How do you sit in your canoe with all that stuff on your belt? or have you?

Yo DB
What's happening big Daddy? Glad you like the name or rather think it's fitting. The personally amusing double meaning was intended in a piscatorial way but I suppose a person can read into it what they want. I am plain spoken and transparent and would not seek to "entangle" anyone in a deceptive manner. I detest guile. Of course it's a different ball game if your a fish!

Yea, I like my stuff. Man on a mission sort of thing. I think if I got to go more often that would very likely change. I'm a planner and try to be detail oriented. For me that inevitably leads to tools to accomplish the task.  But everyones reasons for going and manner in which they progress on canoe trips (and for that matter life in general) is as different as winter and summer. Each season has its attractiveness though doesn't it?

But back to the belt........Might as well not have the bear spray if it's not there when I need it. Camera..........tuck it away and it will likely not get used. Water bottle............on the walk back it sure is nice to water up! Bingo, I reach down and there it is. Nice!  

Old Salt wrote on Dec 10^th, 2010 at 5:15am:


Everything rides on the sides. Bear spray and camera do well. Water bottle is removed and set aside.I had some concerns about the recently acquired knife however. If it's not comfy it is a no go. At first I didn't like it but the sheathe has two mounting options. One to hang high or low. I changed the configuration and I'm pleased as punch.

I'm closer to db. I'm not big on gadgets. Only thing on my belt is my Gerber multitool fishing pliers. I use a Sitbacker canoe seat, and if I had a lot of stuff on my belt, I wouldn't fit in the seat.

Bear spray? Never carried it anywhere but Alaska, and never missed it. Water bottle tucked in elastic pocket on my daypack, which is within easy reach. Bug spray in another pocket on daypack. Camera is in same pocket with bug spray and sunscreen. Different ways of organizing, different strokes...

I would also guess that wearing a lot of stuff on belt might interfere with carrying some packs...

My "carry" belt is actually just the belt of my fanny pack.  Its nylon, its 2 inches wide, it holds my water bottle, it holds my bear spray canister, the pack itself holds compass, bug spray, sun screen, whistle, signal mirror, fire steel, lighter, surgical tape, small Gerber knife, eye glass cleaner and one or two other small items.

But, when I'm in the canoe, the pack is clipped around a thwart, in each enough reach that I have ready access to it.  I wear it on one trip across a portage (but rotated to the back with the pack part in front, so it doesn't interfere with whatever pack I'm carrying.  

My camera (since I now carry a waterproof model) is attached to the thwart in front of me with a caribiner when in the canoe.  Its transferred to a clip point on my day pack when portaging.

All that said, my pants and held up by a (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) very much like this one.  Its a 1 1/2 inch, nylon belt.  Another model has a buckle very much like the jump belt previously mentioned, but I preferred the smaller buckle.  I've always traveled in the backcountry with a "web-styled" belt with a "slider-style" buckle.  As far as I'm concerned, its just another "tool."  If I need a strong lashing, I can use my belt.  If I need a tourniquet, I can use my belt.  If I need a sling for a broken arm, I have my belt.  (I typically but them just a little long for this reason.)  But ... I don't hang anything on it ... if I DO fall out of my canoe, I want to come out cleanly and not get hung up.  Even if the belt does get hung up, I can release the buckle with one hand.

But ... different strokes for different folks.

In my case, since I generally paddle solo and my fanny pack is clipped to the canoe while paddling, there is no guarantee that I "walk away" with it in a ditching ... consequently, the discussion about an "on my person" ditch kit.  That was the principle reason I decided to go with a Ka-Bar neck knife (a single-piece slab of cro-vat steel, lightened with cut-outs in the handling) rather than an "on-my-waist" model.

dd