Is There a Difference Between a Cedar Canoe and a Cedar Strip Canoe?

Wooden canoes have been used for a very long time quite successfully. If you were thinking of buying one, however, you might want to hold back on your decision until you learn about a more innovative design called a “cedar strip canoe.”

A cedar strip canoe is essentially a cedar canoe that’s lined with layers of fiberglass that are added both inside and outside the hull to promote better resilience and stability. Fiberglass is lightweight and extremely durable, while wood has its own specific qualities that makes it an excellent material for manufacturing canoes. Together they can create an incredibly resilient canoe that can be adjusted to offer near perfect steering and to be light enough to pick up a lot of speed.

Because of the unique and robust construction of cedar strip canoes, they can be made to be remarkably thin and lightweight, even if they are handmade. In fact, according to experts, it can be possible to reduce the weight of your canoe by using strips that are as thin as 3/16” while still ensuring that the strip canoe is durable and resilient enough.

While a regular wooden canoe might offer a great experience and look good overall as you slowly paddle your way through still waters, cedar strip canoes are designed more to be high-performance, precision boats that you can take just about anywhere and ensure that their durability, stability and steering will be pretty much ideal.