Single Trip Carry Portage Techniques

[Gamma1214]

Welcome. If the pup reads this you might have (Hades) to pay but, then again, it'd be worth it to have him reading. We should all read more.

Glenn will be along shortly. I'm sure there's a way to change username. Maybe "... w/Cerberus"

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Steve,
So sorry for the ridiculously late response... Just now saw it. Yes, that is a West Marine CO2 inflatable PFD.

Well, it took me just as long to notice your answer, so.....thanks.

I think it's a great idea, and I think I'm going to adopt it for some trips.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

PWC, welcome to site membership! Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos, and to start threads, in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Many of the site's technical features are explained in Features: Help and How-To Running Thread. We look forward to your participation in our canoe community.

Canoe is 24 pounds bare (17' solo)

Very curious, what canoe is that?

I see I picked a username one character too long!

Your username is rather long. If you want to shorten or otherwise change it, just DM me. I can easily do that. Better to do it earlier than later if you're going to continue to post here, as we all hope you will.

 

[PortageW/Cerberus]

PWC, welcome to site membership! Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos, and to start threads, in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Many of the site's technical features are explained in Features: Help and How-To Running Thread. We look forward to your participation in our canoe community.



Very curious, what canoe is that?



Your username is rather long. If you want to shorten or otherwise change it, just DM me. I can easily do that. Better to do it earlier than later if you're going to continue to post here, as we all hope you will.

Hi Glenn!

It's a Savager River Blackwater. Great as a fast tripper, though it has the expected handling of a boat that long with zero rocker.

Will DM re: username.

Cheers

 

[DougK]

for group trips, I invite my son and his college friends - competitive swimmers, weightlifters, marathon runners, and a soccer player who is the toughest of all, she runs the portage..
then I dawdle along with the lightest canoe ;-)
with my wife, she likes to pack heavy and take lots of clothes etc, so we don't even attempt it.

not yet done solo, I have a 40lb Wenonah, my backpack for an overnight backpacking trip with food is 25lb. That includes a 1 lb REI camp chair, at my age I consider it worth it. In my head I think I can still carry 70-80lb, at least for the shorter portages.. if I actually get to retire at the end of the year, hope to test this out. If not, I'm retired, I'll take all day to portage if I want to .. ha.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I've split off the burgeoning and very interesting tangent between @PortageW/Cerberus and @yknpdlr about "Long, Fast Solo Canoes" into its own topic by that name, here:

Long, Fast Solo Canoes

It's a Savager River Blackwater. Great as a fast tripper, though it has the expected handling of a boat that long with zero rocker. Do you race it? We have some members who do race or have done so in the past.

www.canoetripping.net

 

[BozoCanoe]

I am, as usual, late to the party on an interesting conversation. In fact, joined to chime in (I have been a long-time contributor on a couple of other tripping sites).

Single-carrying is my thing, both on group trips and solo.

Group trips it's simple: Each tandem has one large & heavy pack for community gear and food (plus one person's personal gear). On day one that's a meaty pack, but it gets progressively lighter. And then a second light pack (15ish #) for the personal gear of the second paddler, and they carry that pack plus the canoe. Bob's your uncle.

Solo I have down pat, and like some others it's lightweight backpacking gear for the most part.

Canoe is 24 pounds bare (17' solo), 28# with two paddles, fishing rod, map, bailer, painter, sponge, fishing tackle and yoke all secured for walking.

Pack is 22 pounds base weight, plus 20oz per day food.

For a week I am carrying roughly 59-60# at the beginning and I'm in the low 50's at the end...inclusive of the boat.

I can clip my paddle into a holder & attach the yoke quickly. When I am moving with purpose I am under two minutes from paddling to walking and under one to transition back - and that includes attaching the saddlebags to the dog, who carries her own gear & food (over a week and I have to carry some).

Admittedly, sometimes I move slow and smell some roses en route.

My favorite topic.

I did a 10-day solo BWCA trip last summer where I doubled back on portages. Never again. I am am now carefully paring my kit down so this summer I can do it all in one go. I'd love to know what pack you use that holds all your kit but still allows you to portage without butting up against the portage yoke. I'm thinking a medium sized CCS Hybrid pack https://cookecustomsewing.com/shop/ols/products/hybrid-pack but I'd love to know your strategy. Many thanks.

 

[PortageW/Cerberus]

I did a 10-day solo BWCA trip last summer where I doubled back on portages. Never again. I am am now carefully paring my kit down so this summer I can do it all in one go. I'd love to know what pack you use that holds all your kit but still allows you to portage without butting up against the portage yoke. I'm thinking a medium sized CCS Hybrid pack https://cookecustomsewing.com/shop/ols/products/hybrid-pack but I'd love to know your strategy. Many thanks.

I applaud your efforts! If I am reading the site correctly, the medium is the Pioneer @ 4700 cu in, which is 77L.

My pack for a 7-14 day solo is about 55L, though it is tight and I wish it were a hair bigger. It all fits, but it would be nice if I did not have to play 3D tetris every time. I made my pack myself.

It really depends on your gear, but I would think 77L would do it if you've been serious about excluding items & dropping volume to single-carry.

If you want to poke at this more, perhaps a photo of your gear laid out would help. Or a gear list. Happy to review.

Cheers.

 

[BozoCanoe]

Thanks, I'm going to be doing a spring trip on the Wild and Scenic Missouri here in Montana in about ten days so I am actually in the process of starting to lay out gear and food. I'll try to lay out my kit and take photos. I'll order that CCS pack sometime after that, my next BWCA trip isn't until late July.

Cheerio.

 

[MichaelMerry]

I did a 10-day solo BWCA trip last summer where I doubled back on portages. Never again. I am am now carefully paring my kit down so this summer I can do it all in one go. I'd love to know what pack you use that holds all your kit but still allows you to portage without butting up against the portage yoke. I'm thinking a medium sized CCS Hybrid pack https://cookecustomsewing.com/shop/ols/products/hybrid-pack but I'd love to know your strategy. Many thanks.

We are avid backpackers spending many more nights on trail than we do in our canoes. Therefore, we tend to treat our extended paddling trips very much like backpacking trips. We pack light and use much of the same gear.

We portage with the same expedition size backpacks we use for our long hikes in the mountains. For me, that’s a mystery ranch terraplane. My wife carries a Gregory deva 70 liter. We have no problems with interference with any part of the canoe.

 

[BozoCanoe]

We are avid backpackers spending many more nights on trail than we do in our canoes. Therefore, we tend to treat our extended paddling trips very much like backpacking trips. We pack light and use much of the same gear.

We portage with the same expedition size backpacks we use for our long hikes in the mountains. For me, that’s a mystery ranch terraplane. My wife carries a Gregory deva 70 liter. We have no problems with interference with any part of the canoe.

Thanks for this. I have a couple of backpacking packs here at home I will be experimenting with as well.

On a philosophical note.... I'm really trying to think objectively about how much I really carry, and what is really enough, and what I really want out of these fast, light, solo trips. Like so many people who have become lightweight hiking / paddling enthusiasts, it's not really about the gear, I ultimately find myself striving for the good feelings that come from paring everything down to the absolute essentials and being able to move less burdened. This gives me more bandwidth to be more present, both physically and mentally. It's a feeling of "lightness" or "glide" that's hard to describe, but you know it when you're achieving it :^) Not gonna lie though, living in an age of such incredibly high quality flyweight equipment is remarkable and a huge part of making all this possible.

There is no perfect answer, but I'll keep you all posted when I figure out where I finally land for this season. One of these is on my mind today https://hyperlitemountaingear.com/products/southwest 28 oz (nice!)

If anyone else has insights feel free to chime in.

With Gratitude, R

 

[MichaelMerry]

Right on. That is our philosophy. We tend to move every day and enjoy covering ground. Camping is certainly, for us, secondary to the travel. We travel fast, far and light.

We’re entering our 50’s, so this may change. But we’re going to keep it going for as long as we’re able:

 

[PortageW/Cerberus]

HMG makes quality stuff and you would not be the first lightweight canoe tripper to use their packs.

Your philosophical description was evocative; very well phrased.

One can more easily get deeper into wilderness...

 

[Black_Fly]

Too much wear and tear on my body. That’s for them young Viking types. I like having a chair, a tent, knees. My biggest problem is food and tackle. Double portaging is my goal. If you treat canoe trips like backpacking trips you’re missing the main advantage of using a canoe.

 

[PortageW/Cerberus]

Too much wear and tear on my body. That’s for them young Viking types. I like having a chair, a tent, knees. My biggest problem is food and tackle. Double portaging is my goal. If you treat canoe trips like backpacking trips you’re missing the main advantage of using a canoe.

I just got the "Young Viking" model of new knee two years ago and it's been great.

Planning on being fully bionic before shuffling off the coil.

 

[Alan Gage]

If you treat canoe trips like backpacking trips you’re missing the main advantage of using a canoe.

That depends on the user. To me the main advantage of using a canoe was because I loved paddling a canoe and because it allowed me to access places that otherwise weren't practical to access by other means. Packing lighter made everything easier.

I was never ultra lightweight but I seemed to take less and less every time I went. I think @BozoCanoe said it very well.

Like so many people who have become lightweight hiking / paddling enthusiasts, it's not really about the gear, I ultimately find myself striving for the good feelings that come from paring everything down to the absolute essentials and being able to move less burdened. This gives me more bandwidth to be more present, both physically and mentally. It's a feeling of "lightness" or "glide" that's hard to describe, but you know it when you're achieving it

 

[Johnny 5]

I started this thread specifically for information sharing between members interested in developing or improving their single portaging technique. I left the thread early when I realized that members were more interested in casual conversation than in following the intent of the discussion.

I was surprised to see this thread resurface. I count 56 responses, 18 of which members claim that they do not or have no intention of single portaging and 7 responses that are off topic. So 25 of the 56 responses or about half of the responses are in conflict with my requested topic guidelines.

 

[Alan Gage]

I started this thread specifically for information sharing between members interested in developing or improving their single portaging technique. I left the thread early when I realized that members were more interested in casual conversation than in following the intent of the discussion.

I was surprised to see this thread resurface. I count 56 responses, 18 of which members claim that they do not or have no intention of single portaging and 7 responses that are off topic. So 25 of the 56 responses or about half of the responses are in conflict with my requested topic guidelines.

I'm afraid that comes with the turf with internet forum discussions. While we do try to keep things generally on track threads will wander and lose track at times. Sometimes they detract from the original intention of the post but often they provide welcome information for other people interested in the same subject and help round out the subject matter.

For instance someone thinking about implementing single portage technique would likely find this thread in a search. In this thread they would find good information on how to implement those techniques but also input from many different canoe trippers on how they feel about single trip portaging. They may find there are arguments for/against single trip portaging they have never considered.

I've noticed in the past that this is something that really bothers you but most of us think of each other as friends sitting down to a casual conversation and casual conversations have a tendency to wander, which many of us feel is part of the charm of this forum, for lack of a better word.

Alan

 

[lowangle al]

I started this thread specifically for information sharing between members interested in developing or improving their single portaging technique. I left the thread early when I realized that members were more interested in casual conversation than in following the intent of the discussion.

I was surprised to see this thread resurface. I count 56 responses, 18 of which members claim that they do not or have no intention of single portaging and 7 responses that are off topic. So 25 of the 56 responses or about half of the responses are in conflict with my requested topic guidelines.

I apologize if any of my responses conflicted with your requested topic guidelines, although it looks like you got pissed off before I posted. If you post in the future be sure to put your guidelines in bold print so we will be aware of them.

 

[Black_Fly]

Plus, most of us are old guys, and old guys just ramble anyway.

Of course we’re weight sensitive. Each of us is trying to stretch our tripping into our golden years, despite the atrocities inflicted by age. Single portaging is something we’ve all aspired to do. Some were good at It. I was not given my physical dimensions and lust for creature comforts, fishing tackle, furniture.

Now some practícal advise: Chair Zero is where you can start, unless you’re fine with sitting on a log or in a Crazy Creek style chair. Then you can look at a nylon tube to sleep in or a bivy sack. One of the best weight reductions in my kit happened when I went to a twig stove.

So there, start with your chair, tent, and stove. Don’t forget the bear can. About 3lbs in the wrong direction unless you go with a soft sack deterent. The lighter your gear the more expensive. Cost per ounce saved can be astounding.

Then just take care of your knees and you’re all set.