lb and felt decent enough for both lake and river travel.
- Hoping to get something in the 45lb range.
- Mostly 3-4 days in Algonquin park, but I do tend to cover good ground (20km per day, 3km portaging on average). I dream about longer more demanding trips, but they always say by a canoe based on your current usage, not your dream trip...
- Have a young kid (3 yrs) who I'm hoping will start joining wife and I on trips. Making me debate a 17'. My understanding is that 17' is also faster and will track better. Any significant downside besides weight?
- Really I think I've narrowed it down to these 3 canoes in the title: H2O Prospector vs Swift Prospector vs SR Quetico. SR is attractive because it's the best cost wise (few hundred dollars cheaper). But I'm looking to hear feedback from those who've paddled them.
- When I look at H2O brute force, should l be comparing that to Swift's Kevlar Fusion or Expedition Kevlar in terms of material and durability? Seems like weight wise it falls in between.

Seems like all the options are overwhelming. Looking for some help to push me 1 way or another.

Thanks everyone!!!

I've tried the H2O prospector 16-4 and a SR Quetico 16'. Opeongo Outfitters in Whitney has both for rent and that is exactly what I suggest you do. Otherwise it's a pig in a poke - no one can tell you how those canoes will perform for you. My opinions on the 2 vessels are quite contrary to the norm - I found the H2O too unstable and the Q16 handled like a telephone pole. But that's me, and boy am I glad that I tried them first.

I find this curious!
I've had an Alchemist 16-7 prospector made by H2O for 12 years and have had no issues with stability. The prospector shape is pretty much universal, so I'd like to know what causes the instability?

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A shallow arch hull can give an unstable feeling to a sensitive paddler.

Sister bought the Quetico 10 years ago b/c of the weight. It is initially stable b/c the bottom is flat. Paddles like a bathtub. (or telephone pole?) The SR layup seems to degrade quickly. Lots of little fibres that have to be sanded down and re-resined. See Killarney Outfitters http://www.killarneyoutfitters.com/refi ... canoes.php

We tried a friend's H20 prospector... it paddled well, but may have the same wear issue.

We have a 22 year old Langford prospector that weighs 52 pounds. I'm just now doing a major refinish of the gelcoat. Basically, it needs a wax/polish. A little elbow grease. It has had hard use, and I'm loving the memories of every scratch and chip as I'm up close with the polishing rags. It has served us well! Our daughter is just 2 years older than the canoe...she grew up in it. (and the older canoe before that weighed 65 lbs).

BTW…. with a 3 year old, you are likely under 50 years old. A 52 pound canoe is no problem!!!
In our 30’s and 40’s we carried minimum 65 pounds. We carried the 52 lb Langford from when we were 48 years old until now. At 70, we bought the Swift Prospector 16 carbon. Because we want to keep doing the trips we’ve done together for another 20 years.
If you get a lighter canoe now…what do you have to look fwd to when you get old?

It handled like a dream and we could really make it cook. But out in the open, the slightest surface gust had us bracing the gunnels. I think the combination of the layup/weight and the lightness of our (3-night) load made it sit higher than ideal.

It gave me pause - perhaps the weight of a canoe should be first considered as part of the overall weight of expedition. In other words, if the load weight is on the low side of the vessel's capacity, then a heavier boat might be a better choice. Sorry if that is obvious to everyone else.

We have a Souris Quetico 17 for our flatwater paddling and an H2O Voyageur in brute force layup for moving water/wilderness tripping.

We like the Quetico a lot. It's comfortable and roomy (esp for the bow paddler), has great primary stability, and it tracks well when loaded. We're not in a hurry (it's not the fastest boat, and not especially nimble), and I agree that it's pretty bathtubby when empty. It's also quiet (Souris pack pellets into the float tanks, which makes it quiet compared to the Swift boats we've paddled). Nearest comparison in the Swift line is probably the Keewayden 17, which my wife found less roomy up front. We have paddled a Quetico 16, and it just doesn't feel as good as the Q17. Any epoxy layup without a gelcoat will require some protection from UV, especially if scratches go through to the cloth.

Our H2O Voyageur is in the brute force layup, and it's absolutely bombproof (and 10+ lbs heavier than, say, the Quetico). For your use (Algonquin-ish, flatwater), I really don't think it's necessary. Jeff at H2O does beautiful boats in kevlar-epoxy (probably not quite so robust as the Souris River kevlar layup) and carbon-epoxy (which is super light), and you could probably look at those and end up sub-40 lbs. (If you really want light, have you looked at John Babulic's Backcountry Custom Canoes skin-on-frame boats?)

Hey thanks for the feedback everyone. I actually find myself leaning more towards the Swift Keewayden as opposed to the Swift Prospector now.

Adding colour to the SR Quetico seems quite expensive if I'm understanding right ($500). Add delivery and a contoured yoke and that's the most expensive canoe all of a sudden. I think that's turning me off and having me focus on the H2O and the Swift. My wife is smaller at 5'2" so maybe the bow space isn't as big of a deal. I also prefer to go faster.

I'll see if I can take the advice and paddle some of those boats.

Anyone has input on the stability of the Keewayden compared to H2Os prospector 16

We had out heart set on the Keewaydin then we tried a SR wilderness 18 and went with that, mainly because we thought that the canoes were of similar quality, we felt that maybe we were paying extra for the Swift name and the SR would be a more cost effective choice. We quickly learned that they are not the same. I regret buying the SR for a few reasons but mainly because they have no UV protection, one season of storing the canoe outside and our blue canoe is now faded and white looking, to be honest it looks terrible. The canoe is 2 years old, been on 3 trips and it looks worse than our 20 year old Scott Prospector. I personally would never buy another canoe without gelcoat or some sort of protective coating even if it weighs a bit more.

That is a completely valid and correct in reality. An underloaded prospector will not handle as intended, as it is a design around carrying loads consistently. I'd much rather paddle in openwater in 65-70 lb cedars strip than a 49 lb kevlar boat getting blown around. That initial stability provided by the higher inertia of a heavier canoe acts like a damper. The 400 lb cedarstrip 1967 confederation canoes I've paddled in barely felt waves and wind.

We bought a 17 foot Swift Kee. We love it. SR is on our no buy list so we only considered H20 and Swift

Not sure where you are located but we went to Frontenac outfitters and test paddled 4 H20 canoes. We brought our packs and spent hours on the water solo, tandem, unloaded and loaded. The staff and owner where great with us. At the end of the day we tipped the employee that had run all the canoes to the test lake for us and did not buy one. We then rented some other makes for weekend jaunts and ended up coming back to Frontenac outfitters and buying one of their rentals. With the price of boats the best advice you got on here is to rent and try before you buy. We ended up with a H20 Boundary 17-6 in the brute force lay-up.

If you have narrowed your choices down to the Swift and H20 models, my preference would be the H20 unless the price point is far less on the Swift that you just cant refuse a good deal.
I have paddled hundreds of Swifts and dozens of H20 and Alchemist over 30yrs of tripping, and if presented with the two fleets, there would be no consideration, H20 would win out every time.

But as others have mentioned, trying it out is best. Canoes handle differently for each paddler based on their weight and paddling experience. Whatever feels right, is the best choice.

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I went with an h2o prospector 16. EPS pro lite basalt innegra. Integrated carbon gunnels, dark stained seats and yoke, skid plates and kneeling thwart.

Super excited.

By the way would love to hear more why you recommend the h2o over the swift so I can feel validated in my choice haha. It was basically a coin toss for me.