Guide

I've had my Guide for more than 15 years and love it for my favorite kind of river, Class 1- to II-plus. It turns well, tracks acceptably, and bounces happily through waves. I keep air bags in it except when I'm boat camping and need room for gear. I've outfitted it with foam for kneeling and use a Crazy Creek canoe seat for times when I want to sit upright. Great solo boat!

I'm an older guy that got this boat new many years ago. This canoe needs a very experienced paddler. It is tippy! It can also go through class 4 white water if u can keep it up right.

I have enjoyed it for the time I have owned it. I am almost 60 now n m gonna give It away. The thing that makes this canoe nice is if u r going for an expedition trip an u have some ballast for gear loaded in the bottom of the canoe. It will ride over really big waves. I liked it. It is like a mad horse. It will dump u so fast u will not know what happened. But if u don't tip, u will say wow!

I used this boat for thru-paddling the NFCT and as my go to pond fishing boat while I served as an Allagash Ranger. (For lake inspection I used a MR Traveler). The Guide is perhaps the signature boat for the 750-mile route (in Royalex). While this boat drove me nuts on flatwater for its sluggishness, it was reassuringly agile in tight whitewater. The thing I loved about it was that I showed the boat zero respect and nothing happened to it. I dragged it across slash piles, dragged it down carries and rock embankments, and on occasion dragged it over guard rails and across highways. Still, very little wear and tear. It is ugly in vinyl trim, but you don't have to babysit it as you would have to do with wood.

In general I feel that life is too short to look at vinyl gunwales, but there are times when you have to make compromises. Again, I can't stress enough that this boat is a little bathtub on the flats..keep the trip short and you may not feel it that much, but a ten mile lake paddle? Torture.

The 14'6" Guide model is perfect for weekend and week-long canoe camping trips. It is agile and easy to turn and hold my weight (220) plus camping gear, cooler, tent, food, water for week long trip with ease. Love it.

This review is for a 2004 model Guide or "Freedom Solo" as it has been renamed, w/ vinyl trim. A little about me: I'm 30 years old 6'3" tall and 210lbs. I paddle Ozark streams and carry between 30 and 80 lbs. of gear on overnighters and week long river trips.

I've paddled the boat on two, three day trips on class I and II rivers and through a class III rock garden w/ an 80 lb. load. I love the way this boat eddy turns and spins on and off the eddy line. The hull feels so loose on the water compared to my Dagger Legend 15 Solo. The Guide can catch the smallest eddies too. It's a little shakey initially but not bad. Turning completely around while seated took a little getting use too. But standing is no problem. Underway it responds to leans nicely and firms up at the gunwales. I did take on a little more water than expected. It has a sharp entry and punches through standing waves and haystacks with speed but you get a little wet, not a big deal. On flats I feel like it accelerated quickly but hits it's top speed quickly as well, which isn't very fast. It has OK glide but it can get away from you if your not used to it. On my first day in it, it started to carve a turn on it's own and it was suprisingly difficult to convince it to do otherwise. I learned quickly to use this to my advantage and carve beuatiful smooth turns paddleing on the inside. Which is totally my style. I like to cruz in and out of the vegatation on the flats and this boat is perfect for that.

With that said, as far as build quality goes; I had the boat shipped freight to me. When I got it home the first thing I noticed was the seat was 2 inches off to one side. The seat holes and the holes in the gunwales didn't match up(I like the seat right at the gunwales(no hangers)). I had a new uncut seat so it was a quick fix. The second thing I noticed was the decks are ugly and I kind of wished for the all wood set up. The hull is beautiful. The rivets, gunwales and thwarts look good too.

I will say it does oilcan a little with a 300 lbs. total load and a little bouncing. But, the trade off is the nice, light weight. Overall I could only wish for more speed but I would have to pay in playablility.

I have a Guide Rx, (wood trim)that I use for canoe trips on the Middle Fork Salmon when I want to carry a lot of gear ... e.g., more food when other people come along, more clothing for late season trips, etc. It works fine as a solo, wilderness tripper. Handles whitewater with ease. It's not as fast as a my Wenonah Rendevous but it's easier to maneuver and you can haul more.

I bought a used one about a month ago. It's a 1997 model and the woodwork had not been touched since it was new. I bought the Mad River stain and wood finish and redid the woodwork with a dark finish. The canoe is sand colored and the dark wood really sets it off. I took it for it's first paddle this weekend. I weigh 200 pounds and had about 60 pounds of camping gear. I have a bad right shoulder so I have to use a double paddle (240cm). The river had quite a few riffles and some class I and one class II. Many, many long slow pools. With the double paddle, it moves right along. In the class I and II, pick a good line and the boat won't disappoint you. Being as it is made with Royalex I consider it a super river tripping solo boat if you use common sense and realize that no loaded tripping boat is a whitewater boat. I look forward to many more river trips in it.

Great canoe for a single person. Very good secondary stability. I've owned it for 4-5 years and use it on a local reservoir. It is slightly rockered for use on Class I whitewater. Mad River helped me out when I lost some seat pieces and screws - gave me a replacement kit without charge.

This canoe turns,heels,draws and keeps you dry- but does not track on flat, especially in the wind. It is more responsive than any boat I've used, good in narrow rivers up to classII, but needs flotation for that. It's 10/10 on easy whitewater and twisty water, but 6/10 on open lakes and sloughs. A good playful boat.