18 Ft. Outlaw

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Woody Wodzinski

New member
I have an opportunity to purchase an 18Ft. Outlaw duck boat. My problem is I know nothing about them and have had no luck on line. I am hoping someone on here knows something or has owned one and can steer me in the right direction. I hunt Long Point Bay on Lake Erie and need a boat that can handle some rough water. Thank you.
 
I don't think I'd buy one if you're going to be on rough water. I know they had some major problems with them and a few people got killed. I think they didn't have the flotation right and they'd capsize.
Google Outlaw Duck Boat accident. Here's what I found.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19951121&slug=2153786
http://www.michbar.org/opinions/appeals/2001/031601/9708.pdf
They may have fixed them later on, but I'd especially be nervous and look into what year it is and when the problems were corrected if buying a used one.
 
A guy had one on Champlain a couple years ago. An 18'. Long story short, when they were picking decoys up they took a a wave. Whoever was driving the boat (I think it was his young daughter) panicked and jammed it into reverse. The boat flooded and flipped over. Everyone but the dog survived. The guy had it on Craigs list a couple weeks later with no mention of the flip. I actually sent him a message about how I thought the boats were fundamentally unsafe. Of course he had no way of knowing if I knew he sunk it. He replied to my email as you would expect. He wanted me to go f myself. So... I have seen them up close and they look good on paper, but a duck boats first job is to get me home safe. I would not want to be out in one on a rough day. Just my 2 cents.
 
I would steer far and wide of any of those boats, I witnessed first hand a smaller model, I think it was a 14 or 16 foot boat blind model nearly roll over in a big wind one day in a Columbia Basin lake.

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My friend has an 18 and he likes it but he only uses in the bay.
For rough water I would pass on the Outlaw.
 
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Dangerous boat. If you take on water, count on it turning turtle on you. They are responsible for the Saginaw Bay deaths...regardless of what the attorneys "proved".
Their company name is deserved. ;)
Lou
 
I'd like to thank everyone for your candid responses. Considering the weather conditions I like to hunt in I will stay clear of this boat. Thanks again.
 
Actually Lou when I was googling that yesterday I came upon the court documents that said that Outlaw reached an out of court settlement with the plaintiffs... a far cry from what the owner led everyone to believe (that it was the gas cap or some other BS)!
 
I didn't hear about the Outlaw boat turning turtle...a shame. The guy who ran that company first was a Northwest representative for TDB back in the day; made some interesting videos of hunting with it and RealGeese decoys in Canada. Then he started his own company in Spokane about the time there were jungle tom toms to the effect that TDBs were dangerous...and also made Outlaw Silhouette Decoys similar to RealGeese. I wondered what became of the company--guess lawsuits are the answer. Still have a dozen of his sills...along with two dozen RealGeese and three dozen RealMallards I guess you'd call them. At least the sills stand up as well as the RealGeese...
 
There were 3 or 4 hunters killed in the Outlaw in Saginaw Bay. I know the lady who lost both her husband and son as a result of that boat turtling. That was a day of extremely bad conditions and they shouldn't been out on the water but they were also told that this boat was extremely safe...poor design. Prior to that accident, I had a discussion with Jim Cripe (owner of Outlaw) that the boat was dangerous by it's very design and the placement of the foam. It went unheeded.

Jim did some videos and I had to have a serious talk with him about that also since he pulled portions of my video and put that into his videos.

He had wanted to be a dealer for Real Geese and spent a bunch of time with Darrell Wise and then left Darrell to manufacture his own silos and then he sued Darrell for infringement...even though Darrell designed and manufactured the silos first.

Jim had also done a similar thing with his coffin blind with another fella.
Lots more stories (all true) about Jim Cripe's dealings but that's enough for now.
Lou
 
There were 3 or 4 hunters killed in the Outlaw in Saginaw Bay. I know the lady who lost both her husband and son as a result of that boat turtling. That was a day of extremely bad conditions and they shouldn't been out on the water but they were also told that this boat was extremely safe...poor design. Prior to that accident, I had a discussion with Jim Cripe (owner of Outlaw) that the boat was dangerous by it's very design and the placement of the foam. It went unheeded.

Jim did some videos and I had to have a serious talk with him about that also since he pulled portions of my video and put that into his videos.

He had wanted to be a dealer for Real Geese and spent a bunch of time with Darrell Wise and then left Darrell to manufacture his own silos and then he sued Darrell for infringement...even though Darrell designed and manufactured the silos first.

Jim had also done a similar thing with his coffin blind with another fella.
Lots more stories (all true) about Jim Cripe's dealings but that's enough for now.
Lou
Click to expand...



Amen,

Jim originally started as the western distributor for the original TDB boats. I requested information from him and he sent me a video. It showed him in some pond outside Spokane in the 14 ft TDB He was driving it virtually nowhere all the while slamming his prop and lower unit into submerged rocks. At one point in the video, the cameraman decided to follow a flock of Canada geese and Jim disappeared off camera, talking all the while. He also had some stuff regarding his other products. The weirdest thing was that the last 5 minutes of the video was of his daughter or daughter in law giving birth in the hospital. As Lou said, a very professional outfit.

When Jim came up with the idea for the Outlaw I called him up to voice my concerns with the boat and how he would kill people. His arguement was that he had a B.S. degree in engineering from Purdue University which made him more qualified to design boats. My retort was that he should go back to driving trains and drinking boilermakers because he sure as shit knew nothing about boat design. The hunters on Saginaw paid the ultimate price.

A couple of years later I saw an Outlaw in person as a local had purchased one second-hand. It was a blustery day, waves at perhaps three feet. The guys wife asked me if I should be going out on the river. I assured her that I would be fine in my Devlin BBII, it was designed for the stuff. I told her if her husband went out on the river he might not come back. She said he was assured he had the safest duckboat on the market. I told her to tell it to tha families of the hunters on Saginaw and related the story. I proceeded to go hunt the Flint River, seven miles upriver and seven miles back after dark, no problemo! When I got back the harbormaster asked me what I had said to the woman. Apparently her husband went about 50 yards out into the chop, got in trouble and became scared but made it back to the harbor. As he was coming back in his wife was screaming at him about selling that damn boat. I never saw it again.

*
 
Unfortunately, most anyone who can remember the days of Outlaw boats & outlaw silhouettes came away with the same impression of Jim Cripe that Lou has all those horror stories about. I remember corresponding with him prior to settling on a TDB. At the time he had lots of literature and claims, but no boats (or at best a few prototypes) built. Didn't seem to have a supply / shipping plan in place either...... but, man, he sure could rip on every other established dealer out there and tell you why their product was inferior. Only sales brochure I ever saw that focused on the weaknesses of everyone else's products. Matter of fact that's why I decided to never purchase anything from Outlaw.
Didn't take long for Outlaw Boats to go Belly up (pun intended).
 
woody

I have been a owner of the outlaw pro 18 for eighteen years. I sent for the video that I saw in a field and stream magazine(I'm 58). When I got that video I was going nuts. I loved it and said to myself I have to have it. I have had no problems with mine. My friend blew my first motor up 90hp nissan . But that was his fault not the boat. I know the stories of some of the problems people have had. And even the death of a few hunters ,SAD TO SAY. But if you look into those stories you'll find out they were in really ruff weather and water. I have been on some big lakes and rivers with my boat. And have taken many people in it. I went to the TDB factory before I got my boat and test drove their boat. I like theirs also but it was hard to get in. Hope this helped you.
 
Anthony,
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my query. It is important from my perspective to hear from someone who actually owns an "Outlaw". The boat that I was interested in has long been sold. If I come across another one based on your experience wil definitely take a look at it. I will be 68 shortly and my dear wife and girls have become extremely over protective since the untimely death of my son. Shortly after his death my hunting partner was also taken unexpectedly. All part of the journey of life but it does not make things any easier at my house. Again thanks for your response.
 
Woody

I don't know what to say, I'm so sorry, Life can be taken so fast, But the ones left behind should honor the loss. But! live the life they should of been able to live. My outlaw Duck boat was the best thing that ever happen to me . Not counting health ,family and friends and my dog, Not saying that boats can't sink, not trying to say that it wasn't the boats fault when those people lost their lives. I am saying my boat held up great for eighteen years. For the first ten or so years. I put that baby to the test. I'm sure many, many duck hunters have taken on water and lost their boats. And you can bet they were not all OUTLAW Boats. I have driven TDB and they are a nice boat. But they are really hard for people to get into. I did some extra work on my boat when I got it. To make it more safe. Anytime you would like to hear about it ,let me know.

God Bless
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