whitetail,
i have paddled mad rivers explorer, and i think its a pretty good canoe, for the uses that you outlined.....
as for the RX hull, i don't paddle them by choice, but understand the need for a bombproof, indestructable hull...
i own a sawyer that i bought used in 1990. it was built in 1979, from fiberglass, and has suffered no structural damage... it has teeter-tottered on top of rocks and logs... bumped, thumped, and crashed it's way down a lot of rivers... it's been drug through gravel, sand, and across roads... it's still as sound as the day it was built...
fiberglass boats can be broken.... the average paddler will never accomplish it.....
on average, the laminated boats, fiberglass, kevlar,and carbon fiber, are easier, and more efficient to paddle... this is because they are built with sharper, finer lines...
fiberglass is tough stuff, kevlar tougher, and carbon fiber is incredible... still, none are as bombproof indestructable as royalex...
friends who own both paddle laminate boats by preference, and use their RX hulls for the very meanest water..... john w
