Submitted: 08-23-2010 by rdm
I bought my Camper 16 for half-price when Sportsman's Warehouse went out of business. In spring of 2010 I soloed it, fully loaded, down 125 miles of the Buffalo in Arkansas in three and a half days. For a pointy raft, it turned out to be well suited to the easy rapids and chop of the swiftly rising river. This boat's legacy goes back to the Chipewyans of the 70's (I had the 18-foot version, which oil-canned badly: my Camper does not do so noticeably). We have a Penobscot 186 for our adult kids to borrow, but I can't lift it onto the van myself. We also have three solo boats, but I wanted a small boat that I could paddle while my wife doesn't. I'd rather have the Penobscot 16, but I can't imagine it could perform significantly better than the Camper did on the Buffalo. It's not a hot boat, but it isn't embarrassing either. |