03-15-2010, 12:18 PM
One problem with dealing with NFO is lack of solid info. For instance... the Sawyer/NFO oars that are currently the problem. If you look on their website you will find the oars at:
http://northforkoutdoors.com/musthaveaccessories.html
There is no hard info there, just marketing BS:
"Our carbon fiber wrap directional blade oars rewrite the book on performance oars. We took the superior attributes of high performance kayak blades and incorporated them into a carbon fiber full flex shaft. The result is the hottest oar on the market. No other oar made even comes close to the performance of these oars. You can literally feel the power with every stroke."
No info as to how long they are, what sizes are available, etc. And the picture is wrong too. Those are the previous generation oars, not the ones they are shipping now. The picture shows these:
![[Image: carbonfiberoars.gif]](http://northforkoutdoors.com/Images/carbonfiberoars.gif)
The current ones have a different paddle shape that is asymmetrical. The ones I received look like this:
![[Image: 806561505_jBUN2-M.jpg]](http://michaelnel.smugmug.com/Boats/2010-03-06-outlaw-details/cfoarsfront/806561505_jBUN2-M.jpg)
Then there are the pics of the Rampage boat (the one I have and ordered the oars for) that shows these oars:
![[Image: newindexphoto.JPG]](http://northforkoutdoors.com/Images/newindexphoto.JPG)
You can see that those are the asymmetrical paddles, and you can see that if they were raised into the stowed position they would easy clear the side bags.
When I was at the Pleasanton FF show I talked to Dave Scadden. He had an Outlaw Challenger there with the asymmetrical oars on it. Since there isn't much info about the oars available, I talked with him about them. He said those were the same oars that would be coming to me. He said they were 6 1/2 feet long, and I commented that I thought that would be great because the 5'11" aluminum oars that came with the boat felt a little short to me. I asked him if he would let me take the ones he had, since I had ordered and paid for a set they were having trouble supplying, but he said no.
So because there is so little info on the website and much of it is out of date, and the people I have talked to at NFO don't seem to know much about the oars, it is real difficult to know anything for sure.
The latest from NFO is this: They didn't know we were talking about the yellow Sawyer oars (even though I had ordered and received and complained about those very oars not fitting right). They said they stock only the 5'3" ones that they sent me and 7'9" ones that are used on the bigger boats with frames. They said the ones shown in that pic with the guy spey casting in the background are custom ones that Dave had made up from a cut down set of the 7'9" oars, and are NOT the production ones.
So, they are now going to have Sawyer make a set like the 5'3" ones but 6 1/2 feet long as Dave had promised me. This will theoretically take a couple weeks, and I am OK with that.
NFO could alleviate a lot of confusion with a good website and online ordering system. Their old online store was so bad they finally took it down. Having all the product info kind of "floating around" with one story out of Dave's mouth and the reality of the situation being something entirely different is pretty much bound to cause problems.
I have yet another unresolved issue with them. I ordered the bag for the boat from Dave, and he said it had been added to my order. I found out later from one of the people at NFO that Dave had "oversold" that model and it is no longer available, so they are going to upgrade me to the roller duffel version of the bag (which is a nice thing). However, they don't have those either, and don't know when they will. In the meantime, they have my money and I have no bag.
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http://northforkoutdoors.com/musthaveaccessories.html
There is no hard info there, just marketing BS:
"Our carbon fiber wrap directional blade oars rewrite the book on performance oars. We took the superior attributes of high performance kayak blades and incorporated them into a carbon fiber full flex shaft. The result is the hottest oar on the market. No other oar made even comes close to the performance of these oars. You can literally feel the power with every stroke."
No info as to how long they are, what sizes are available, etc. And the picture is wrong too. Those are the previous generation oars, not the ones they are shipping now. The picture shows these:
The current ones have a different paddle shape that is asymmetrical. The ones I received look like this:
Then there are the pics of the Rampage boat (the one I have and ordered the oars for) that shows these oars:
You can see that those are the asymmetrical paddles, and you can see that if they were raised into the stowed position they would easy clear the side bags.
When I was at the Pleasanton FF show I talked to Dave Scadden. He had an Outlaw Challenger there with the asymmetrical oars on it. Since there isn't much info about the oars available, I talked with him about them. He said those were the same oars that would be coming to me. He said they were 6 1/2 feet long, and I commented that I thought that would be great because the 5'11" aluminum oars that came with the boat felt a little short to me. I asked him if he would let me take the ones he had, since I had ordered and paid for a set they were having trouble supplying, but he said no.
So because there is so little info on the website and much of it is out of date, and the people I have talked to at NFO don't seem to know much about the oars, it is real difficult to know anything for sure.
The latest from NFO is this: They didn't know we were talking about the yellow Sawyer oars (even though I had ordered and received and complained about those very oars not fitting right). They said they stock only the 5'3" ones that they sent me and 7'9" ones that are used on the bigger boats with frames. They said the ones shown in that pic with the guy spey casting in the background are custom ones that Dave had made up from a cut down set of the 7'9" oars, and are NOT the production ones.
So, they are now going to have Sawyer make a set like the 5'3" ones but 6 1/2 feet long as Dave had promised me. This will theoretically take a couple weeks, and I am OK with that.
NFO could alleviate a lot of confusion with a good website and online ordering system. Their old online store was so bad they finally took it down. Having all the product info kind of "floating around" with one story out of Dave's mouth and the reality of the situation being something entirely different is pretty much bound to cause problems.
I have yet another unresolved issue with them. I ordered the bag for the boat from Dave, and he said it had been added to my order. I found out later from one of the people at NFO that Dave had "oversold" that model and it is no longer available, so they are going to upgrade me to the roller duffel version of the bag (which is a nice thing). However, they don't have those either, and don't know when they will. In the meantime, they have my money and I have no bag.
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