Beyond Cedar: Hardwood Baby

Product Description:

In our Minnesota line of paddles we have ventured beyond using just cedar into using hardwoods. We feel the added ash on the edge of the blade will provide added durability as will the Mahogany that sandwiches the cedar along the length of the shaft.

Our Minnesota line of canoe paddles is especially designed for the types of paddling plied in our great state - any and all types of paddling! It has a beautifully constructed hybrid blade shape. The rounded narrower tip will slip in and out of the water with ease, reducing fatigue and stress on your body, as would a traditional beavertail paddle. But flaring out towards the middle this blade will still give you the power to plow through the toughest wave or current.

The blade is sheathed in fiberglass and a hard epoxy tip is added to ward off pesky logs and rocks. And the dedicated Gunflint grip, indexed shaft and thin blade are all designed to remove stress from your hands and joints.

Choices. Choices. Choices. You can choose to get the Minnesota 14 degree bent shaft or get our Minnesota 7 which is a 7 degree bent shaft. Same great design, just a little different bend.

Great name! Our state of Minnesota has everything from canoeing on the Mississippi River to Voyageurs National Park to the one and only Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. We feel this paddle is well designed to handle those and any other conditions. So we felt Minnesota was a fitting name for a well rounded canoe paddle.

Be Looking For...

Wow. It's been forever since I've updated this thing I guess.

Just wanted to update y'all on what's been going on here at Sanborn. We had a busy summer. We sold a lot of paddles. Thanks!

We're starting to gear up for the upcoming season of paddling already! It seems like the last one just ended(for some of us! We actually just returned from a trip to the BWCA. It snowed about 5 inches on us, But still a great trip!) Some quick things we're working on for next season are kayak paddles, stand-up paddleboard paddles and we're starting to dabble in soft goods! Be looking for hammocks and things to help you with hammock camping to be rolling out soon...

I'll leave you with a few photo's of our early stages of kayak paddle designing...

Thanks to Bryan Hansel for the photo's! Find him at the great website he runs over at http://www.paddlinglight.com/

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.

North Shore Visit

Over the past weekend a few of us Sanborn guys took a business/camping trip up the North Shore of Lake Superior and into the Boundary Waters.
On Friday we stopped at The Duluth Pack Store, The Canoeist and Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply and talked paddles. Thanks you Tom, Erik, Mike, Bryan and Jack for the great day. Great people and great shops.
Also on Friday we were able to check out a couple Langford canoes. Those are some beautiful canoes. I especially liked checking out the rib and plank cedar canoe. Great lines and craftsmanship go into every detail!
Then it was on to the camping portion of our trip. On Friday night we slept along the shore of Lake Superior near Grand Marais. Beautiful sunset and bright moon! It never really got dark that night.





On Saturday We put on our snowshoe's and hiked up the Onion River, thanks Bryan for the advice, and had a great morning exploring.

After our morning hike we drove up to Sawbill Lake. We hiked across Sawbill and onto Alton Lake, camping there on Saturday night. We slept in snowcaves we dug out that day and even made a snow-fort-type-thingy.

We had beautiful weather...it was as warm as it could be! Any warmer and everything would have been wet from melting snow.

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."