Blazer 16

In summary, they thought enough of this boat to offer it in Kevlar. It is still in production today by ClassFive boats. The production run of this boat is 40 years under two different manufacturers. Very few designs last this long in the paddling industry. These facts should tell you something about the design and performance. What people don't know is the Blazer was a Gene Jensen design for a recreational canoe. Gene moved to Florida for the last 30 years of his life and lived about an hour away from Mohawk's Longwood factory. Darrell Leidigh, owner of Mohawk, collaborated on a number of projects and Mohawk also built Jensen designed C1 and C2 racing canoes. I own two Blazer 16s and the Blazer 17. I would own another. Fortunately ClassFive Canoes bought the Blazer molds and they are still making the boat at their Georgia facility. Build quality: Build quality is best described as sufficient for heavy use but not refined. The glass canoe uses a layer of roving for thickness and glass cloth for strength and durability. It has foam core ribs for rigidity. The 17 ft has five ribs and the 16ft has 4 ribs. There are no glass spurs. the inside of the hull has a spray on rough textured finish and the outside is thin gel coat. My Kevlar 16 is Kevlar and s glass with foam ribs. It is a little less stiff than the glass but significantly lighter. Strength is unmatched. I have tortured this canoe and it still holds up. It also has a spray on interior finish and thin gel coat. Durability: One of my glass boats was made in 1982 and the other was made in 1993. The 93 is showing the beginnings of aging. The 82 has been repainted and has many gel coat scrapes and scars. Both boats are structurally sound and used often. The Kevlar was made by ClassFive in 2017. It was torture tested in the Suwanee 230 during low water. We lost track of groundings on limestone rock and took numerous hard hits. We sustained scratches but no structural damage to the boat. Performance: This boat shines in covering miles and carrying a light load of camping gear. it is a great weekender. We raced it in the Suwanee 230 and were able to cover 80 miles per day in low water with little or no current assisting. Our experience was the boat held 4 to 4.5 mph without much effort. We could maintain this speed for hours with a lightly loaded boat. Best use: This boat is a value if you are looking for a fast recreational canoe with decent stability. The boat is fast and tracks well. It is best suited for flatwater weekend camping or paddling where a little extra speed is preferred. It does not have the stability or maneuverability to make it a great whitewater boat, but it can navigate the occasional class 2 on a piedmont river trip.

My wife and I dove into paddling a few years ago and Mohawk's Blazer 16, in fiberglass, was what got us started. Since then we’ve put our Blazer, named "Mona", in a variety of environments. It has been a great boat for learning basic skills and has proven tough enough to survive our many mistakes. Though we now desire more specialized boats, I doubt we'll sell it any time soon.

The Blazer 16 is a recreational tandem that can dabble in a lot of different paddling environments, but is best suited for day outings with minimal gear, on fairly calm waters. This is a great boat to keep at the lake or for day excursions on calm rivers. The shallow arched bottom helps it to paddle well, gives it good secondary stability, and decent glide for its width(36”) and length(16’). The fairly low side height(18/12.75/18”) handles wind decently and makes getting in and out easy (for both 2 and 4 legged creatures). The fiberglass layup is tough(don't ask how I know), and noticeably lighter and stiffer than poly boats of similar size. It also tracks well for a short recreational tandem, even solo from the bow seat.

If that sounds like what you’re seeking, or if your not real sure what kind of paddling you want to do, then the Blazer 16 will likely serve you well. However, no boat does everything exceptionally. If you will be primarily paddling fast moving rivers with rapids or if you know you want to do a lot of longer trips, requiring more gear, then there are better options.

The Blazer just doesn’t have the bow/stern volume or side depth needed for a dedicated rapid/river runner. Though our “Mona” has barreled through a few rapids, she rides wet and her moderately fine entry makes maneuvers in swift current laborious at times. Don’t get me wrong, she’s fine for the occasional jaunt down a class I-II laden river, especially for competent paddlers, but other boats can be more fun.

Extended tripping/camping is really the Blazer’s Achilles heel. She just wasn’t designed to carry much weight. Loaded with a small cooler, small backpack, 35lb Pup, and 2 medium/small sized adults she handles fine. However, add any more and the Blazer 16 becomes a turd! No joke.

Mohawk also made a Blazer 17. It's my opinion that the 17 footer is the better design. That extra foot and few inches enhances the boat’s good qualities, and makes it more capable for camping. The only practical downside is a little heavier boat on land (important consideration for some).

All in all, it’s a well built canoe, that can suit most recreational paddlers needs, at an affordable price. These boats are easy to find used and cheap in my area (AL). This design is still being manufactured. Visit Class Five Boats’ website to see specs or buy this and other Mohawk designs.

I bought this fiberglass canoe used but in great condition. I liked the shape of the hull (looked like it would be pretty efficient) and the color (dark green). It weighs about 60 pounds so it's pretty easy for me to load on the top of the car by myself. After loading it I was surprised how well it traveled (at highway speeds I wouldn't know it was there besides the end sticking over the hood of the car).

I've had it on the lakes around my home many times over this summer and when it's in the water it's not the most stable canoe I've been in but it's far from tippy. It is efficient through the water as I expected which makes going to the islands on the lakes easy. I and my family have enjoyed camping on the islands some this year. This canoe handles carrying loads well too and was what we loaded most of the camping gear into when we camped.

My only complaint is that when it's loaded near its maximum capacity the tracking suffers some. This may just be this one but I did find it was harder for me to get it to track when it was loaded to around 550 to 600 pounds (three adults and camping gear for a week). The advantage was that when it got going it would "glide" for a very long time at that weight and maintained speed effortlessly if we paddled continuously. All in all I love this canoe enough to take it out solo from time to time. The only issue when it's that light is crosswinds but I've learned to expect that in any canoe.

In 1987, I purchased a 16 ft Mohawk canoe, in KEVLAR. I got a steal of a deal as the dealer told about several "blemished" canoes that I could order direct from Mohawk. In those "good old days" a new Kevlar was around $1000. I got one for $750 and it included shipping because it came with a dozen fiberglass ones she had already coming!

I was there waiting when they were unloaded from the truck. Upon helping her move several glass canoes out of the way to get to mine, I was shocked as to how light my Kevlar was compared to the glass ones. It is rated at 44 lbs. Back then I could reach over, snatch it up over my head and walk off with it. That is a very impressive thing to do in front of others at the canoe launch, when the others are struggling with heavy aluminum logs and fiberglass barges!

Well its been 27 years and my Kevlar has been one heck of a canoe. My wife and I have paddles all over the 10,000 islands of Everglades, all over Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Now in my late 60's, I can't snatch it up over my head anymore, but this fantastic canoe still gets us where we wanna go. Sure it has taken some dings and we even cracked the chine on a boulder on the Elijay R. in north Ga. The damage was easily repaired with a gel coat kit and a patch. The factory guy told me how that would have been a disaster in a glass canoe, as the "crack" was only on the gel coat and the Kevlar fibers had refused to break.

Our Golden Retriever, Kaci has finally learned to sit still and she goes canoeing on the Elk River with us here in Northern Alabama.

In closing, we love our 16' Mohawk in Kevlar.