I am looking at a used Kevlar canoe that has 4 cracked ribs that have been repaired by an outfitter. As this would be my first kevlar canoe I figured I should go with one that I wont be afraid to scratch and can learn from, as well as afford, two trips would pay itself in rental fees. I figure I can always sell and buy a nicer canoe in the future. Would such canoe be a problem with proper repairs or should I keep looking. There is also one that has all good ribs but would cost about a 3rd more, and would be hard for me to justify at this time.

I would suggest waiting until you can afford one with good ribs. Buying cracked ribs is buying trouble, IMO.

quote old_salt: "I would suggest waiting until you can afford one with good ribs. Buying cracked ribs is buying trouble, IMO."

+1. Assuming that you are going to be tripping with this boat, you don't want to take chances on your mode of transportation when you are in the wilderness. Keep you eyes pealed. Good deals pop up fairly frequently.

"Proper repairs" is the real question. Who is to judge and do you know the difference? Also, how long are the 2 trips which would pay off the cost of the purchase? If you trust the repairs, and the trips to break even are relatively short, l then would go ahead and buy it. Be sure to take an extra roll or two of duct tape for repair on the go if the canoe does not last. A 90 degree bend was caused on one after a tree basically split it open and duct tape was used and the travelers got out.

I think the upside is great enough to buy if the price is low and the trust in the repair runs at 80% or more. Do not be afraid to cut the price with an offer of around 2/3 thirds. No pain if rejected and a real bargain if bought. Other buying opportunities will come along if not from this particular canoe.

I would trust most BWCA outfitters with the repairs and take the tape along. If a personal owner is involved, they may want to unload this canoe even more than an outfitter.

Best of luck!

quote bwcadan: ""Proper repairs" is the real question. Who is to judge and do you know the difference? Also, how long are the 2 trips which would pay off the cost of the purchase? If you trust the repairs, and the trips to break even are relatively short, l then would go ahead and buy it. Be sure to take an extra roll or two of duct tape for repair on the go if the canoe does not last. A 90 degree bend was caused on one after a tree basically split it open and duct tape was used and the travelers got out.


I think the upside is great enough to buy if the price is low and the trust in the repair runs at 80% or more. Do not be afraid to cut the price with an offer of around 2/3 thirds. No pain if rejected and a real bargain if bought. Other buying opportunities will come along if not from this particular canoe.


I would trust most BWCA outfitters with the repairs and take the tape along. If a personal owner is involved, they may want to unload this canoe even more than an outfitter.


Best of luck!"

Always have duct tape with no mater what, I do agree though on offering a lower amount on it as 2/3 would definitely make me feel much better about the purchase.
Will also say it makes me feel better about the chance of making it out after hearing your story about wrapping around a tree. I can not imagine how that would happen, but am not shocked either.

I bought a used canoe from VNO at Canoecopia last March. It had a few crecked ribs.
I repaired them as shown in the attached video. The repair was easy and held up great on our trip to Quetico last summer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIWnSmyuppE

You can stir your imagination this way: A tree fell during a storm and caught canoe dead on center. Down force broke it nearly in half with one end literally 90 degrees standing straight up. I do not know how they removed it before straightening it out before using duct tape for repairs, I would guess they cut the tree on both sides of the canoe , then lifted off the nearly four foot chunk of a log. As I remember it, the tree was around a foot or so diameter that landed on canoe.

The picture of this makes me think the repair job described for the canoe being purchased will likely be just fine as I presented before.

Ended up buying a different better condition canoe and working out a deal that worked out for both parties.

That really is a story and I probably would have been fine, but in the end I know have a forever canoe vs a for now canoe.

Thank you for all the replies from everyone.

I’m glad it all worked out for you. Happy paddling!

For what it's worth, my dad's Quetico had the same cracking issue on the ribs for several years. It didn't seem to get any worse during that time, but he eventually decided to fix it for peace of mind. All we did was put a narrow strip of fiberglass over each crack and epoxy them. Super easy and there has been no sign of further damage three years on.