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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.

I have had my Bending Branches Bent Shaft, paddle for about 15 years now. It is a dramatic improvement over the typical metal/plastic standard canoe paddle. Its NOT cold to the touch like the alum shaft paddles. It's VERY light weight which make a huge difference on an all day trip. The BENT SHAFT is the ONLY way to GO! People look at it and think I got a defective paddle! The extra power you get from a bent shaft is amazing!

The fit an finish is also something to brag about. When not actually on the water, I keep it wrapped in a denim bag made from an old pair of blue jeans. After 15 years of pretty hard use, it still looks like new! The tip end is protected by a heavy duty rock guard which is great. You can't go wrong with a Bending Branches Bent shaft paddle!