"My brother-in-law and I paddled down a good stretch of the Delaware River from Milford PA to just north of Philadelphia at William Penn's old house. We used our new Savage River Blackhawk Kevlar canoe which weighed only 34 lbs. it was everything we'd hoped for--both the canoe and the trip. We figured it was about 120 miles, which we did in three days. We did have a favorable if variable current (and some medium white water) as far as Trenton NJ, but still for a couple of older guys (69 and 49), an okay showing, for which the design of the canoe can take a lot of credit." - John Casey, VA

- John Casey, VA

"I bought a Blawkhawk from you several years ago and it has been great. I just did the complete Allagash system in Maine in 4 and 1/2 days so it really moves when fully loaded with camping gear."

- MA

Review on http://bwca.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=forum.thread&threadId=642840&forumID=15&confID=1

- Ragged

"Hi guys, thanks for putting up with all the emails from me over the summer, bugging you about everything. My wife and I just returned from two weeks in Quetico park (across the border from Boundary Waters). We had some really high winds and big waves and I would not have felt safe in my Wenonah MN II. The Blackhawk sliced through the waves nicely, the bow didn't bounce the way the MN II does. In Minnesota we drive as far north as we can and when we get to the end of the road, the Outfitter puts the canoe on a rack on their boat and takes us up to the border at Prairie Portage, Ontario. At the outfitter, everyone came over to look at and pick up the Blackhawk. People would yell to their friends to come over and see the canoe. They couldn't believe how light it was. One guy said, "I didn't even know they made canoes like that" Same thing at Prairie Portage, everyone was very impressed and people wanted to lift the canoe. One guy said he just hauled a MN II around for a week and he wished he would have had the Blackhawk instead. Sometimes when you are canoeing in the BWCA/Quetico, you hit a rock that is a couple inches below the surface of the water, you don't see it coming and the canoe slides right on top of the sharp rock and gets stuck. I was very concerned about this happening with the Blackhawk and, of course, it happened several times and all we got was a few little scrapes, no big deal. We also had a few rough landings where the bow scraped into rocks and again I was surprised to take a good look at the underside of the canoe after the trip and see how well it stood up to the tough conditions."

- Rick Cheney

".…(the Blackhawk) is a great boat and helped us to have the fastest time down the course."

- Steve Corlew, MI

Got back from our first paddle (embarrassing) this past weekend. I wrote up a brief trip report here: (Link at end) but wanted to write to tell you and John and the rest of the crew that we are thrilled with our Blackhawk, just so incredibly happy with the boat, the process, everything. Toasting you all tonight, thanks again!

Karl B. CT

Our annual island camping trip in the Adirondacks featured a new family of four and their dog to join my wife, brother and nephew. Their kids are too young to paddle, and the dog weighs in at 75lbs, as you might imagine, that didn’t leave a ton of room in the 17’ Grumman they had rented. Having never towed a canoe before, we rented another and took turns towing it to the island five miles away. The long weekend proved to be prime for fishing, paddling, hammocking, and s’more making by the fire. When we woke on Monday, sun and calm were replaced with rain and 20 mph gusts. Unsure of how to best manage the return trip to the marina, we scrapped the idea of towing. Instead, Tom, his dog, and his youngest boy, 7, loaded up a rental Gruman and I took the other with his other son, 9. My brother and nephew shoved off in their 17’ Northstar Northwind, and the lone women took to the lake in our Blackhawk. Tom and I bailed almost immediately, the wind, directly in our faces and the waves made it impossible for either of us to keep the nose facing forward. Lucky for us, there was an alternate marina downwind a few miles that we headed for, assuming we’d hitch back to the original parking lot. It was a harrowing paddle, but we made it with only a little water in the boats. A few minutes later my brother and nephew showed up with paler than usual faces exclaiming they couldn’t make it and turned back to join us in our bailout plan. The ladies were nowhere to be found. My wife has logged plenty of miles in the front, but our friend Emily has never so much as sat in the back of a canoe. Without cell service we did our best to hitch a ride to the cars and start shuttling people and boats back and forth hoping we could get a status report on the women somehow along the way. On the drive back the trees cleared a mile or so before the lot, and off in the distance, now protected from the wind, two pretty ladies, and one majestic boat. They made it with ease, the only boat to do so. This Blackhawk continues to impress. Thanks again!

Karl B. CT (2nd year of Ownership)