Customer Reviews

Driftboats: A Complete Guide

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Driftboats have a long and interesting history in their native Oregon. Commonplace on Pacific Northwest waters, the popularity of driftboats is now enjoying a national popularity and are to be found in every state. Dan Alsup's Driftboats: A Complete Guide is a comprehensive guide to driftboats and their operation, covering such issues as their history, their controversy, contemporary boats, purchasing and outfitting a driftboat, rowing basics, reading water, drifting a river, solutions to common river problems, checklists, the future of driftboating, and a great deal more. Driftboats: A Complete Guide is a complete "how to" manual for the acquisition and safe operation of driftboats for boating enthusiasts, outdoorsmen, and anglers.

No book can replace actual time on the water, however a good book can speed up the learning process. This book covers the basics of reading the river, buying a boat, history of driftboats, safty on the river and a nice checklist of stuff to have on the boat to remain safe. Plus it has some incrediable photos of river boat disasters and an explaination on what to do to avoid them.

Read this book before you buy a drift boat.

A fairly good source of information about drift boats (one of very few out there so it may be the best available). It is long on history of drift boats. Good descriptions of rowing tchniques and boat control. The section on reading rivers and how to tackle various situations is fairly good but I would have liked it to be more comprehensive with more drawings. Drift boat safety, equipping the boat, and preparing for trips with check lists were also fairly good. The book is well worth the price and for someone like me without any experience is definitely of value. I would have just liked even more. I recommend googling "drift boats" and going through every driftboat manufacturer web site for understanding of the substantial number of available drift boats including wooden, composites, and aluminium. There are also some very good kits. Some of the manufacturers are sources for accessory equipment and articles on technique.

Interesting book with nice pictures. I think a better title might be "The Complete History of Drift Boats". I purchased the book looking for information to make a more informed decision when buying a drift boat, did not really find it very useful for this purpose.

I found the book to be very informative on philisophical, historical and practical levels. Alsup does a great job providing the history of driftboat designs and designers. I enjoyed the thoroughness of his "how to" explanations of rowing tactics, risk management, and trip planning issues. I am about to build my own wooden driftboat and I definately feel more educated about the history of the boat I am building, why the design is the way it is, and some strategies for its use upon completion. Moreover, the pictures and drawings were clear, helpful and enhanced the written portions of the book. Well done.

I bought this book for my husband who, had never driftboated B4. It was DETAILED & a "complete" book right down to all the checklist of items... BUY IT TODAY!