C&K - the full story

Canoe & Kayak (C&K) is the old paddling mag. It's deals with all of the paddling disciplines; canoe, kayak, and rafting. Canoe has long been harangued because it focuses too much on canoe for the kayakers, and too much on whitewater for the trippers, and way too much on hard boats for the rafters. But oddly enough all of these paddlers come back to C&K eventually. C&K fills that tough position of being everything to everyone. Since they are the most mainstream paddling publication each paddling genre wants the main focus.

I feel that C&K does a fine job of covering all of the bases. I say this as a canoeist that paddles both flat and whitewater. With the recent growth in kayaking, kayaks have become enough of a focus that the name of the magazine was changed from "Canoe" to C&K. I think that C&K forms the basis of any canoeing library. If you are more into canoeing then you need to also subscribe to Kanawa and/or BWCA Journal. If you are more into whitewater then Paddler is nice additional reading. But to skip C&K is to miss a major part of paddling discipline.

C&K creates an indispensable resource in it's annual Buyer's Guide which is included in the December issue. The C&K buyers guide has provided me with an annual record of the boats built by the major manufacturers. I find that even 10 year old Buyers Guides get used often.

Each issue includes separate sections on canoeing, whitewater and sea kayaking, which deal with issues relating to each discipline. At least too local paddling retreats are presented in each issue, with information on getting there, rentals and weather and climate. Each issue also contains a guide to paddling related vacations, and paddling schools, along with a wonderful paddling related story. I especially enjoy reading the stories by Jerry Dennis, a local paddling icon here in western Michigan.

C&K also creates annual Canoe Journal, Beginners Guide, and Whitewater special publications. These are not part of the annual subscription, but are available at your local paddling shop.

C&K...... every paddlers library should include it.