Old Town Guide 119 Review


I loved this boat.

The Old Town Guide/Discovery 119 is a small frame, single seat canoe built to meet the requirements of a solo paddler. The "Guide" version was made specifically for Dick's Sporting Goods and featured the grey/black camo pattern in the pic above. The "Discovery" is the same boat, with some seat variations, as sold by everyone else. At a glance, it is also very similar to the pricier Pack Canoe, but there are some differences in both materials and design that differentiate these two crafts.

First off, the technical specs:

Length: 11'9" (Get it? Guide 119?)
Width at widest point: 32.5"
Bow height: 19"
Weight: 49 lbs
Max load range: 450-500 lbs

That 49 lbs weight was what drew me to look hard at the 119 in the first place. Not a big guy, I was getting tired of lugging the 80lb Pelican I owned just prior, well, anywhere really. As anyone who has explored lightweight paddlecraft can tell you, there are light boats out there, but you're usually going to really pay for them. Kevlar, carbon, and Royalex all offer good savings on weight, but as a weekend hobbyist, they are priced beyond what I am willing to pay for my level of use. The hull on the 119 is three layer polyethylene - a durable but not ultralight material. If you are interested in learning more about the material, OT has some good detail and comparison visuals here.


Weight being my motivating factor, and satisfied by what the 119 offered in that respect, I found this boat on Craigslist and ended up trading a scoped laminate Handi Rifle for it - so this was about a $300 value transaction. I have seen a few go for less than that, and some go for more, but $300 - 400 seems to be about the market for these, second hand. Retail on these new is quite steep, so I'd suggest looking on forums or Craigslist for deals. As with any paddled boat, there are a few basic functions that need to be compared to get a sense of purpose and success of the design.

Size
Addressed above, this boat is small and light. Amazingly light. I still don't want to carry it 2 miles to a put in, but it's no issue to carry it a few hundred yards or weave between trees, or lift it back onto the roof after a full day's paddle. It's lighter than many kayaks, in fact, and easily managed by one person, as you'd hope in a solo design.

Stability
Reading online, there are a lot of comments that refer to the 119 as tippy or unstable. There's truth to that, but canoes are intrinsically unstable. They aren't like stand up fishing kayaks, and given the short length and hull shape, this one is tippy but certainly manageable. I regularly stand in it to fly fish on flatwater, and will paddle it standing in moving water too, as long as there's no white to the water. Everyone is different though, so my build and balance let me stand where others might (and have) take a drink doing so. If stability is a worry, you might want to try to test paddle one first. This is kind of a subjective thing to measure and assert.

Speed
This boat isn't going to win any races. It's pretty darn slow actually, but hey, who's hurrying anywhere in a canoe? It still paddle nicely and tracks ok. As with any canoe, wind is a force to contend with, and this one doesn't resist well. I've found that paddling from the very front is the most effective way to deal with the wind. Paddling from the rear just means a constant effort to resist twisting. Many folks paddle this with a double paddle, instead of the traditional single, and the narrow width lends itself to this well.

Durability
This thing is a beast. I don't paddle white water, but I do paddle some nasty, rocky, and tree strewn waters. Flipping this boat over, none of it has done more than scratch the outer layer of the skin, and none of those disturbingly deep. That poly layer is tough stuff, and while not as bendable as a material like Royalex, should last a long time. This is probably the place to mention that the 119 does sits low in the water. With it's short length, it sometimes drags bottom in places that it seems like it shouldn't. The little keel on the bottom might get a workout in shallow water.

Cost
New, about $600.00. Used, somewhere around half of that.

Bonus Features
My Guide came with a molded kayak style seat, riding a few inches lower than the gunnels. It looks like there are some other seat options out there, but this is the most prevalent. Changing the seat is a common modification, and there are plenty of articles online that explain how to do just that. I converted mine to ash and webbing style seats, and added a small forward seat so my son could tag along with me. At the least, you might want to consider moving the seat forward, as this seems to create better balance in the way the boat rides, for many people.

Some of the 119 versions also have Scotty Mount ports cut into the decks for holding fishing rods, finders, cameras, etc. I've used these port holes for homemade PVC mounts, rather than spring for the the Scotty ones, but they do look like they'd work great.

I believe all of the models sport carry handles cut into the decks, which are pretty standard now, but still nice.

For me, the 119 fits the bill as a a light budget solo paddler. Unless a screaming deal for a fancy material boat materializing in front of me, I'll likely stay with this one, and consider my solo canoe "found." I see that OT has put out the NEXT canoe, which has some similar design features to it, so that has the possibility to be as good as this one, but for a bit more $$.





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