Any of you solo guys have recommendations for a good portage yoke?

puckster

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Thanks.  I'm looking forward to getting up in the QP with my Northwind Solo. 

puckster

The high yoke allows for more clearance between the top of your pack (or head) and the seat (can carry a taller pack)as well as making it easier to see what's coming on the trail.

I have one of the seat mounted yokes that Solus linked to - the one for the fixed bench seat - bought it in 2005 for my RX Rendezvous - think it was @ $120 then, including shipping (bought from Wenonah) - $169 now - yikes!

I don't really like it - just does not seem comfortable to me - seems like the width of my shoulders is too narrow to allow enough room for my head to fit easily between the pads or something? (I do have a very large head, to accomodate the massive size of my brain, sigh!) -
so if considering one of those, I'd say try to test it on your boat first.  I use it half a dozen times a year or so, when launching or taking out the boat.  Have used it on the one trip on Missiniabi R - didn't like it any better then - I'd say it was adequate though.  Might be better with a lighter boat than the 65# of so of the rigged 'vouz.

Of course, I do very much prefer using my pack frame rig, like by a factor of 20 to one or more.  advantages are super easy carrying and balance on tough trails, and I can carry hands down, using one hand to balance the boat and using a paddle in the other hand as a walking stick for balance on logs or steep terrain; disadvantage is that it can be trickier to get the boat on the frame - best to just prop the bow up on a horizontal branch or in the croth of a tree, or between two close trees, then just duck under - if you will have someone else with you, then it is simple as pie to have that other person hold the bow of your boat up high while you duck under - cost is ? say $15 for a pack frame from a thrift store, and maybe $5 for a couple of brackets to attach to the top of the frame - you do need a frame without a crosspiece at the top - i.e like an "H" so you can attach the brackets to the top ends, and you need to measure the gap distance you will have on your seat so that you don't buy a frame wider than that gap.  Now, you know I do a lot of portages on my trips, and I would never consider changing to a "traditional" carry yoke for any of my boats - I enjoy the portages because carrying the boat is so easy.

"MM, I assume you've got some gear in your frame pack as well, otherwise seems bulky for just a portage yoke IMO. And does your pack frame's top brackets nest into the gunnels?"

Jim,
in a solo boat, you have to deal with a removeable portage yoke, no matter what kind.  I don't find the packframe to be any problem - it goes back into the boat last, just laying flat atop a pack, and the yoke/hooks a the top fit under a thwart - I do always tie it with a short tether - not sure how long it would float if at all -I'd guess most wooden yokes would float, even with all the hardware - though that might be worth testing if you have one.

I don't keep a pack bag on the frame (though we used to years ago, but only carried very light stuff in it) - I have used the frame to carry my gear as well as the boat (seperate trips), but usually only for very long portages - I normally just put my one pack on, then "toss" my duffle atop that.  I added a "shelf" to the bottom of the frame - really just a cloth piece that wraps around the bottom of a pack to help support the weight and keep it from slipping down - the pack usually, I just loop the shoulder straps over the tops of the frame - a quick tie with an attached piece of cord and its ready to carry the gear in about a minute or two - for the times I carry gear.  I use the same method when backpack hunting with one of my freighter frame packs - just put a big dufle on the shelf, a quick tie, and off I go - quick and easy.

Oh, and no, the top brackets don't attach at the gunnels - the fromt cross piece of the seat sits in those brackets - never slips around - I have some shrink tubing on the bracket and around the seat frame at the two points the brackets go, I put a piece of pipe insulation, wrapped tight with electrical tape - so a customized fit.  The fram is not attached to the boat in any way, the boat just sits on the frame in the brackets -  the "hook" that I formed is 2" deep, which is plenty to hold the seat frame - other rigs I have for other boats are customized as well - for tandems, to fit the carry thwart for example.

I'd say at least on a dozen occasions over the years, passing people on trials, I've gotten comments about how easy I was making the portage look, how comfortable I looked carrying the canoe (even with the 70# Grumman).  A solo boat does balance well at that front seat frame, for 2 of my boats - that's a part of the problem with the seat mounted yoke on the Rendezvous - I moved the seat back about 8", which messes up the balance making the boat bow heavy - I should try carying the boat stern first, which might improve the balance.

I've used several different kinds of solo portage yokes.  The one I like best is the one I made last year.

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If it interests you, note the position of the screws in the very last picture.  They bent from the torque applied to the pads.  When I put them into the other holes they were more secure because the force on them was vertical rather than angled.

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I bought a "Knupac" many years ago.  The company is now out of business, but it was a frame and bag with u-shaped cradles at the top for portaging a canoe.  I loved the bag that it had, one big compartment that opens from the side so it is a big opening and which is waterproof. Great for transporting all those "soft" things you want to keep dry.

I never got comfortable managing a canoe on the system.  It certainly alleviated the pain of portage pads digging into my shoulders. But I find the canoe riding so high a bit awkward. If I had used it more, who knows.

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