Customer Reviews

The Aleutian Kayak: Origins, Construction, and Use of the Traditional Seagoing Baidarka

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having built the boat in this book was a profound experiance for me. I now understand the workings of a kayak more intimatly and will never look at a plastic, fiberglass, kevlar or even plywood kayak the same. There were one or two times in the building of this boat that were frustrating, but I just stepped back took a day or so off, thought about it and worked my way through it. Mr. Brinck's instructions were as good as you can get, trying to explain as complex a project as this. His spiritual insights in the text were quite insprirational. I love my boat...it paddles wonderfully...and I am now a boat builder for life!

This book helped me build a spectacular kayak. Beware, it can change your life. I am now a boatbuilder. Brinck's traditional methods are inspirational. The text left me with a few questions, but most of them were solved with re-reading, walking around the project a few times, or finding the Baidarka listserv on the net. Again, beware! If you buy this book you may spend the next six months in your garage.

I just finished building a traditional west greenland sea kayak. I can't wait to move on and build a baidarka. This book is an important guide for the traditional construction of an Aleutian Baidarka. This is an awesome book for anyone interested in building an authentic Aleutian Baidarka whether they have experience working with wood or not. I highly recommend it!

This is an excellent book on how to build your own light weight kayak or "baidarka". If your'e looking to do it yourself, and looking to do it very inexpensively, you just cannot beat the way the original Aleuts did it. They had thousands of years to do it right. Those who did not drowned. Mr. Brinck walks you through the process with clarity, lots of pictures, and large doses of common sense. There is no need for brain cell killing epoxy or for that matter, hardly any synthetic material. I am in the process of building one now and I am very much enjoying the hand fitting and "hand" measuring. Best of luck.

Within this book you will find the procedures for building a kayak in the traditional manner...but with a modern twist! I doubt you will use seal-hide for the exterior, but the ancient method of constructing the hull is well portrayed within these pages. As an amateur boat-builder, particularly of kayaks and sailboats, I found this book to be a unique gem among many similar titles.
I have always admired the ingenious craftsmanship of the Inuit people, and other dwellers of the Arctic and Tundra regions. Surviving in the most savage climate on Earth, they developed a unique and complex culture. Those people who live in such challenging environments invariably possess the sharpest wit for improvisation with limited resources.
A book of fourteen chapters, you will find within a narrative of the history of Inuit boat-building, detailed instruction of construction: tools and materials to make a modern re-creation, and all pertainent accessories: paddles, spray-skirt, paddling-jacket, and even some modern innovations: a rudder and sail. In general, the hull is built from a wood frame fastened together by string lashings, covered by a canvas skin. The end result: a traditional kayak, from mostly modern materials, (unless you really want to use seal-skin to cover the frame).

W. Brinck hits the mark with this book. With little wood experience anyone can build this boat for less than $200 US. Although I am building a Greenland style kayak, Brinck's book provides invaluable information to get the job done quickly and easily. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in kayak building.

I found this book a real page turner. I read it once and read it again. I keep going back to it and will be starting my kayak this spring.

It is a must.
This book is very well-written, all the instructions and tips on building the baidarka are very clear.
It lacks the history part, this is a DIY book. If you are going to search for news about aleutian people and the way they used their boats, this is not your book.
Otherwise, if you look for a clear, well-written instruction manual on building a baidarka, buy it immediately.
The atmosphere into those pages is absolutely nice. This book should show from the bookshelf if your interest is SOF kayaks.

I have just purchased this book and I am very impressed with not only the technical/historical position of the book, but also the spiritual background of this publication. The technical side of building a traditional baidarka from very basic tools, materials and knowledge is yet to be determined as I have yet to build. We shall see

I've just completed a canvas covered Greenland kayak using G. Putz book, and I picked this one up along the way. Of four paperback books by the same publisher, this one is the least useful. There's a lot to be said about attempting to replicate native boat-building - and the author deserves praise for his research and efforts. However, I have trouble understanding why you would make a canvas covered boat on a frame that can't possibly be as good as an Aleutian's work when you exert just as much effort in a similar boat with a western frame. It seems to me also that this particular boat is a first-time effort by the author and there are things about it that make it seem unstable and uneven. The hull dimensions, for example, are not exact which can make a tippy boat or one that drags to one side. For a canvas covered boat I would strongly recommend G. Putz's book or for a strip boat, Mr. Shade's. Both individuals have built many many boats and their narratives are much more detailed.