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Tumplines

I don't use them for heavy work,but do use one when carrying my solo without a yoke. Mostly it keeps the front of the seat from sliding off my shoulders.I wouldn't dare use one in it's traditional way. I think one needs conditioning to do that.
Turtle
 
I have them on some of my Duluth Packs but I seldom use them. I leave the tump on my #3 pack, and have used it time to time, but I worry about putting so much stress on my neck when I'm not used to it. Sometimes when walking up a hill I will use the tump as I lean forward, it seems to give me some stability, but that might just be in my head..haha
 
I 've got em on all my packs and barrel harnesses and like using them intermittently .. most often going uphill. For a couple of weeks at a time I schlepped a Woods pack with a tump with portage clearing tools and the tump was a godsend. Those packs did not have belts and would send me flying into the bush without using the tump.

I don't think my neck is ready for full time tump use. Yes they can be hazardous. They can slip around your throat if you have an even itty bitty pointy on top of your head (where the tump goes) and some folks are prone to vertebra fractures (compression ) from long time use.
 
I've used one only as an aid to carrying an 88-lb Mad River Explorer (1976 model). It was a piece of canvas stretched in front of the yoke on bungee cords. It helped. I'm concerned that using a tump with a pack would be bad if one had arthritis, which I think I have.
 
I use them to carry wannigans. I want to start using a tump to carry my canoe. I am intrigued by the Temagami carry bar and paddle method. I never have any neck pain. Using a tump takes some practice to get it adjusted correctly so it fits you but one you have that all sorted out it works fine.
 
A couple examples.

Tom MacKenzie, wooden and birchbark boat builder who always used tumps was having neck pain a couple decades ago. His Orthopod claimsd he had a45 year old body and a 90 year old neck and he should stop using the tump completely.

Cindy Williams, a Canadian tripper and Canadian Style paddler of some note, always tumped her wanagan and packs. With a bulged disc between C7 and T1; there will be no more tumping for her either.

My high school, near the middle of the last century, had a Winter Conditioning program that included neck bridges. There was also a weight machine for strengthening one's neck for football. Those not doing at least neck bridges maybe shouldn't be using a tumpline?
 
Noted and appreciated. The only way I use the tump strap on my traditional portage pack is as a shoulder strap for very short distance use, since it doesn't have a grab handle.

I'm guessing it is for the same purpose (as a shoulder strap) that Frost River has centered the tump strap mountings in their modification of their Nessmuk daypack which has become their Cliff Jacobson model.
 
A couple examples.

Tom MacKenzie, wooden and birchbark boat builder who always used tumps was having neck pain a couple decades ago. His Orthopod claimsd he had a45 year old body and a 90 year old neck and he should stop using the tump completely.

Cindy Williams, a Canadian tripper and Canadian Style paddler of some note, always tumped her wanagan and packs. With a bulged disc between C7 and T1; there will be no more tumping for her either.

My high school, near the middle of the last century, had a Winter Conditioning program that included neck bridges. There was also a weight machine for strengthening one's neck for football. Those not doing at least neck bridges maybe shouldn't be using a tumpline?


For those historically minded, voyageurs had to tump. But what was the life expectancy of them and how long did they do that before moving up in the hierarchy? It kills me to see youngish kids saddled with huge wooden wanigans and tumplines. One collapsed at our Temagami campsite, where we were taking a "rest" day. I was studying for ACLS and paramedic school finals and was into the books. Instead I got a practical exam question.

Take care now, think about the future, and be prepared.
 
My high school, near the middle of the last century, had a Winter Conditioning program that included neck bridges. There was also a weight machine for strengthening one's neck for football. Those not doing at least neck bridges maybe shouldn't be using a tumpline?

Neck bridges may build muscle, but they may also harm the discs and connective structures. In any case, I suspect it's the compressive force of a tumpline that does the most damage, aside from injuries caused by misalignment.
 
Interesting. I've never experienced even a hint of neck pain associated with using a tump. If you are implying that using a tump caused the neck troubles of these people I'm skeptical. I suppose its good advice if your neck is a painful wreck to avoid heavy tumping - if it is causing you pain.

On the other hand, I have experienced low back and shoulder pain associated with carrying a heavy pack with shoulder straps. My right shoulder has been opened up twice. Not saying it has to do with carrying a pack. But, I do think its best for me to avoid heavy packs and shoulder straps. http://www.backpacker.com/june-2010-beat-pack-strain/skills/14251.

I'll probably survive either way.
 
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It's enough for me. Though I can probably do fine tumping short distances. T Mac guided for years in the BWCA and it probably WAS a repetitive stress injury on someone susceptible.

Its best to listen to your own body. Not someone elses.
 
rpg51, you can alleviate some of that shoulder pain by carrying a small pack in front of you. It helps counterbalance the one on your back and you can stand up straighter. The down side is that it adds to the total weight on your back, since you can't very well use a hip belt with a front pack.
 
True - but the best way to relieve the shoulder pain is to use a tump.
 
About Yellow Canoe's idea of listening to your own body: I do and it frequently tells me to take a nap.

Now about load carrying methods; All we need to do is devise some method of affixing a long handle to each end of our ugly blue barrels that would allow the barrel to roll along. The thing could be pushed or pulled along the trail something like a wheelbarrow. Cross bracing to attach the two handles together. A secondary advantage of the cross bracing would be if we fell into one of Memaquay's bogs, we'd have a ready made ladder to climb up and out!
The long handle could also be used in camp for tent poles or supports for the fly.
I'll work out the bugs in the idea just as soon as I get up from my nap.

Best Wishes, Rob
 
I use an old fashioned frame pack with hip belt to take most the weight. I carry my canoe on brackets on it. My hip area gets sore,but no big problems. A tump may be fine some,I just don't want to take a chance.
Turtle
 
It is a controversial topic. Strong opinions both ways. I perceive zero risk as long as you pay attention to what your body is telling you, like any other physical activity. I do think that it is important to take the time to learn to use a tump properly. In response to Gavia, no, there is no need for a hip belt when using a tump correctly and indeed it could cause troubles by fixing the load to your body so that you cannot eject the load in a fall situation. Probably won't persuade the anti tump crowd, but tumplines have been used by humans for ions. Maybe they were hobbled by neck injuries as a result. Who knows? As Donald Rumsfeld would say - its an unknown unknowable. But, I'm the sort that will paddle a wood canvas canoe in white water, carry wannigans, etc., so I guess its only natural that I would land on the side of using a tump.

So, my hope is that I will be able to find someone with experience to spell out, in detail, the best way to tie in a Temagami style carrying bar to the center thwart and lash paddles and a tump to the carry bar. I see there is quite bit of info, some quite useful, on the web and I may just do my best with the info available now. But, if there is anyone here who did some tripping with one of the Temagami camps, (Camp Temagami, Wabun, Keewaydin, etc.) please chime in!
 
Yes. One of a few. Very helpful. He uses the shoulder pad system which is not what I am looking to do - but the info on his blog does show one way to do the paddle system - it will help - but not a lot of detail.
 
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