I find myself increasingly drawn to the canoes from Placid Boatworks, particularly the Rapidfire. I’ve never seen one in person, though, nor do I know where to find one. I live just SW of Chicago. Are there any Rapidfire owners within reasonable driving distance who would be willing to let me come look at theirs? An on-water demo would be wonderful, of course, but I’ll settle for just looking one over.
Thanks.
Steve
New Lenox IL
(Edited to correct model name)
Check with Yanoer
He is around Urbana. I don’t recall if he has a Rapidfire, but I think he has owned just about every model of canoe made at one time or another.
Call Joe Moore
at Placid. He usually knows where his boats are especially those farther away. He may have an unofficial rep in Illinois
I know there is one RapidFire paddler on BWCA.com which has most people from out your way.
While Yanoer has a nice collection the last time I was in his garage I didn’t see a RapidFire.
Magicpaddler has one, not me.
I paddled his for about 20 or 30 minutes about three years ago and compared it’s fit and handling back to back vs his Bell Rob Roy on the Illinois River near Morris, IlL
He lives about an hour or so north of there and would likely let you try it, if you email him through this forum. He’s a nice guy. He also has a Bell Magic.
bingo.
that who I was thinking of but didn’t no he was an Illinoiser…illinoier? Illini?
Illinoisan.
Oskee-Wow-Wow
Said that my first time skiing.
Call the shop
I 2nd calling Joe. He got me in touch with someone that lived 15 miles from me 
- the Rapidfire is a beautiful pack-boat. I really enjoyed how it handled.
Rapidfire
Great ideas. Thanks for the help.
Steve
Rapidfire
OK, one more remedial question. How can we, if indeed we can, contact members through the list here? It’s probably right in front of my nose but I’m not seeing it.
Thanks.
Steve
No way to see a list of names, but…
… you can send email to someone. Find a post put up by the person in question, go to the bottom of the text box, and click the “email” button.
You can search for posts by a specific person. Find the “Search” feature at the top any main forum page. Type the person’s name into the “Keyword” box, and where it says “Search Which Field”, specify “Author”. Once you find a post by the person, you can send an email.
I think a person can choose not to receive emails as one of the site options. Also, I’ve found that some people here have an older, un-used or discontinued email address entered into their site info, and those people won’t answer either.
Joe
I second the motion to call Joe. You may find one via pnet, but there is also chance that there’s a RapidFire owner near you who does not frequent this forum, so it would be wise to use both resources.
I’ve met Joe personally, and he’s fantastic to work with. I ordered my SpitFire sight unseen and have never regretted it.
FYI, this weekend he’s camping/paddling at Fish Creek, so best try to contact him Monday in case there’s no cell service.
Rapidfire
Well, sometimes things do work out. It just happens that Magicpaddler lives about ten miles from here, so sometime in the near future I can check it all out in person. Thanks to everyone who helped out.
Steve
That’s quite convenient.
Placid Rapidfire
I was able to contact Magicpaddler who very kindly offered a test paddle in his. Very nice canoe.