Paddling a Kevlar canoe (or any lightweight composite canoe, be it a tandem canoe or a solo canoe) in the Northwoods is a wonderful experience that asks a lot of a paddler, or a canoe for that matter. I’ve found, during my time at Piragis Northwoods Company, where I have had the opportunity to try all sorts of used canoe models, that there is a model designed to maximize the hull’s performance given all sorts of conditions or situations. One canoe is nimble enough to wind its way through the Oyster River with nothing more than a light pry, while another can haul everything but the kitchen sink over whitecaps on Knife Lake without its paddler having to think for a moment about stability, and yet another that will carry a paddler from Moose Lake in Ely, Minnesota to Trail’s End on the Gunflint just outside of Grand Marais in a single day.

  I believe this is what sets Piragis apart from most – we carry an exceptional variety of canoe models, used canoes and new canoes, so that a paddler can find a canoe to fit his or her needs. One person may want a Wenonah Spirit II to fit a wide variety of trips (narrow river navigation to crossing Basswood Lake) and another may want to find a canoe that has a narrower set of properties, like a Minnesota II allowing them to pile up the miles quickly or a Northstar Phoenix in IXP that can handle white-water paddling. Piragis also allows customers to try a wide variety of canoes out of our rental fleet, where we bring in some models that other canoe outfitters are unlikely to have, such as Northstar’s Polaris, Pearl, or Trillium, or Wenonah’s Basswood, Voyageur, or Escape, in addition to the greatest hits like Spirit II or Northwind 17.

  Many dealers may be able to get you a variety of canoes on order, but it’s important to speak to people who have paddled everything in all sorts of conditions, and have the option to test paddle a canoe that is either in-stock or in our rental fleet, and we pride ourselves on being able to offer the knowledge and inventory to provide the customer what they need when shopping for a canoe (used solo canoe, used tandem canoe, new solo canoe, new tandem canoe, new or used three-person canoe, new or used four-person canoe). Our inventory of used canoes for sale and new canoes for sale is unparalleled.