Greetings!  Thanks for visiting this page!

When my wife and I first paddled a Souris River Quetico 16 on Jasper Lake in 1994, we decided after only 5 minutes of paddling that canoe that it far exceeded any other canoe we'd paddled so far including Grummans, Alumacrafts, Old Town ABS and Polyethylenes, Dagger Royalex, Sawyer kevlars and Wenonah kevlars.  Overall, our opinion was that it offered better tracking than Old Towns, easier turning than Sawyers and Wenonahs, lighter carrying  weight than most other canoes and was easily more stable than a Penobscot 16 which was our favorite overall canoe at the time.  We were so impressed that right then and there,  we decided to do something that most other canoe retailers would never consider:  Drop ALL of our  name-brand canoes and switch entirely to Souris River Canoes which was a completely unknown brand of canoes at the time.  We already saw a "rock-test" and could barely believe the flex-on-demand/durability of this epoxy resin kevlar with no oil-canning unlike our Penobscot 17's with the floppy bottoms.  Call it hype if you want, but I recognized what this canoe could do first-hand and being a canoe retailer and an outfitter for many years already, I knew all about the problems I encountered with vinylester resin kevlar canoes.  And, while they are tough materials, the excessive weight of royalex and polyethylene made plastic canoes unrealistic for Boundary Waters canoes in my opinion. So, we made the switch which was scary at the moment, but proved to be one of are best decisions we ever made.  We never looked back.

After all these years went by, it turns out that we are as happy as ever with Souris River Canoes.  Our first 5 minutes on the water in a Souris River in '94 told us everything we ever needed to know about these canoes.  All of the years of retailing and renting just proved that point to us even further.  Now, we have more and more outfitters switching to Souris Rivers as well.  They ARE better canoes than anything available on the market today.  You can call my canoe rhetoric "hype" if that helps you face the day, or you can accept the fact that we know canoes - lots of different models and brands.  We know how they are constructed and what people will do to their canoes whether by accident or thru ignorance. We also know what private people are saying about their own canoes-problems and praise, how other dealers handle customer problems, new layup materials/resins for the future, and what the canoe industry is saying about financial health of various name-brand canoe builders.  We keep up with all of that and chances are good that the average paddler does not - but why would they?  For example,  I love my Bobcat skidsteer and think it's the best thing since sliced bread, but I really don't know anything about the skidsteer industry or Bobcat's competition.   I just drive it and lift heavy things with joy and bliss.  If you asked me about it as a lay-Bobcat driver, I will tell you it's the best with vigor.  How do you know what I'm comparing it to, however?  Also, what is my experience level in using that Bobcat.  How do they hold up in rentals? I dunno.

You can read the bulletinboards with the expert opinions from a never-ending supply of "self-appointed canoe aficionados" who's knowledge base stems primarily from their own canoe experiences and casual observances.  That's great, but no matter how you slice it, they  really don't have the exposure to the numbers and info that we experience on a daily basis.  Internet chatboards are neat, but unless you are talking to a truly experienced, competitive canoe dealer who actually cares,  I really don't believe those lay-paddlers can actually give you what you need to know when canoe shopping (or anything-shopping for that matter).   The mere fact that some "aficionados" are insulted and criticize me when I state "Souris River's are simply better canoes" from within our own website, is proof of that.

So, if you want to believe that my writing on this site is "hype" intended to "trick" you into buying canoes from us,  please feel free because I can't help you.  For the rest of you who want to know what I know, please feel even more free to ask anytime.  If I think something is not right for you, I will tell you. If I don't know the answer, I will admit it and try to tell you where the answer may be.  Our first commitment is to knowing the product inside and out.  Our second commitment is to getting that product information to people looking for those features.   Our final commitment is to ensure that our customers get what they need.  We're doing our best for our customers and I like lively, provocative writing on our website.  You can enjoy it or hate it - it's entirely up to you.  Thanks!

Joe Baltich
Webmaster
http://redrockstore.com
http://setthehook.com
http://redrockoutfitting.com
http://visitnorthwind.com

Souris River's Newest Innovation

Innovation in Canoeing!!!
Sure you could use a kayak and put up with the fact that it is quite hard and awkward to portage, has relatively no worthwhile payload capacity and is very difficult to enter and exit unless you are on the perfect beach.  OR, you could have a lightweight solo canoe that is easy to carry, easy to paddle and control, keeps your knees dry, and makes WAY more sense when you want to take the family dog or other gear along!  Take a look at Souris River's newest solo canoe innovation to hit the paddling world.  It's a merging between the steering of a kayak and the payload ability of a canoe. 

Souris River's Newest Innovation in Canoe - Rudder Package

These Solo Canoes work REALLY well!!!!

Rudder on a Solo Canoe - Only from Souris River Canoes
Introducing the first solo canoe that is very lightweight (approx. 36 lbs. in kevlar with rudder package), fast, has a actual payload carrying ability (unlike most kayaks and some solo canoes), and is easy to control for darn near everybody who wants to paddle and portage a great watercraft for lake travel. If you can push some foot pedals, you can paddle on one side all day and steer where ever you want to go.  You can enter and exit on rough shores PLUS, you won't need to get your knees wet with a kayak paddle. A regular canoe paddle will do the trick, thereby lightening your load for portaging and adding convenience when fishing.

I've now had the opportunity to watch paddlers handle this canoe, plus we've put them into rentals into the BWCA.  Just about everybody marvels at the ease of control in the wind, especially when one needs to turn into the wind or hold a course while paddling on just one side. Also, we've finally found something really quite good and useful that's come out of the kayak world:  kayak paddles   We stock 265 cm paddles that work well in even rudderless Tranquility solos.  If you want to fly down the lake, this is a great way to go. 

From my standpoint as a canoe retailer, Souris River Canoes are where it's at and the nifty rudder system just proves my point again.  You just don't see any real applicable innovations from any other canoe companies. Sure there might be a few ruddered canoes made by small, garage/basement builders out there, but they can be tough to find and a lot of times they just adapt a homemade piece of aluminum to the back of a miscellaneous canoe.  You rarely see anything like this made by the big canoe builders, either.  Instead, those other bigger builders make a new model which is a slightly different, tweaked, shape but still has all the same characteristics of the older versions of canoes - no rudder either.  To tweaked canoe hull designs and all of the supporting hype, we say "Big whoop"!  Souris River provides us with total working substance and zero hype!  You can see it in the pictures and feel it on the water.  Until that changes, we won't stock any other brand of canoes.  For thinking paddlers, Souris River is pretty hard to beat. 

Check out some of our trade-in Tranq's here.  It's SO new, we don't have the finalized package name for it yet so just tell us you want a Tranq with a rudder.  1-800-280-1078  redrock@redrockstore.com

Carving a turn with rudder power on a Souris River Tranquility Solo

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