Reviews for Otter Canoe by Ranger Canoe

We have been quite happy with this purchase. The canoe has taken everything that we could throw at it. It does quite well with big loads (camping gear, two adults, and one child) and is an excellent canoe for our short, local excursions and fishing trips. It tracks quite well. It is fairly maneuverable, but it is a long boat so it is not going to win any slalom races. So far it has held up quite well, and the owner was very fair and nice to us!

My Ranger is a 2004 model, 16' in fiberglass with Kevlar re-inforced bow and stern, slotted ash rails and woven cane suspended seats. I bought it used 2 seasons ago and fell in love with it this first time I put it in the water. It is a great all-around boat with a smooth, flattened-U hull, no keel ridge, 34 inch beam and very slight rocker that makes it very stable and comfortable in the water. I can lean it with gunwalls practically in the water and it will not tip. It is slightly asymmetrical and tracks best going forward. With my buddy with me in the bow, we can make that 55 pound boat fly through the water! Paddling it solo in the backward direction, it did well enough so I did not mind that approach. But on the current refit, I asked Micheal to put in a third seat in the solo position so I could send it the right way through the water. Now, she responds so beautifully going solo that my solo Wenonah Rendezvous will stay in the shed more than in the past.

Growing up all we had where allumacraft beasts, used during all three trips to canada, my first when I was 13, since I have been in various rentals, and friends canoes of various models, and hands down the Ranger beats them all... 1st trip yesterday, with my buddy, and some fishing gear, seemed real tippy at first, and alls I thought was I made a mistake, then when you get used to it and the motion of her, man is she amazing! Cut through the water like a fish man, tracked great, and we even fished out of her no prob. At one point we both leaned right, and paddled right hard, and had her almost vertical with the water brushing the gunrails, and she still didn't tip!

So then I wrote a review today and was concerned about upkeep and some of the inner fibers seeming dry and rubbing off a bit, just a few, but that doesn't really belong here, and besides after getting wet the fibers on the inside are fine, and stuck back like glue, must of just been dry from not being in the water for a year.

The owner/builder of Ranger Canoes assured me I would be pleased with the design because its very similar to the Explorer. The Ranger paddles very nicely, maneuvers nimbly, and is a great looking boat. The bow of the canoe is not as high as some, which make paddling in windier weather better than with other boats; the downside is that large waves/ boat wakes may cause the bow paddler to get a little wet.

I've had myself and a friend out in the canoe with a weight of around 420lbs between us and had no noise or flex issues like a previous reviewer had. I have canoed with my three year old golden retriever mix in the bow and me in the stern several times with great success. The boat will feel tippy to some as it is a shallow V and not a rounded/flatter bottom. The shallow V tracks better and has good primary and secondary stability.

I've paddle in a wide variety of conditions: salt water tidal ponds, bays, harbors, lakes, and rivers. I've encountered big waves and high winds, and have never been disappointed with the Ranger's performance. I regularly fish, while standing, and secondary stability is excellent. Primary stability might be a little deceiving to for the less experienced paddler, but this boat is stable.

I absolutely love this canoe. It performs remarkably in most situations. I've paddled in on slow moving rivers, still lakes, fast moving rivers with class II+ rapids, and severely wind blown lakes. The only time it wasn't fantastic was in the heavy rapids and to be fair, that is not what it's meant for. On a three day trip on Lake Umbagog in NH, I took on some water, but the waves were about 2 1/2-3ft. and the canoe was fully loaded, so no real surprise there.

I think this canoe really shines in wind versus any other canoe I've owned or paddled. I love how low its profile is on the water, which helps to keep it from being blown around. In general, this is a very fast canoe (we easily keep up with kayakers on trips). It is a little tipsy for initial stability, but once she's moving she's like a rock. that being said, she's not really a great canoe for fishing (although we have fished very comfortably from her, and caught many fish without scaring them as in the other review!)

As for the other reviewer saying that he wouldn't even take his dog out in an Otter, well he probably doesn't have a very well behaved dog. My 65lbs. dog has been on every trip that we've taken in this canoe, even when it's fully loaded and it's never been a problem.