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Tweener Pack

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Carrying my canoe with a pack presents a problem I’ve never really addressed satisfactorily. A full size canoe pack is too big, ends up being too bulky, heavy with a canoe hat. Daypacks are too small.

What pack do you carry when portaging a canoe?
 
Over the years my kit is evolved into a system that works well for me. Duluth number 3 pack, or Frost River Royale Jr. or the original larger Royale pack. I have cooking gear, rain gear, bottle of water and lunch food, pack saw and axe or hatchet in this pack. I tump my canoe while wearing the pack. I tump my large pack on the second trip.

Bob.
 
For trips with carries of a half mile or more, my Granite Gear Portage Pack (from the 90s), the clip-on Front Pack and mesh bag and a Seal Line Hip Pack. Food goes in a 10L dry bag or an Ursack Bear Bag. If I go with a minimal kit and not a lot of photo/video gear, I can single carry it (when I was younger, with my Sawyer Autumn Mist; now with a Hornbeck Classic). On trips with shorter carries, I take more gear, so I use a larger pack (RBW Tripper Pack) and an LL Bean Continental Rucksack along with a Cooke CCS Pathfinder Thwart Bag. On larger lakes, when there are no carries or very short ones, I take the Sawyer and take an RBW food barrel instead of the dry bag or Ursack.
 

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I swear by Watershed bags. Other than a blue barrel, nothing is more waterproof thanks to their unique ziplock seal. Their Animas is that 40L mid size you may be looking for. I got the military, navy seal issued version that is made of more durable material (think Hypalon) and has a built in inflation/deflation valve. I found these as new old stock on eBay for $80, which is insane cuz these are ridiculously expensive! I think they pop up periodically as soldiers come home and no longer need them.

https://www.drybags.com/product/assault-pack/

I have two of this size to keep my solo boats in trim and fit into my smaller whitewater boats.
89C0F287-8813-4F71-9E1E-5187C0F6BAC5.jpeg
I can wear one on my back and stack the other on top for the first portage, then come back for the boat on the second trip. Or, I take one 65L version if I’m packing light and doing short portages in one trip.
 
Hey Trailblazer, that L.L.Bean Continental Rucksack seems to be my missing link. Does it fit under a canoe while portaging?

Gerald
Yes, it is often the pack I carry under either of my boats. I've been using it instead of a thwart bag greater capacity and multiple pockets. I've seen them used on FB marketplace for $50-$65. I was lucky to get mine new as a gift.
 
I use a woods oasis, it looks like a traditional canoe pack, but has an adjustable ladder suspension like modern internal packs and can be adjusted for any torso, from my 6'2" buddy to my 5'0" daughter.
 
A lot of nice packs on this thread so far, and as the OP suggests, right in that sweet spot, in-between too small and too large.
I bring a MEC Slogg 35L dry pack for emerg stuff. It's just the right size and weight to join the canoe on a portage trail, and being (on purpose) an unsightly bright orange colour, unlikely to be misplaced and forgotten at a put-in.
Packs are some of my favourite gear, besides axes and knives. The urge to collect is always near. This thread isn't helping.
 
For trips with carries of a half mile or more, my Granite Gear Portage Pack (from the 90s), the clip-on Front Pack and mesh bag and a Seal Line Hip Pack. Food goes in a 10L dry bag or an Ursack Bear Bag. If I go with a minimal kit and not a lot of photo/video gear, I can single carry it (when I was younger, with my Sawyer Autumn Mist; now with a Hornbeck Classic). On trips with shorter carries, I take more gear, so I use a larger pack (RBW Tripper Pack) and an LL Bean Continental Rucksack along with a Cooke CCS Pathfinder Thwart Bag. On larger lakes, when there are no carries or very short ones, I take the Sawyer and take an RBW food barrel instead of the dry bag or Ursack.
Is the Llbean Continental pack the Weekender version or the smaller one?
 
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