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Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Gear Forum :: Mad River Explorer KX
 
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keth0601
06/15/2022 09:50PM
  
Owner says he thinks it weighs about 45lbs which may mean it's the KL version. Wondering if that will be tough enough for my needs...
 
RedLakePaddler
06/16/2022 01:19PM
  
Thomas
A Mad River expedition explorer won’t have ribs it will have extra layers of Kevlar and will have gel coat. I have only seem one ultralight Explorer and it had a foam core bottom and ribs. It also had skin coat instead of gel coat.
Even a ultralight Explorer would be able to do moderate class 2. A 16’ canoe at 45 # would a reasonably tough canoe. There wouldn’t be much different in a expedition canoe or a ultralight canoe wrapped around a rock.
I would love to have a ultralight Explorer.


Carl
 
keth0601
06/16/2022 11:28AM
  
Anyone with one of these know if the kv or kx models by(heavier) have foam ribs/foam core?
 
keth0601
06/15/2022 12:33PM
  
Anyone have experience with this boat? I might have a line on one for a reasonable price. Would these be tough enough for occasional class ii? Already outlined this in another thread but I've been looking for a canoe I can use on rivers and potentially solo with a smaller child on lakes in the BWCA. Seems like this fits the bill.

It's kevlar, but from what I can tell mad River does their kevlar layups with s-glass and gel coat and it's relatively durable? Seller says he bought it in 2000 and the mad River archive doesn't give specific info that far back.
 
MReid
06/15/2022 12:54PM
  
Yes, it's a solid boat, certainly capable of class II. Mad River made robust Kevlar boats for pretty hard use. At one time the Kevlar Explorer was the standard expedition canoe.
 
RedLakePaddler
06/15/2022 01:04PM
  
Thomas


I have 2 Explorers in the kelvar expedition layup. They are the canoes I use most. I run class 2, use it solo with my dog, a 92# poodle and use it tandem in the BWCA when fishing with a friend.
They are about 56# with the wood gunwales so not to bad to portage.
The S glass on the bottom scratches white and doesn’t fuzz up like kelvar does.
It’s a canoe that does a good job at a lot of things.


Carl
 
Kestrel222
06/25/2022 07:02PM
  
I've paddled a KX Explorer. It's light and excellent for lake tripping and portaging, but the one you are considering is 20+ years old and the gelcoat may be brittle so I wouldn't paddle it in class 2 whitewater. You may better off with an old Royalex Explorer for durability and hitting rocks in whitewater. Just my 2 cents.
 
CanoeKev
06/25/2022 06:11PM
  
That’s a great boat.