Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere (I looked). After a good thrashing in a class II rapid a few years back, I’ve come to think a less aggressive whitewater canoe may be adviseable. Since I live far from any paddle shops, I was only now able to put my hands on a T-Formex boat. The Esquif Pocket Canyon and Wenonah Wilderness I checked out (yes I know they are quite different) seemed heavier than their published weights. Of course I didn’t have a scale handy but each salesperson agreed that T-Formex boats seemed heavier than the previous Royalex versions. Wondering if anyone has weighed their T-Formex boat and compared with spec. Just looking for weight info here, not boat recomendations. Thanks in advance.
They are definitely heavier than Royalex was, but there’s a trade-off in greater hull stiffness. Rx was wonderful stuff, but oil canning was a major concern in shallow arch boats. In our experience, TF is much stiffer, though at a weight penalty.
I find some of the published weights to be…optimistic, let’s say, but light weight isn’t the reason to buy a TF design; impact durability and price relative to other high durability layups would be the rationale.
Weighed my recently purchased pocket canyon, i could tell it was heavier than advertised the first portage. It came in at 71lbs, compared to my mad river explorer 16’ in royalex which came to 60lbs.
A bit disappointed with the weight of the esquif but im quite sure their advertised weight must be without seats, yoke and other hardware. It would explain the 12lbs difference.
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I have heard similar complains about Esquif boats being heavier than the spec sheet says. Their website says my Prospecteur 16 is 65lbs and that is what it tips the scales at. A friend of mine purchased a Huron and it said it was 55lbs and that’s what it weighed. The Pocket Canyon is supposed to be 59 lbs with Vinyl gunwhales, web seats and ash thwart and yoke. Wonder what the discrepancy really is? The seats and wood parts don’t weigh 12 lbs, thats for sure.