32 AMERICAN SURVIVAL GUIDE [OCTOBER 2019]
or pond. Anyone who lives in or has visited
Alaska can attest to that statement. Getting
supplies to your remote cabin, whether in the
woods of Maine or the far reaches of Alaska,
can mean transporting them by water, but
what craft is best? That is the million-dollar
question. The only thing I can say is that there
is no such thing as one size fits all.
There is no craft that will be perfect in all
situations. You will need to do your homework
and find the one that will best suit your needs.
There are many different types of non-motor-
ized watercraft out there. There are rowboats,
dinghies, rafts, drift boats, canoes and kayaks.
This piece will concentrate on those craft that
are the most typically used by those looking
to venture out into the backcountry: canoes
and kayaks. As you will see, even these can be
broken down into sub-categories.WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES?
While all kayaks are canoes, not all canoes
are kayaks. So what is the difference? In the
simplest terms, canoes are watercraft that are
propelled by the use of paddles, as opposed
to rowboats, dinghies and other similar
boats that are propelled using oars. Gener-
ally, canoes are propelled by single-bladed
paddles, where kayaks are propelled using
double-bladed paddles.
Yes, there are other differences, but these are
the basics. With that said, there are canoes,‹ The Oru Beach
LT folding kayak
assembles in about 5
minutes and requires
no tools or special
talents to make it
ready for the water.
Photo courtesy of
Jim Jeffries› Rivers, like this
one in Canada,
can become the
highways that lead
to safety when an
emergency forces
you to leave home.› The hatch at the
front of this kayak
provides access
to a secure and
handy place to
store supplies and
gear.