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Triple Portage?

I do long solo trips, when I'm going to be out for 6+ weeks with no resupply I plan on 4 gear loads plus one boat trip, at about the halfway mark I can get it down to 3 gear loads.

On a "standard" trip I have

1 - 115L dry bag
1 - 100L dry duffle
.1 - 60L barrel
1 - 30L barrel
2 - tents, one in it's own dry bag the other (a shelter than can get wet) just in the original bag/stuff sack.
1 - Soft sided cooler (holds 24 cans but I use it for cheese, apples/oranges etc. and later on as a general trash receptacle)
1 - pelican case for camera
1 - 10L drybag (day bag)
3 - Paddles
1 - throw bag
3 or 4 - Nalgene water bottles

If I'm doing a route with many portages I can cut back by one load.

The loads go like this:

trip 1 - 60L barrel & Shelter
trip 2 - 30L barrel & Dry Duffle
trip 3 - 115L Dry Bag plus odds and ends
trip 4 - everything that is left
trip 5 - boat plus maybe the small tent pack, paddles attached to boat

If it's a really short portage I just drag the boat with as much gear in it as I can handle, sometimes that means just one gear trip with the heaviest bag and the rest stays in the boat..

Even on a short trip of a week or so I'm doing 3 gear loads because the gear choices are not much different and all I'm really cutting back on is food which generally runs about 1kg/day.
 
Hmmm. Very enlightening. Now that I'm well entrenched in seniordom, I'm thinking lightening my gear is not the only thing I need to do to extend my trips. Honestly, I think I've been carrying too big of a load with the canoe. Adding a modest size pack and increasing my food capacity might kill both birds with the same rock.
 
Hmmm. Very enlightening. Now that I'm well entrenched in seniordom, I'm thinking lightening my gear is not the only thing I need to do to extend my trips. Honestly, I think I've been carrying too big of a load with the canoe. Adding a modest size pack and increasing my food capacity might kill both birds with the same rock.
And triple carrying is a great excuse to just enjoy the walks. You get two rest walks to enjoy the woods .
Another tactic I like is to envision a long portage in segments. I will break out a 2000 m portage which is usually a chore to put it mildly into 4 500 m segments. Each segment end is an excuse to water up or take a rest or a snack. If you are like me your racing days are over so you might as well enjoy!
 
Kathleen and I take the gear we want, and we carry it to the end of the portage as conveniently as possible. It’s more an art than a science. It’s all part of extended canoe tripping. It’s why we go. Kathleen and I used to be backpackers, on week-long trips or more. We spent all day carrying our heavy load to the next camp. By comparison, most portages on canoe trips are a walk in the park. A short backpacking trip on the first leg, followed by an enjoyable jaunt back to get the next load. Then repeat. Not a big deal for us.
 
Christine and I always have multiple carries since we don't scrimp on gear. We do break it up though, the longest we have done, 5 carries, 2.2 km for the first leg. Go 500 - 800 m and put the load down, walk back for the next load and walk it past the first one, walk back and pick up the dropped load and walk it past the last one, etc., gets across quickly and efficiently.
 
At times I triple port. I travel solo, so I am not burdened with slowing down a group. My dog Jake and I explore the timber as well as the lakes, so sometimes we take a long time to get anywhere. It can be a significant toil on long difficult portages and I do not always like how long it takes to complete a mile long portage when I have to walk it 5 times. However, I usually take my small 30 pounds or so pack with my canoe - a 15 foot prospector. I then take my wannigan and then my main 60- 70 pound pack. I tump the canoe and wannigan and pack as well - it helps me to endure longer portages.

However, on trips without the wannign, I carry the smaller pack and canoe on the first trip and have a large canvas bag with the rest of my kit. I then tump that across the port - feels good to only have to walk it 3 times ... but I usually miss my wannigan when I am in camp.

Bob.
 
Triple is carry is usually the norm for me, although I have done trips with the fabled "single carry", but that was a little too spartan for me.
 
I've been trying to get down to single carry for so long, going in the other direction is a total shift in paradigm for me. Maybe I can still return that new Helinox ultra light chair.
 
At this point in my life, slowing down and enjoying things is paramount. You can still trip with very light carries, you just do more of them. Becoming a gram weenie as we age is not the way to go in my opinion. Besides, I like walking.
 
Gram weenie :):)

Here I was preparing to go off on how happy I am that my canoe with internal skid plates is a full pound under the current specs for that model without skids. Guess there's no denying my weeniedom.

i actually have an internal frame hunting day pack that I've never taken tripping but always thought would be the perfect size to carry a canoe with.
 
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Pack weight is what makes for more walking on portages for us. Generally the food barrel will weigh the most and we got rid of the 60l and use 2 30l's when necessary to keep the overall weight down. We shoot for 30 pounds per pack. We do take a 4 person tent for the 2 of us, we old women like to have the space should we be tent bound due to wind or rain.
 
recped goes as heavy as a survivalist. Never heard of carrying 2 tents for one person.
As I get older my pack keeps getting lighter. It is the only way I can keep backpacking.
We rarely portage on western rivers, but my gear pile is shrinking.
 
I wouldn't send back that Helinox just yet, nor would I dismiss that hunting pack. Both could fit perfectly with whatever your new experimental paddle portage arrangement might be. And as life is apt to stay the same so too does it change, in whichever direction you wish to wander on whatever trip you've chosen. Not every trip has to be a cookie cutter thing for you. First pick the route and then marry the gear selection to it. Gram weenie doom and dire one trip, no port luxury base camp the next. Mix and match in-between. Your paddling/portaging philosophy can be a flexible adaptable thing. I can't speak to weeks long solo trips but I'd think it's mostly the food volume that changes. Same chosen canoe, same chosen sleeping arrangement, same chosen kitchen outfit...what you choose should befit your route and approach. You make up the rules, and then bend them to suit your trip.
It's funny that despite changing equipment over the many years the attitude towards portages hasn't budged much from the negative. Shame really given the myriad of light weight choices in gear available to make a pleasant walk in the woods much pleasanter. We always (mostly) enjoy our walk. There be monsters. Black flies, mosquitoes, slippery inclines, skidding declines, sticky humid heat, hyperthermic cold showers...always better than the alternative of being stuck at home. lol
 
recped goes as heavy as a survivalist. Never heard of carrying 2 tents for one person.
As I get older my pack keeps getting lighter. It is the only way I can keep backpacking.
We rarely portage on western rivers, but my gear pile is shrinking.

I don't carry "two" tents......

I carry...

The POD (which is pretty much trashed now) a 9'x9' floorless shelter (Sierra Designs)
Marmot Sanctom - 2 person / 3 season tent
Outdoor Research - Bivy
Lightweight mesh only bug tent (cheap one that MSR bought out and quadrupled the price!)
Tarp that can be used as a shelter (sometimes two tarps!)

....Depends on what you consider to be a "tent" but you could call it 5 different "shelters".

Most trips I do have very few portages, even those that do tend to be mostly all located in a short stretch with 90% of the trip portage free. I also try to plan for camps at the portages even better if they coincide with a layover day. On my solo trips I'm on a non-schedule, usually have a full food supply for an extra week if I feel like it so there is rarely a need to rush portages.
 
I don't carry "two" tents......

I carry...

The POD (which is pretty much trashed now) a 9'x9' floorless shelter (Sierra Designs)
Marmot Sanctom - 2 person / 3 season tent
Outdoor Research - Bivy
Lightweight mesh only bug tent (cheap one that MSR bought out and quadrupled the price!)
Tarp that can be used as a shelter (sometimes two tarps!)

....Depends on what you consider to be a "tent" but you could call it 5 different "shelters".

Most trips I do have very few portages, even those that do tend to be mostly all located in a short stretch with 90% of the trip portage free. I also try to plan for camps at the portages even better if they coincide with a layover day. On my solo trips I'm on a non-schedule, usually have a full food supply for an extra week if I feel like it so there is rarely a need to rush portages.

And if I remember correctly you like to travel in the wet like Labrador! Again where you go dictates what is useful. Carrying all that on an Algonquin hiking trip with a canoeing problem; I bet none of us carries more than ten tarp and bug net over the tarp.
 
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