Gear Patrol - Gunflint Paddle

Check out what Gear Patrol had to say about our paddle...

From Gear Patrol: 
"Made, by hand, in Winona, Minnesota (yes, we’re all about Minnesota), two year old Sanborn Canoe Companyhas been creating some of the best looking wooden canoe & kayak paddles we’ve encountered. Founded by a cadre of enthusiasts looking to play a closer role with the products they used, Sanborn Canoe Co now produces an assortment of well-priced wood paddles we can’t decide if we want to mount on our walls or hit the water with. Our favorite: the Gunflint Paddle ($125). Made from western red and white cedar, the Gunflint isn’t just a hunk of wood that moves water. It features a slightly wider span and 14° bend for more powerful strokes, hard epoxy tip for protection from underwater nasties, and an indexed shaft to preclude hand and joint stress. The fact that it looks like a million bucks is just icing.

Buy Now: $125"


Check out Gear Patrol's Website.

Could be Coming Soon

I thought some of you would be interested to see what may be upcoming at Sanborn. We've been working on a new paddle design. We're really excited about this one. At this point it is just a project paddle that I made for the start of spring. But we've has many nice things said about it already so we're exploring the possibility of taking it further.

Some of the features of this paddle:
Hardwood tip: Instead of our usual epoxy-mixture tip this paddle has an Ash tip.

Oil: Instead of varnishing the entire paddle, like we do on all of our canoe paddles, the shaft and grip of this paddle are oiled. And let me tell you it feels wonderful!

Oil Me Please

With the arrival of our Greenland paddle we've felt the need to educate the virtues of a nicely oiled paddle. Even though it might take a bit more work an oiled paddle just feels so much better gripped in your hand. Here is a copy of the content on our 'Oil Me Please' page.

If you’ve purchased one of our oiled paddles please take care to keep up with its care. It’s really a simple and enjoyable process. Oil may be a bit more work, but it’s well worth it to have the very best paddle finish!

What to use? Tung Oil vs. Linseed Oil

Tung Oil: If you use Tung Oil make sure that what you buy has actual tung oil in it. Some products are sold as ‘Tung Oil Finish’ These are not actually tung oil. Look at the ingredients on the side of container. If it doesn’t say tung oil look somewhere else.

          Pros: Highest quality oil for finishing paddles.

          Cons: A little trickier to work with than is linseed oil. (Tends to gum up a little faster)

                   More expensive.

Linseed Oil: This is the cheapest and easiest to use.

           

          Pros: Easier to work with.

                  Cheaper.

          Cons: Less water resistant. Poorer quality finish.

Application: Oiling a paddle is a very simple process.

Step #1: Make sure you have a smooth paddle surface. Lightly sand with a high grit sandpaper #220 or higher or #000 Steel  Wool until all surface particulates are gone. You’re not trying to sand into the oil too much. Just get the surface dust and dirt off.

Step #2: Wipe off dust with damp cloth.

Step #3: With a lint-free cloth wipe on oil.

Step #4: Wait about 10 minutes and wipe off excess oil with other side of cloth.

How often: The common rule here is…

   -Once a day for a week.

   -Then once a week for a month.

   -Then once a month for a year.

   -As need after that.

If you’ve purchased one of our oiled paddles we’ve done the ‘Once a day for a week’ for you. So continue from that point. I find it easiest to apply oil after every trip in the summer (I go on a trip about once a month) Also at the end and beginning of the season.

April Newsletter

Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter - click here.

Hello everyone. April is here and with it has come even warmer weather (and, yes, yesterday even some snow!). That’s living in Minnesota for you. But orders are still flying out the door.

Road Trip

We had a great weekend over the 8^th and 9^th of April. We took a little road trip to deliver paddles to Duluth Pack and Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply. Great to connect and get to know some new folks and put faces to email contacts. We also got to sit in on a great 'Wilderness Canoeing' seminar by Cliff Jacobson. Let's just say WOW! Such a vast collection of valuable knowledge and enormous energy packed into one man! I learned better compassing skills, how to talk down a bear, what portaging means in the Canadian wilderness and some great tips for canoe trip packing. Great weekend.

April Paddle Giveaway

As you may know this is “The Year of the Paddle” and we’re giving away one paddle a month for the entire year! Get in on ourApril Paddle Giveaway! 

Don't keep this to yourself...Please tell your friends and neighbors about our Paddle Giveaways!

New Dealer – LakeSUP.com

Our newest dealer hails from our very own great state of Minnesota and is also our first Stand Up Paddle dealer. LakeSUP.comdeals in Stand Up Paddleboards, paddles and other paddleboarding supplies. And do a great job promoting the sport of Stand Up here in the Midwest. If you’re interested in Stand Up Paddlesports make sure to check out LakeSUP.com!

You can find us on Facebook too!

Want to learn more about us and see more photos? Check out our facebook page!

April Paddle Giveaway

I know. I know. I'm a little late in getting this on the blog. The month is over half over!But there's still plenty of time to sign-up for our April Paddle Giveaway.

A random drawing will win someone one of our Gunflint bent shaft canoe paddles. All we need from you is your name and email. Click here to sign-up!

Sanborn Goes to the Library

We are fortunate enough to have had the Winona Public Library invite us to display some of our paddles from yesterday until the end of April. So we have 10-odd paddles hanging, surrounded by Hemingway, A.A.Milne, Chuacer, Grisham, Dr. Suess, C.S. Lewis, Norman MaClean, Franklin and all the other great authors. I could go on and on. So thank you to the Winona Public Library for letting us invade their space for a time.

Along with our 'regular' paddles we have many custom and fun paddles on display - including Sanborn's 1st paddle and a super long 30-some-inch-bladed beavertail Todd made. And we set up a progression of the different stages that we go through when making paddles - from gluing to shaping to finishing. We explored doing a paddlemaking class with this, but thought it might be a little dusty and loud to pull off inside the library :)

We had a good time hanging the paddles yesterday. Although my daughter, Glady, kept shushing us because we were pounding nails into the wall. To be fair I did tell her when we were walking into the library that she had to whisper when we were inside. "You aren't whispering Dad. Shh!" Another bonus was sharing a little time picking out some books with Glady and signing her up for her first library card.

To check the paddles out you can head down to the Winona Public Library any time they are open until the end of April. You can even pick up a book while you're there!

Here's a link to the facebook event page.

New SUP paddle and Spring Weather

Glady and I made good use of the beautifully warm and sunny weather we've been having to get our new Stand Up Paddle, The Laker, outside. I think I promised Glady a tootsie roll if she would hold the paddle for me to snap a few pics.

She told me the paddle was too big! "I can't use that one daddy!" :)

Oh well. I'm sure it's the right size for someone to be using really soon since spring is finally here!

Paddle Giveaways Are Back!

NOTICE TO EVERYONE: Sanborn Canoe Co. is declaring 2011 the "Year of the Paddle" And in honor of this momentous occasion - that we just made up - we are going to be giving away 1 paddle a month for the entire year! There will be different contests for every month…

Check out more details as well as the current months contest on our Giveaways Page!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

It looks like it's been a while since I've updated our blog. That's because it's been a little crazy around here with orders, new designs and everything...

We had a winner of our March contest. A few people submitted the winning name of Wapasha Beavertail. There were some great entries. We went with Wapasha because of the historical significance to our little region of the globe. Chief Wapasha was the father of Princess We-no-nah for which our home of Winona, Minnesota is named.

We've also added a number to our growing family of dealers. I'll post something soon about each individual dealer, but in the meantime check out The Canoeist, the Duluth Pack Store, Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply and Three Rivers Outdoors.

Also stay tuned for some great new paddle designs coming out soon!

March Contest

Name that paddle - WIN THAT PADDLE!

Our newest beavertail paddle is currently without a good name. We'd like you all to help us with that! Submit your name ideas at the link to win one of our new beavertail paddles!You can submit your name ideas and see the official rules on this link - March Contest.

New: Newsletter

Starting next month we will be starting a newsletter for all of you who'd like to know more about us. We'll keep it simple - a once-a-month newsletter about what's going on at Sanborn Canoe Co. We'll throw in some discounts/promotions that are exclusively for our newsletter subscriber's!

Sign up here!

Here's a couple great winter photos to round off this post.

2 New Dealers!

We are thrilled to introduce our two newest dealers. Gear to Go Outfitters and Voyageur Canoe Outfitters are carrying our paddles in their online stores'.



Gear to Go Outfitters is run by Kevin Rosenberg and located in Brooklyn, NY. Here's a little bit about them from http://www.geartogooutfitters.com/ -

"Gear To Go Outfitters was founded with the idea that, for most people, spending thousands on outdoor gear doesn’t make sense when you only get to use that gear once or twice a year. Some try to borrow from friends and family but that often leads to your neighbor digging that old external frame pack or that old Army Tent out of a dusty corner of their closet. Gear To Go Outfitters offers up to date rental gear at a fraction of what it would cost to buy the same gear and to make things even better, WE DELIVER. As a bonus, if you decide that you would like to buy the gear you rent, buy from us within 30 days of your rental return and we will apply 50% of your rental fee towards the purchase price of a new item of the same type. If you decide that you would rather own your gear we can serve your needs as well. Leaving for a trip in two days and realize you need some new gear? Don’t waste money on overnight shipping when we can deliver it to you, often the next day (Delivery Area Map). Gear To Go Outfitters provides only the best in outdoor gear. While many outdoor retailers carry every product ever made, at Gear To Go Outfitters we only carry what works. Need some advice? Send us an email or give us a call and we will be more than happy to help out. WE ARE EXPANDING OUR PRODUCT LINE AS WE GROW SO CHECK BACK SOON."



Here's what Voyaguer Canoe Outfitters has to say: http://www.canoeit.com/

"We are Mike and Sue Prom, owners and operators of Voyageur Canoe Outfitters and year round residents of the Gunflint trail on the edge of the wilderness. We are here to introduce our guests to the special joy of wilderness paddling. Relaxing at a campsite, enjoying abundant wildlife and paddling the crystal clear lakes which is the core of your adventure. Once you paddle through Voyageur you will never want to outfit anywhere else. We are confident that you will completely enjoy your time with us and we guarantee your satisfaction. Think about it, life is too short and vacations are even shorter. It makes the best sense to go with a sure thing."

Affiliate Program

We're excited to announce that Sanborn Canoe Co. now has an Affiliate Program for you blogger and website people out there.

Do you run a blog or other website devoted to the outdoors, canoeing or paddle-sports? Would you like to make money by driving people to our site?

We are offering product specific affiliate programs for the four paddles listed above and a "Common Hop-Link" option with a link to our front page.

HOW IT WORKS
You sign-up for our affiliate program which will walk you through how to post specific affiliate links to our products. Once these links are on your site you will earn 10% of all sales when someone clicks through the link on your site, and makes a purchase on our website. We handle all the sales and shipping and everything. Then at the end of each month we will send you what you’ve earned. It’s that simple!

· SIGN-UP is FREE
· EARN 10% on every sale
· EASY - Use the easy set-up and once the links are on your site your work is done!
· PAID Monthly! We’ll pay you at the end of every month for all purchases made!
· CUSTOMIZABLE - Know a little something about code? Create your own look for the links!
· TRACK your sales with your earnings report!

WANT TO JOIN?
Click here for detailed instructions about how to join and set-up our Affiliate Program!

www.sanborncanoe.com

New Paddle Design

We'd like to introduce our newest bent shaft paddle design...

It's named after the beautiful Saganaga Lake in the BWCA, and we're calling it the 'Sag'. We went simple on this one. One piece on either side for both the blade and the grip, letting the beautiful dark grain of the cedar to define this paddle.



Product Description:
Taking it’s name from Saganaga Lake, one of the wonderful areas of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, every Sag canoe paddle is handmade from beautiful western red and white cedar to be both lightweight and extremely durable. The slightly narrower and longer blade alleviates stress on the joints while the 14 degree bend at the throat allow for a powerful stroke. The blade is sheathed in fiberglass and a hard epoxy tip is added to ward off pesky logs and rocks. And our very own fox-head palm grip, indexed shaft and thin blade are all designed to remove stress from your hands and joints.

Specifications:
Length: 50", 54", 56"(Custom lengths available upon request)
Average Weight: 17oz.
Blade Dimensions: 7 1/2" x 20"
Blade Thickness: 3/16” – ¼”
Shaft Style: Bent Shaft: 14 Degree Bend
Grip Style: one-sided fox-head grip
Grip Width: 3 1/2”
Wood Type: Western Red and White Cedar
Laminated blade
5-piece laminated shaft
Extra 1/4" epoxy blade tip
Blade is sheathed in 8oz. Fiberglass
Entire paddle is coated in epoxy
Three coats marine grade polyurethane to entire paddle
'Sanborn Canoe Co.' is branded onto one face of blade

Oct. '09 BWCA Trip

Photo's from our Fall(At times felt like winter!) trip to the BWCA! It snowed every day, but even so we had great weather.

Lakes we traveled through in our 4 day trip: Little John, Mountain, Moose, Clearwater, Caribou, Little Caribou, Pine Lake and a few other little ones...We hiked up to Gogebic Lake, It's a little stocked trout lake at the top of a 1-2 mile hike from Clearwater. Well worth the hike...it was beautiful, and usually great for fishing(or so I'm told) nothing hitting that day.

Days were nice, fishing was so so, scenery was beautiful and the only other souls we saw were three guys flyfishing on the stocked trout lake.

I enjoy camping up there is the fall for a few reasons. The bugs are gone, fires feel so much better when it's cold and the fall colors mixed with a little snow is absolutely gorgeous.

Campsite on Clearwater Lake. This campsite connected to the Border Trail that we hiked a couple miles along to get to Gogebic Lake. A nice stocked trout lake.

Lake Trout. Too bad they are out of season...he was looking mighty tasty!

Yep...there was snow every day, but the weather was great regardless.

View down Pine Lake from the portage.

Last night...about half an hour later we decided to pack up and cross two lakes to the van and drive home :) Made it home by 4:30 am. Good, fun night. If you've never tried night canoeing, do so...safely!

Check out more photos from this trip HERE!

Little Glady Jo

The idea is similar to when a dad goes out and buys a baseball mit for his kid before they're
even born. You want to teach your children to love camping and canoeing and all that...so get them started early.

This is our 'Little Jo' canoe paddle. Handmade from the finest cedar this wood paddle is beautiful and light. It is just over two feet long so it is great for babies, toddlers or older. We do recommend tying a string to it when you are out in the canoe:)

Below is Gladys Jo and she is holding one of our

'Little Jo' paddles that are named after her.

First Sale

We made our first sale! Two 'Kawishiwi" canoe paddles. We learned we had an order for some paddles about a month ahead of pick-up(Thanks Uncle Eric!!!) but we were still in the midst of developing the process of fiberglassing and finishing them with an epoxy tip...it was a challenge to complete them, a lot of trial and error but they turned out great and we learned a lot along the way!