In the Canoe & Kayak Magazine 2006 Buyer's Guide, over 90 canoe manufacturers were listed, and this doesn't include many of the smaller companies that build only a few canoes a year. Quickly scanning the listings, it easy to conclude that the magazine lists over 900 models of canoes. That's a lot of canoes and that makes choosing a canoe one of the most complicated buying decisions out of any outdoor sport. Combing the number of models with the average canoe cost of around $1000 US, this can make the first-time canoe buyer nervous about their canoe purchase. It doesn't have to be that way though.