Canoes

• Buy on-line, then Pick-up at our store -we do not normally ship Canoes to your home, but it occasionally may be arranged.  We can easily ship accessories to you, OR Pick-up at our store.
• Try-Before-You-Buy -we have water right here at the store where you can try out one canoe, or several brands and models, to be sure you make an excellent choice.
• Box Stores only answer is cheap, ...they can't match our service, quality or longevity.
• Real Value is achieved when you appreciate what you bought, more than what you could have bought elsewhere.

Take advantage of our 50+ years in the Canoe business when you need helpful advice on how to store, transport, or how to best outfit your new canoe with the huge variety of accessories we have in stock-we sell and install Yakima racks, plus trailers, paddles, pfds, SuperSeat backests, kneeling pads, yoke pads, and much more...

If you have never been to our store you really owe it to yourself to see our amazing selection of new and used canoes and kayaks. Please take advantage of our knowledge and inventory so that you may buy the right kayak, not just the first one you find. Not sure what would be the best value for your needs?? Check out our "Try before you buy" program and experiment on the water with a few different models. If you just can't make it to our store then give us a call and we'll give you our best advice.

Warranty

New canoes, kayaks -warranty starts from your date of purchase. We can assist your warranty process if you purchased new from our store.
We don't have a lot of trouble with the brands we choose to sell new but we also like to have brands that actually help us out when there is an issue. We think of Warranties like a seat belt... good to have one, just in case.
Used canoes, kayaks -no warranty. Canoe and Kayak warranties are never transferrable, so the only warranty is to the original, new owner. All used items are sold as is.

Planning on a Motor?

New -an MSO is available only to the original new owner. We can help if you purchased it new from our store (within the past few years). The only reason we need an MSO is to register the craft for use with a Motor. We recommend you buy a new model if you'll need an MSO.
Used -do not have an MSO. We can't supply an MSO for used canoes or kayaks. All used items are sold as is.

ALL the Reviews say THIS is the ONE to BUY !!

Our best advice is to look at reviews and then come in with an open mind. You can do your own review right at our store... sit in it, paddle it, give it a really good look over.
THEN, look around and COMPARE to all the other top selling brands and models we have in stock. You may confirm what you already thought, or you may not.

What does the "Condition" mean??

"used" --- all USED items are sold AS IS. No warranty. No brand has a warranty for used items.
"poor"--- used, this is something that's really beat and likely needs some work. No warranty.
"fair"--- used, this is something that looks pretty rough and might be questionable structurally. No warranty.
"good" --- used, this would have a lot of scratches, perhaps some dents but is OK structurally. No warranty.
"very good" --- used, scratches and maybe small dents, typical use and wear. No warranty.
"excellent" --- used, very limited scratching and wear, almost new condition. No warranty.
"demo" --- used, generally very good to near new condition. No warranty. No brand has a warranty for used items.
"clearance" -- Not used. -- Warranty is in effect from date of purchase. May be scuffed or a previous year model.
"special" --Not used. -- Warranty is in effect from date of purchase. May be new or clearance. Specials will have a "special" price, feature or color.
"new" --Not used. -- Warranty is in effect from date of purchase.
Some brands may have a longer warranty for new items vs. clearance items. 

Clearance models? Factory overstock, discontinued colors or features, Scratch-&-Dent SALE* on select Canoes, Kayaks and Paddle Boards. Because of this we show a reduced, scratch-n-dent, or "clearance" sale price. Imperfections, blemishes and Scuff marks are very common in shipping certain models from factory to our store. However, in our humble opinion, some brands never make it very close to "perfect" even on their best day. Finish quality varies a lot from one brand to another! 

• Selection is limited on clearance items.  Not all of our inventory for a particular model is "clearance".  NOTE: We often have New and clearance and used versions of a particular model.

What's in a Name?

Some fancy canoe brands are merely posers and hucksters that can only talk a good game, while others are just made too cheaply to actually function well or last.Oak Orchard only recommends canoe brands and models which are proven in real use.Examples of high-quality reliable canoes include: Esquif Canoes (T-formex, T-formex LITE.) Old Town Canoes (polyethylene, rotomolded Polylink3.) Rheaume Canoes (Fibrex, fiberglass, Kevlar fusion, Carbon fusion, Innegra, Wood.) Slipstream Canoes (Kevlar, Carbon, Innegra.) and Wenonah Canoes (T-formex, Tuff-weave, Kevlar, Carbon, Innegra.)

ROYALEX: Royalex is a multiple layer ABS based plastic well proven over decades of use.The layers are fused together providing outstanding flexibility on impact and outstanding longevity and overall hull shape retention. NOTE: the company that made the Royalex material for ALL canoe brands has stopped production. Royalex was a great material for canoes which we have sold and also used in our rental program for many years with great success. The new and improved version of Royalex is called T-formex.

T-formex: T-formex is Royalex 2.0 -the next generation with improved stiffness and durability.  And now with T-formex LITE there's also an even lighter weight option.
Esquif and Wenonah both make high quality T-formex canoes. T-formex has proven to be the best canoe material by far, if you need Lots of durability and a reasonable weight.

PLASTIC (polyethylene): quality and reliability varies greatly from one brand to another depending on the grade of plastic used and the way it's formed.
Single layer plastic canoes dominate the box store scene since they are the lowest price of any option. Quality ranges from disposable trash can grade to a bit better.
Multiple layer plastic canoes are about four times thicker and provide very good shape retention, and durability over many years.Extra thickness results in much fewer catastrophic failures from cracks and voids which become leaks in a single layer canoe hull (aka Coleman, Pelican, Mad River Adventure or Passage.)The layers are fused together providing outstanding flexibility on impact and outstanding longevity and overall hull shape retention.Unlike single layer canoes which need molded seat supports between the gunwale and floor, multiple layer canoes have replaceable seats and components. We see lots of single layer canoes that can't be repaired. We have sold and also used multiple layer plastic canoes in our rental program for many years with great success.Examples of quality multiple layer plastic canoes are Triple Tough by Mad River, and Polylink3 or Crosslink3 by Old Town Canoe.

Fiberglass, Kevlar and carbon (composites): quality and reliability varies greatly from one brand to another and ranges from very poor to outstanding.Reliability depends greatly on the grade of material or fabric used and especially the way it's formed and reinforced. We call this selective reinforcing vs. what can we leave out to make this thing lighter. Multiple layer composite canoes with a foam core material in the floor are about four times thicker and provide excellent shape retention and durability over many years, in spite of being very light weight.

Do yourself a favor and consider a lighter weight canoe.  We talk to folks all year long that use their canoe less, simply because they dread lifting it.  They tell us it's heavier than it used to be.  Eventually they realize the heft of their old canoe is keeping them from using it as much as they wished.

TRY-BEFORE-YOU-BUY is a great way to test out a few models and see how much difference you can feel.  One person's light weight may be another's heavy.  One person's agile may be another's poor tracking.