Hi everyone,
I just bought a royalex Woodsman canoe at Dick’s. I like the boat, however I have been trying to figure out who the heck made it. It is 15’2" with a max width of 32.5". At first I thought it was a Bell hull (it clearly has cheap seats gunwales etc. even though the boat is very nice), but I contacted them and they didn’t know anything about it. I read some old posts on hear speculating that it was a Dagger hull, but none of their other boats have the right specs. Someone said that you could identify the manufacturer by the HIN, but I have no idea how to do that. Any suggestions? I like the boat, but I would like to know who made it.
Manufacturer Database
Look at the first 3 characters of the HIN. That is the Manufacters Identification Code (MIC). For instance Wenonah is “MFP”; Dagger is “DAQ”; Bell is “DQH”; …
Go to http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/mic_database.htm Enter the code where it says MIC. Hit “Search”. The information you want should come up.
Let us know what you find
I’m curious, too.
Might Be A Mutt
I have spoken to two different clients who bought and then quickly returned boats to Dicks. The boats in question were marked as Woodsmen and were expained to be made by Bell, but in fact they were factory second Dagger Legend 15’s that had been made by Mad River. Pretty confusing.
Bottom line was that they are decent boats at a killer price, but only if the buyer was looking for a short white Water crossover canoe. They are not a good choice for buyers looking for stable, calm water fishing boats…as Dicks is marketing them.
The good news for our shop is that we have made two different sales off of folks who felt they had been lied to and manipulated by Dicks and were now willing to pay more for a boat that truly suits there needs, from a store with a more honest sales approach…ain’t Karma grand!!!
Confluence Inc.
Well, the boat is made by Confluence Watersports (the parent company of Mad River, Dagger etc.) I had also thought it was made by Bell when I bought it (because of what I had read on here, not anything they told me at Dick’s) but I don’t care that much. As I said before, I think that it is a nice boat (at a tough to beat price for royalex), I just don’t understand what all the secrecy is about. There is no indication in the manual who the manufacturer is. I can understand that when a company is going to sell very similar boats under their name brands for more money they don’t want to advertise these, but it is like this thing is a state secret. I personally would like it if they at least made the specs availible (recomended weight limit etc.)
Anyway, thanks for the tip on HIN number site.
Conspiracy Theory
Probably safe to assume the bigger names are reluctant to be thought of as a bargin brand… This might come as a shock to y’all around here, but there are purist paddlers about, and dare I say some a tad elitist. I don’t think many of them are into Mad River though, the rotomold hybrids scared them off a couple years ago.
Some might remember the outcry when Porsche rolled out the $40K SUV. Many couldn’t stand the thought of Normal Joe owning a PORSCHE with a ten second 0-60. They sold enough to keep the company afloat, and lost some diehard fans in the process.
body type?
The strange thing is that I would think that they would not produce a whole different hull for this particular boat, so that would lead me to believe that it should be the same hull as some other boat, however I have nbot been able to find anything with the same specs. It is similar to the dagger legend and reflection, but is not quite the same as either (the 15’2" length is odd).
Cataloged Untruths
Unfortunately either through poor editing or tricky marketing, catalogs and published boat specs are often misleading. I have seen published numbers change as much as 6" from year to year with absolutely no change in the actual boat.
I do know that the boat I saw was definitely a Legend 15.
Answer - Mad River Horizon 15
Dicks Sporting Goods is having an Outdoor Expo in the parking lot outside their big store in Robinson Township, PA today.
I saw a Woodsman sitting right next to a Mad River Canoe. I saw identical seat drops, very similar deck plates - with a round circle stamped ito the plastic in the same size and position where Mad River puts their rabbit. Checked the HINs, both had the same MICs - WEM - Confluence Water sports.
Spoke the the Mad River Rep. - Who building these boats for Dicks? Answer: We do.
BLK
woodsman canoe
I’ve had the same questions about this canoe.
I’m considering purchasing the same canoe myself. After several visits to the store, and several phone calls to Dicks, here is what I have found. My first visit, the salesperson had no idea who made the canoe. When I called on the phone, they told me it was built by wilderness designs. I called back to verify, and another salesperson told me that the manufacturer was definately Bell.
They don’t have it in stock, and they won’t order one until I give them a 50% deposit. I’m still confused. I’m not sure if this helps.
horizon 15
Yeah,
After more checking on the specs I believe that this is a Horizon 15. I emailed the company to try to get verification, but they didn’t respond. Whoever made it it is a nice canoe at a good price. Also the “woodsman” lettering peals off very easily. Just get yourself a decal of a rabbit smoking a pipe and no one will know the difference : ).