Portage Pack or Dry Bag

[redoleary]

As a long time sufferer of G.A.S. I want, if not actually need a new portage pack. My only actual portage pack is of the dry bag variety, one of those Cabella's Boundary packs, it's still going strong, but I think I want more volume.

What is the gang here using for a portage pack, the traditional pack (be it nylon or canvas) or the dry bag variety? Reason for your choice.

RED

 

[yellowcanoe]

Ostrom Wabakimi.. Its no longer made. The reason I like it is that it has somewhat of an internal frame and molds nicely to my back; also a hip belt and tumpline if you want to use it.. I had six years of Woods Duluth Packs with heavy tools on the Wabakimi Project. They did not have a hip belt and more than once they got swinging with axes and saws and threw me face first into bogs.

Cooke Custom Sewing and Granite Gear also make good packs.

I do use and there are pack liners that are waterproof. I put sensitive things inside the pack in their own dry bags. I have a Boundary Pack that is fine for river trips but for the Dickson Bonfield portage I leave it home now. I took it once.. That was enough

 

[memaquay]

I pretty much use barrels all the time. You can get some pretty nice harnesses for them.

 

[Mnoutdoorfunguy]

Battle Lake Outdoors Grand Portage Pack with SealLine Kodiak dry bags for anything that needs to stay absolutely dry: sleeping bag, spare clothing. The food is already in ziplocks.
For us, this provides a durable, comfortable and versatile main pack with the organization of smaller inner bags.

 

[Iskweo]

We are using Eureka 115 litre drybag style packs, very similar to a Seal Line pack. Got them from Cabelas a few years back.They have been really handy and keep everything dry. They are nice to carry bulky items due to the size and they can be reduced for smaller loads. They have nice straps but we take the waist belts off to make the packs easier to handle. One item that I do like are the grab handles for wrasslin the packs around.

Overall they have worked out well for us, even if they have a tendency to end up a bit on the heavy side if we dont pack carefully.

I am an army surplus kind of girl though and have an old Canadian jump ruck that I absolutely adore. Similar to a large Alice pack. It's what all my personal gear goes in.

When it comes time to replace the Eurekas I am leaning more towards traditional canvas packs.

Christy

 

[Canotrouge]

I've use all sort of things... Mainly large dry bag pack type... and barrels... I will be using a canvas pack this summer. And maybe I'll had an other one later this summer! I will also make a few wanigans. I'm going back towards traditional gear, I use to go light weight, but the gear don't last, and then I went medium weight, it last a bit better, but not much more... The old ways, real canvas, real wooden paddles... and maybe even a real wood canvas canoe...

 

[Philtrum]

My main pack is Kondos Outfitter Explorer. https://www.kondosoutdoors.com/produ...itter-explorer
It's like an accordion - can be compressed down to handle a small load (~40 lbs) and expanded for a big one (~60 lbs). Of course, all the straps are fully adjustable. I got it used at Voyageur North outfitters in Ely for little more than a song.

I sometimes use a Knu-Pac pack, with or without the external frame, which has extensions that fit a center thwart for portaging a boat. If using it without the external frame, I use an NRS Paragon Pack as a harness, also fully adjustable. One of the pics shows the pack frame used separately and the pack itself secured with the Paragon Pack. The other pic shows the pack frame's portage extensions more clearly. (Like this is helpful - Knu-Pac seems to have gone out of business.)

My first canoe pack was a Cabela's Boundary Pack, the early one without the waist belt. I sometimes use it for food because it doesn't transmit odors. It's also a nice pack (~30-40 lbs) for going tandem when I want to distribute the load a bit.

The last pack I got was a Sea to Summit Hydraulic Dry Pack. http://www.seatosummit.com/product/?...o2=0&o3=569-30
I really like this one because it handles round things well, like sleeping bag, tent and food bags, and doesn't transmit odors. It doesn't hold a lot, which makes it a good option for carrying with the boat or with my main pack.

 

[BWCA66]

Bought my first canvas Duluth pack in 75 and that is still my pack of choice. Wears great, lifetime gaurentee and fits well in a canoe.

 

[Robin]

I use Duluth Packs also, here is a bigger #3 and a Wanderer pack for a 2 week trip. For me, any little deficiencies like no waist belt or heavy when wet are a small price to pay for the way they ride low in the canoe, appearance and longevity.

If I can leave the Peak 1 stove home and rely on my twig stove, I have gone 12 days with this set of packs, a Duluth Day pack and a #4 Cruiser Pack. I used the day pack daily for years at work and had the folks at DP replace sections of canvas. I use the day pack for food, I use two sealine dry bags inside and liquids go in the pouch up front.

I like the way they ride low in the canoe, especially when crossing big windy lakes.

 

[Odyssey]

I have a pre-loved canvas pack, and will love it some more. I'll give it a wash and clean up. I'll look for a pack liner for it, but I was also thinking about giving it a spray of water proofing (to make it water resistant). Is the water proof spray a bad or good idea??

 

[Guest]

No Title

I broke down last year and bought a Mountain Egp 70L internal frame drypack with hip belt. I used to use an external frame packpack with drybags for most stuff inside. After a ADK trip where it rained every day and things never dried,I decided to pay the $ and # penalty and get it. Real well made,and since I don't carry my canoe on top of the frame anymore and it is as easy on my to carry, the only practical penalty is a little weight and a new packing system.. Here is the maiden voyage of the new pack system up Quebec Brook fro 3 days in the ADKs last summer with my Colden Flashfire. Sorry, can't figure to to post big pictures.
Turtle

 

[Alan Gage]

I use a CCS Pioneer. I got it because they're made in Minnesota (my neighbor), I've met the maker (Dan) and he's a super guy, and I've never heard a complaint about any of their gear. It was my first real canoe pack so I have nothing to compare it with but I have no complaints. Well thought out design and comfortable to carry. My dog and I did 10 days in WCPP and other than a small day pack it carried everything, including food.

Alan

 

[ppine]

Two Duluth No 3s, and a kitchen pack.
A barrel seems like a good idea for food storage, but I have never used one.

 

[enelson8]

I use a dry seal pack with hip belt. My pack has been on Killarney and Algonquin week long trips for the past 25 years and is still as good as new (a bit of scruffing and fading). It may be a bit heavy by today's standards, but I still like it.


Erik

 

[Guest]

I also went to a waterproof fannypack at the same time. This has all my survival and necessary stuff. It doubles as a thwart bag in the boat. I never go anywhere without it. I carry it on all trips if I'm double cariyng.
Turtle

 

[redoleary]

Pretty good cross section of styles here, bags, barrels, pvc, canvas, a little bit of everything. Depending on my REI dividend I might get a granite gear portage pack, and I may just make my own too.

Canotrouge, I'm seriously considering going the wannigan route myself, if time permits I might make one of those too this season.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Two Duluth packs, a #3 Original and a #3 Combo Cruiser. Canvas, leather and brass. Anything other than a Duluth is an imitation fakery, or a petroleum-based and non-traditional plastic horror, or an ugly garish blue color, or a modernist backpacking gimmick!!!

Of course, I grovel with respect for, and will defend to the politically correct death, the right of my fellow paddlers to make other, different -- and totally incorrect -- equipment choices.

 

[redoleary]

Anything other than a Duluth is an imitation fakery, or a petroleum-based and non-traditional plastic horror, or an ugly garish blue color, or a modernist backpacking gimmick!!!

But you don't feel strongly either way about it.

 

[Odyssey]

The canvas canoe pack I want to try out this summer isn't my go to pack of choice. That happens to be a petroleum-based and non-traditional horror SealLine 115L dry bag Pro Pack, coincidentally an ugly blue colour. Nevertheless, the old canvas pack will see some action alongside some of it's pack "cousins" of the blue barrel and rubbery variety. I'm pretty sure they'll all get along, despite their differences. I'll try not to show any favouritism, but I can't guarantee that.

 

[shanks]

Petroleum based plastic horrors fit perfectly in plastic boats, with carbon paddles, and knives with plastic handles.