Paddlesports are for people who understand that hard work equals big reward. On the other side of the brutal, ankle-twister portage is a campsite at the base of a waterfall. The ten-mile open water crossing comes with the reward of a quiet island at the end of the earth, and the work of carrying, transporting, and cleaning your boat and gear comes with a lifetime of memories and experiences.
Whether you’re just looking to get into the sport or a long time padder, here are nine products and innovative new ideas from Canoecopia 2025 to make the logistics and actuality of getting out on the water easier this summer:
Aqua bound Tetra
New in 2025, the Aqua Bound Tetra is a low-angle ultralight paddle designed for kayakers looking to cover long miles. The full foam core makes for a lightweight and buoyant blade while the Lam-Lok technology protects the blade of the paddle, making the paddle a long-term investment.
Move over ultralight backpacking: ultralight paddling is making waves, and no, you don’t need to cut your toothbrush in half.
Lekker Gull Surfski
Sleek and fast, the traditional surfski is great for fitness fanatics and paddlers looking to cover long distances, but hard to keep upright for beginners. The Lekker Gull makes the surfski friendly for beginners at 14 feet long, 23.4 inches wide, and 50 pounds.
According to Lekker, the Gull has both the stability that a beginner needs to get into surfski paddling, while also enough speed to be playful in rough conditions for more experienced paddlers.
Malone Microsport Off-Road Base Trailer with 78” Load Bars
One big hurdle to getting out on the water is getting heavy boats up on the roof of your car. The obvious solution is lighter boats, but another solution especially appealing to those of us with multiple boats is the trailer.
A good trailer ready for off-road travel can make it possible to transport multiple boats to rugged put-ins all without having to lift a heavy boat up over your head.
Hornbeck Packboats
Canoe tripping is surely one of the best ways to experience the wilderness— the quiet campsites and sunsets over the water, the sounds of beavers and moose in the mornings, the 400-rod portages. Canoe tripping is often easiest to accomplish with friends, but the Hornbeck Packboat brings a new, lightweight and solo-paddler friendly element to canoe tripping.
Developed in the Adirondacks, the Packboat is ultralight and ultra-minimalist, designed for simple and barebones wilderness travel. How light you might ask? Some pack boats are as light as 15-pounds!
Suspenz EZ-Stow Stern Cart
Can’t opt for a lighter boat? No problem! The Suspenz EZ-Stow Stern Cart is designed to help you tackle those longer would-be carries with ease and can be the perfect solution to making the logistics of kayak and canoe transport easier for you.
The Suspenz EZ-Stow Stern Cart fits within a hatch of most recreational and touring kayak hatches and weighs less than four pounds. Perhaps the most intriguing part of this Suspenz cart is that most boats will be suspended on a strap while in transport rather than strapped up against the hardware of the cart itself, protecting your boat from damage in the long-run.
Wenonah Superlite Canoe
Wenonah’s new SuperLite Aramid construction brings the classic Minnesota II performance long-distance canoe down to just under 40 pounds, more than 15 pounds lighter than the standard Ultralight Aramid construction from Wenonah.
The goal of the SuperLite Aramid construction is to take the Wenonah canoe down to its lightest possible weight without sacrificing any of the features Wenonah is known for, such as bucket seats and foot braces for a good connection to the canoe while paddling, or the sliding front seat to adjust the trim of the canoe real-time in on the water.
Esquif T-Formex Lite Pocket Canyon
Following the trend of lighter boats, Esquif has launched T-Formex Lite construction which optimizes where T-Formex is used on each model of canoe to maximize weight reduction and better suit each unique canoe line to its paddlers needs.
In 2025, the classic Pocket Canyon will be available in T-Formex Lite. This playful tandem canoe is ideal for shorter whitewater trips, designed to be the perfect boat for paddlers looking for something to tackle day trips and weekends in the wilderness alike. The new T-Formex Lite construction on the Pocket Canyon will
Hurricane Santee 116 Sport
This new lightweight recreational kayak from Hurricane is designed for stability, speed and style weighing just 39 pounds. Perhaps the best part of the Santee 116 Sport is the sealed bullheads at both the bow and stern of a kayak— often lacking from recreational kayaks— that means even if you were to capsize the boat, the pockets of air at either end would prevent the boat from sinking.
The safety feature provided by bulkheads will for sure make paddling easier in the 2025 season!
Let Someone Else Do the Work- Guided Trips with MHO Adventures
The ultimate hack to make your paddling adventures easier in 2025? Let someone else do the heavy lifting, planning, and cooking. Book an all-inclusive guided wilderness canoe trip with MHO Adventures and focus on the best parts of paddling trips while someone else takes care of the logistics.
MHO Adventures offers guided trips throughout Northern Ontario and beyond. Check out the Art in the Heart of the Wild paddling trip in Temagami, head out on a family adventure on the Noire River, or head out on a 19-day guided expedition on the Missinaibi.
