I just recently purchased a Wenonah Adirondak, will be heading into the Quetico in May. I'm looking at this yoke pad. Thoughts? I'm a skinny guy with boney shoulders! cannot do some of the difficult Q portages without the help of some padding.... Last year's portage from Kasakokwog-to-Cirrus without padding about killed me.   Harmony users, are you pleased? Thanks in advance.

Piragis has a good selection of yoke pads and one is a premium "collar" type that you bolt on.

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  They also have a couple of different style of clamp-on pads.
I have these and really like them.

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I like that you can adjust them for width and angle to suit your shoulder width and how they ride on your pack straps IF you portage with a pack. I like the most options I can get, but that's just me.

These come in bolt-on or clamp-on and might be good too, but with that curve, I don't think you could flare them like the previous item I referenced?

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It really has a lot to do with your body type and individual preference. I suppose you could order both types and send one back. OR if you live close check them out in person.

Quote:


One of the things that some people complain about is that if you’re sweating and your shirt is soaked, those vinyl pads can cause the canoe to slip/slide on your shoulders, especially if you’re NOT wearing a pack.

I did a little McGyvering and tweaked my pads so that won't happen. I used some waterproof rubber cement and those sticky rubber shelf lining pads. The pads don't slide around, and the open mesh promotes air circulation.

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This is what I was looking at doing, with possibly another 1" of foam added to it....

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That is great, azalea: a solution that is the most comfortable and the most practical... I love it.

i use the bolt in curved ones like ST's 3rd link. i love them. i use an aluminum canoe with all sorts of stuff (rods/tackle trays/paddles/fire grate) velcroed up into it. fully loaded it probably is something around 75-80lbs, maybe more. i have no issue taking the canoe and my pack and single portaging everything.

i made a couple yokes using 1.5" conduit pipe and closed cell foam. i couldnt bend it how i wanted so i ended up cutting the pipe for the curves and JB weld and duct tape to keep the joints strong. both yokes failed after 3 trips and having to rig a yoke out of rope is no fun. im sure a trip to a car exhaust shop using exhaust pipe and their bender would have made a yoke that lasted longer...

Gavia wrote on Apr 24^th, 2015 at 11:59pm:


Same for me. I have these Bourquins and they're fantastic:

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I also prefer the adjustable model, which are easy to adjust to whomever is going to be carrying the canoe. That's especially important if you're a skinny guy, but someday may have a friend along that's not as thin.

quote]Can you think of knot or a system that might work for that? [/quote]

I would do the same thing it appears Cliff did from what I could make out in those grainy pics?

You have 4 anchor points for that 2 bungee cord set-up. Let's say you use the same dimensions he does. The back bungee is going to be just behind your existing yoke and the front will be determined by the size of the canvas you decide on. At each anchor point you make a center mark half the width of your gunnel, similar to how the yoke is attached. From that center mark, you go 1” each way and mark that with so you can easily see it.

I’d use 550 Para cord or maybe some of that non-stretch yellow cord that we mentioned for food pack hanging. Drill 2 holes the size of cord and use some rolled emery cloth you get from auto parts store to make sure the holes don’t have any sharp edges. Take a piece of cord, maybe 12”, you can trim later and make a loop with a double overhand knot in one end. You want to have a visible knot big enough to put the tag end of line thru later. You feed the tag end from underneath the gunnel and then feedback down thru the other hole. When you get done you’ll have a V shaped anchor. Take the tag end and feed thru that loop on the standing end.

Do the same on the same side for the front bungee. Then do the opposite sides. When you’re done you’ll have 4 V shaped bungee anchors.
You’ll have to experiment with the length of the 2 bungees cords? You want those heavy black rubber ones like the truckers use. I’d measure the width and allow for the bungees to be under constant tension.

The two V shaped anchors with the loops is where you adjust the tension on the bungee.

You can make some simple overhand knots or whatever you can adjust easily on the fly.I don't know about using gadgets, I think simple knots would work and you have nothing to lose, but if you them, then by all means try them out.

This is going to take some trial and error with the bungees, because if they’re too long, you won’t have enough tension, too short not enough.
I’d adjust the tension so when the canoe is on your shoulders WITHOUT a pack, the yoke pads are barely touching your shoulders. That will seem heavy on your neck because you haven’t built up your neck muscles yet.

Then put your empty pack on and see how it feels on your neck with that added padding?
Still too much pressure, back off the tension.
He says he has about 60% of the canoes weight on his neck. I think that’s way too much to start with.

Depending on your canoes empty weight, plus whatever you have added in gear weight, that could be easily be 25-30 lbs which if you’re not used to it would be way too much even with the tension reduced as allowed by the length of bungee you need.

Rather than having too much weight for a short time and then having to unhook the tumpline, I think you’d be better off say putting 10# on your neck/head and being able to do the whole portage in relative comfort.  As you get stronger, you work up to more and more. You mind find you have to get 2 shorter bungees down the road?

There are plenty of seasoned paddlers that carry the WHOLE weight of canoe with a tumpline so it can be done and even greater loads than a canoe are routinely carried this way around the world.
Not for everyone, especially people that are not born into it or used to that kind of physical effort.

That’s why I think his idea is so interesting. You have the ability to adjust and if you drop the canoe, it wont’ strangle you.  I think getting even 10-20 lbs off your shoulders on a long portage would be worth the learning curve?

I just finished rigging a tumpline for my heavy food pack out of 2” seatbelt material and a spare slip-on shoulder strap pad I have for luggage. I made it so I can pull/loosen the tension as I portage.

Will do a report on how it works when I get back from trip in May. I rigged it too go around side grab loops of food pack and then UNDER my shoulder straps where they attach to pack. I tried it out with a full load and it seems workable?

This should get you going. I’m sure others will chime in as well. I think if you get the materials together with your canoe, you’ll get some of your own ideas as well.

If you’re a little leery of drilling holes for a system you might not like, you could get 4 small C-Clamps and clamp them on the 4 center lines, make some cord loops and jury rig the set-up to see if you think it’s for you before committing to drilling the holes?

ST

I once had a Mad River Explorer that weighed - I kid you not - 88 lbs.  It had a bungee tump in it like the one Cliff describes.  I saw no need to have a cleated adjuster for it, and neither should you.  You just try it, adjust it, try it again, etc., until it suits you.  This should work unless your head and/or neck are likely to change size.

I liked it insofar as it helped relieve the pressure on my shoulders.  But I really didn't care for it.  If I missed it when hoisting the boat, it was very hard to position properly because the boat was so heavy it was hard to move.  My view is that no one should be carrying a boat so heavy it needs a tump.

I'm definitely giving it a try.  I have made a cordura head piece and i'm going to rig it up maybe this weekend and see how it feels.  My canoe is fairly light at 43 lb but I have to say that I'd rather carry an 85 lb pack than that canoe simply because of the weight distribution.  Getting a bit of weight off my shoulders and on to my back seems like a plan to me.  I guess I'll find out.  As for using adjustable cleats: given a choice between adjustable and non-adjustable why wouldn't I choose adjustable - there's no extra work involved.