nctry_Ben wrote on Jun 25^th, 2013 at 10:46pm:

I'm wondering how you liked the packboat. What a great time you must have had.

Clearly, a Pakcanoe is not in the same class as my Prism.  The Pakcanoe is not quite as good in straight line speed and is a bit heavier, but it was completely ample for the type of trip I had planned.  It was loaded aboard the float plane as another piece of gear and took me (solo) about an hour to assemble in the field in less than a perfect spot at the arrival location (space was a bit cramped and under a tree where I couldn't fully stand up).  But even in ideal conditions, my assembly time would normally run about 45 minutes.  The take down time was near normal ... 20 minutes, but for a float plane you need to have a soft landing spot so the floats don't get damaged.  So, it was necessary to shuttle all our gear (and me) out to the float plane on departure ... not a big deal, but a consideration (esp. if you did a solo trip).

I can't say that I gave my canoe much of a portage work out ... I only did 3 (day trip) portages.  However, you'd need to take some care with it if you were bushwhacking (which I did).  I wound up with a quarter size hole in the much thinner side material ... no doubt a sharp stick found a soft spot.  (I even heard it pop when it went thru, as I dragged the canoe over some deadfall.)  It was above the water line so I didn't take on any water and putting a patch on the hole was easy and simple.  (The directions indicate that it takes 24 hours for the adhesive to fully cure ... I waited overnight before hopping back in the canoe and proceeding as normal.) 

One thing continues to impress me about getting the canoe overhead ... at 45 pounds, I think it goes overhead MUCH easier than the longer/lighter Prism.  I suppose this is due to the tubing frame ... you have hand holds all over the place, so getting a grip at the right spot is no problem.

Of course transport of the pakcanoe to/from canoe country was as simple as it gets.  I just loaded it into my camper on the back of my pickup and off I went.

One feature I REALLY liked about the fact that the hull flexes a bit.  When I would pull up to a sloping rock to climb out of the canoe (e.g., campsite, portage, lunch stop, etc.) I had minimal worries about the canoe sliding down the rock on exit.  Once I put foot pressure on the hull with the rock underneath, I pretty well always stuck there.  With a hard shell, there is a tendency for it to slide down the rock slope.

dd