Although it has been largely replaced by plastic nowadays, those who paddle birch bark canoes often comment how such craft feel much more 'natural' afloat - in the water rather than on it - than modern types. They are also easier to repair on trips into the wilderness, one of the reasons they remained in use long after the advent of supposedly ?superior? materials. Our hand-crafted scale models are remarkably authentic in construction, with separate planks and ribs keeping the bark in shape, and stitched (rather than glued or nailed) gunnels. The workmanship is sufficiently good that they will float. The hulls have a quite pronounced rocker (curve to the bottom), which would make them easy to manoeuvre in fast flowing streams and rivers, and are typical of the canoes traditionally made by the peoples of the Algonquin region.