Camper 16

I came across this site and had to post. This is is my first and only canoe purchase- the classic OT Camper. I owned it for 20+ years and took it everywhere..I mean everywhere in GA, SC,NC and TN.. lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and whitewater..beautiful when I bought it for $500 with trolling motor without a scratch on it..when I lost it, it had many story scratches and one major ding up front from getting sideways in the old etowah river minshaft tunnel. You can’t overload this canoe at least I never did with two peoples gear for week long stints. I would paddle solo over class III and IV rapids and only flipped twice in all my expeditions and it was the driver at fault. My ex seemed tlbthinknitbwas a good idea to push it down the mountain after we broke up and that was the last of my my OT camper experiences. I had no problems carrying the lightweight royal ex canoe myself or loading it on my Exterra.
Since then, I purchased an OT Dirigio 120 Angler kayak and can only go solo. I miss that boat more than you can imagine. Anyone saying it’s not fit for whitewater hasn’t done enough paddling..I hung with two Blueholes for years..lol.. here’s to those who have owned and had similar experiences with this awesome canoe!!!🤙

I just picked up a well used Camper off of Ebay. Got it for $300. Hull is in good shape but needs some work. Vinyl is delaminating in maybe 8 or so dime sized spots. I'm going to epoxy over those. Other than that, there is really only one area where it looks like the boat may have been slightly wrapped and punched back out; minor creasing. All in all I think the boat is in good shape for the price. It needs a few bucks worth of materials and a few hours worth of work. I took it out on the Passaic River here in NJ on Memorial Day and it paddled like a dream. Tracks a little better than it's little sister the Pathfinder. Both are terrible to paddle solo, no gear, in open water with strong wind.

The negative is because of the high load limit, it rides high and has a bit too much rocker for fishing while unloaded. One light stroke intended to straighten out the travel direction would result in a 180 degree turn if uncorrected quickly. More time was spent correcting the trajectory of the canoe than fishing. A big negative in my book.

I suspect this canoe would do well in relatively fast water because it is so responsive and extremely stable.

Overall, a great loaded tripping canoe, but a poor choice for fishing unless you have some willing soul to steer while you fish.

This boat is ideal for just tooling around with the family. I often use my kayak paddle in the back seat and do all the paddling and navigation for the family (me, wife, 3 kids, and golden retriever all fit fine with a cooler and gear), and this is also a great boar for taking my son fishing. This is a long canoe with a pretty flat bottom, so if you are looking to navigate a more technical river, then I would look for something with a little more rocker.

Lastly, make sure you have plenty of room for storage. At 16', I had to build a raised deck on my old house to keep it out of the elements. I now have a hoist system in my new house's garage to get it out of the way.

I'm still wondering about the durability of Royalex. It seems to scratch when you look at it, but I haven't had any major damage thus far. The weight advantage is awesome when you are loading it onto the car by yourself, which I am most of the time.

I'd buy it again, although I'd like it to be part of a "quiver" of boats, rather than my one and only. I'd take it out solo in anything, but I'd probably prefer a shallow V with a partner in rough water.

In spite of what one might expect, we found the Camper to be better on rivers than on lakes. It turns well and sideslips easily, but straight tracking requires more attention to technique - and with a light load, the boat is easily pushed around by the wind. We found it best used on the nearby shallow class 1 river, where it handled tight turns well and slid easily through riffles and mini-rapids over shallow gravel bars.

The Camper also made a pretty good poling platform on that same river. It's very easy to learn to stand in and tracks well upstream when trimmed heavy to stern, and compared to the Nova Craft Prospector that we replaced it with, the Camper glides easier over extreme shallows and carves a turn with less "offside lean" when poling (though not quite as easy to turn with paddles). But it lacks secondary stability to tackle the rough stuff or the turbulence found under even class 1+ drops and the powerful eddies around wing-dikes, when poling upstream.

For the average novice paddler, or for anyone not interested in anything above class 1 and calm lakes, the Camper should serve well - but I find a boat that relies heavily on primary stability to be too limiting. Of the boats that we have owned, for flat water, I prefer the Old Town Penobscot, and in rivers with any excitement to them, I prefer the Nova Craft Prospector. We also have a Wenonah Fisherman that does as well as the Camper in extreme shallows while also providing good secondary stability and easier flat water tracking - although it's a bit slower and doesn't track as well going upstream while poling.

In short - the Camper is a pretty good class 1 river boat and pretty good for fishing and such on small (windless) lakes - especially for novices who are intimidated by a livelier hull. Easy to carry and car-top while still very durable. And good-looking, as well. But for anyone that might want to get into more exciting waters with comfortable control, I would advise to skip to something designed to lean more toward secondary stability and take the time to get accustomed to the "tippiness".

I believe these numerical ratings should reflect how well the manufacturer's design fits it's intention, the quality of construction, choice of materials, and it's ease of use - without comparing boats of different performance categories on the water. I give the Camper a 9, because Old Town could pay a little more attention to grain quality in it's wood seat frames - not a big deal.

Was concerned about the thin Royalex construction at first because I do end up dragging the full boat from time to time, but the flat bottom distributes the weight of the gear and have had no problems with this. I have had to add the Kevlar skidplate kits on the ends of the boat from the dragging, but did so before I had any real issues.

DO NOT get this boat if you are going to paddle in swift, rough waters or are looking to set speed records. It will not satisfy your needs. No secondary stability would be a major problem, and it is too short to go fast.

It is lightweight and durable. I have the webbed seats with the optional seatbacks. 10 miles into the trip, EVERYONE wishes they had the seatbacks. Definately worth the money...

Furthermore, the Camper is so big that I usually set up a full kitchen in the middle of the boat. A friend and I made a table/deck out of wood and plastic lumber that is clamped firmly across the gunwales. I have a 2 burner propane camp stove, running water and a cooler full of dry ice (lasts for days- you should try it) and generally everything I need to make some pancakes while someone else is steering. Try doing that in some sleek little white water canoe!

Depending on how the gear is stored, I can even get a little sleep in the boat during night paddles. Plenty of room to stretch out. Again, I've got someone else driving while this stuff is happening. Admittedly, mine is a completely gonzo, insane style of canoeing. But my thanks and appreciation go out to Old Town for making the canoe that allow this.

After a few paddles I realized this canoe needed its rear seat lowered compared to the one we rented (I'm 6' 2"@230lbs which I'm sure plays into this, plus I expect a certain feel from the boat that includes a lowish center of gravity), I did that and have been happily padding this canoe for mild class I- II rivers and walk in lakes. We use this canoe for relaxation, photography and fly fishing and the only reason I downgrade it to a 9 is it requires some paddling skill on the stern paddlers part to keep it tracking properly. I use a constant series of correction strokes to keep it on course and even paddling alone as my wife fishes or photographs in the bow, I rarely switch sides, but someone not aware of this characteristic might find this annoying (thought it was worth mentioning).

In terms of stability, there can't be a much better canoe, never a thought of dumping it, even if hitting a submerged object, unlike some canoes that feel like they will dump if touching something, even lightly. We have used it on fairly rough lakes, it's decent in the wind but has no tracking glide at all, if you power off or stop correcting, it will eventually glide through a full 180 deg. skidding rotation or even 360 degs (unlike the Penobscot 17 which we also now own, that will glide for what seems like miles while staying on track). But what a fishing platform, and what a reasonable easy paddler, not real draggy and it will turn very well if needed. It's great to drift down river with and anchor in an eddy, you never feel the seams in the river or that tugging sensation of water direction changes as the canoe swings over feature changes, under way or while at anchor.

The Camper may not win races but you don't really tire either while lake padding, if you keep moderate power on and keep the boat at or around hull speed, it performs quite well IMO (after all, it has its limits and pushing them does little good!). We do load this canoe fairly well at times and it takes at least what we load in it very well, there are higher dryer canoes, there are specialty canoes but for an all purpose canoe for fishing, camping or photography and carrying in, the Camper may well be hard to beat.

We go there to get away from people, fish and relax. We usually go in as far as we can comfortably get in a fairly aggressive one day paddle, 10 to 20 miles depending on # of portages and the wind. We target lakes and campsites that are not part of primary routes or loops, but offer seclusion, good campsites and good fishing.

We set up a very comfortable camp with a 4-6 man tent with standup and walk around room, hammocks and many creature comforts that the ultra light canoe-camper will forgo. We also take in enough fishing tackle to cover everything from large northerns, deep water lake trout, walleyes and small mouths. If they swim we try to catch'em.

Needless to say we are very heavy going in (4 full size duluth packs plus the food pack)and the Camper handles the load extremely well. It is a little tight but we squeeze em in. We still have plenty of freeboard and the low center of gravity makes for excellent stability. We've been on Sagnaga and across Cache Bay in less than favorable windy weather and the canoe fared far better than my nerves did. It can get real nasty out there real quick and the canoe just took it in stride. I'm not talking 3' swells and white caps here, but it has been far from the kind of weather you hope for. Once we set up base camp we day trip in every possible direction with light packs and our fishing gear. The Camper is an outstanding fishing platform. The royalex is extremely quite, even when a less than graceful 14 year old bounces his paddle off the side or drops a tackle box, All you get is a soft "tump". Hardly enough to scare even a shy walleye. In addition we do not have to be extremely cautious when it comes to landing the canoe. If we scrape a rock or two the royalex Camper slides right over them. Along with it's quietness, is the type of stability the flat bottom design offers. I am aware that in extreme conditions a curved or rounded bottom canoe will handle rougher water before it flips, but I am not going out in those conditions. What I am trying to do is keep from getting motion sickness caused by my young fisherman's casting style. At his age he still uses his whole body to cast or set the hook and the constant jerking and rolling motion in a curved bottom canoe makes for a nerve wracking experience. In the Camper I can relax, leaning back in the woven cane back rest, almost to the point of taking a nap, while Mike does battle with the fish up in the front.

The only thing I might like to see is 6" to 8" more in length to help handle the load for an 8-10 day trip. It would add a pound or two in weight but next year Mike will be big enough to carrying the canoe so I don't have to worry.

If you know of a canoe that does what this one does, only better, I would love to know about it. I have not found one but I am always looking.