I am wondering how you guys split up your packs on your trips. Last year on my first trip with 4 people we had 1 heavy food pack, everyone had a gear pack, and each canoe had a day pack. We only had one short portage to reach our basecamp but this year we are heading up to LLC and will have much more portaging. How many packs and what is in them? (we would like to single portage)

How much gear do you bring? Four gear packs seems like a lot to me for 4 guys, unless you mean each gear pack is someone's personal pack. We figure three packs per canoe: 2 personal packs and either a gear pack or a food pack. We normally travel with a group of eight guys for five days and have two gear packs, one with tents, tarps, rope etc and the other has the kitchen gear in it, including a 16" cast iron skillet. And then two food packs. I try to keep all the frozen stuff in one pack and the non-perishables in the other. We could probably get by with one food pack, but it would weigh a ton. The guy who portages the canoe takes the lightest pack and the other guy double packs. We've done EP-16 (Moose River North) to Boulder Bay on LLC several times and can make that trip in about 4.5 hours if we single portage and bust to move. Average pack weight is probably 45-50 lbs, though my personal pack is pack is closer to 35 lbs.

Our strategy is for single portaging, two people:
We each have a day pack for stuff in the canoe: rain gear, camera, binocs, gorp, lunch, sunscreen, maps.
One pack for stuff that goes into the tent: clothes, sleeping bag, pad, books, misc. such as art supplies. Good thing about this is that in the rain this bag is not opened until the tent is up.
One pack for tent, cooking gear, water filter, saw, tarp, food, other misc gear.

With large packs (we use knupacks) we can do it with one pack per person, day packs carried by hand, no big packs on fronts of people, paddles and PFDs are strapped to the canoe seats.

On a trip for 9 this year where we were leading our nephews we extended this except that there were enough gear packs that we separated food and other gear and one person had their clothes in with tents but their clothes were in a dry bag so they wouldn't get wet anyway.

I can understand that with a bunch of individuals it may be easy for each person to have an individual clothes and stuff pack but that does seem to up the number of packs.

On our usual trips with other couples how they split up their gear is up to them. Never even thought to ask.

My philosophy is simple. If you can't carry it in YOUR own pack don't bring it. I make it a rule not to carry other peoples extra stuff. Extra stuff is defined as the other guys stuff you he thinks he might need. I run the risk of sounding self centered and scroogis. Quite the opposite really, I escort first timers into the BW and they often fail to realize how physical portages can be, thus failing physically somewhere around day two. If I am maxed out what am I going to do to help them when they need it two days in? I know I sound like a scrooge, but I've seen to many nice guys get stuck doing all the work. Bring bungees to strap cushns and poles to canoe. Put pack on, sling tackle carrier over shoulder have your partner help get the canoe on your shoulders and go. Then vise versa the next portage. Don't be afraid to double port, it sure takes more time, but you won't have fun if you are too sore and wore out to enjoy the wilderness. Keep in mind, I travel extreme light. My pack never weighs 25-35 pounds on the first day, gets lighter everyday after. Eat yoru heavier bulkier food first if you choose to pack that way. Tarp, Tent, Bag, foil, stove, extra set of clothes, first aid, string, that's about it. leave the cast iron skillet and all that heavy food at home, you will live, the lakes will provide most of what you need.

We always go as a group of 4, and single portage. We have a total of 4 large packs, and 2 small packs. The large packs are divided as follows: 2 personal packs (the guys that share a tent, share a canoe, and share a pack), 1 food pack, and 1 gear pack. The small packs are fishing gear, rain gear, and misc stuff that we keep easily accessible. The two guys that carry the canoes get the two lightest large packs. The other two guys each carry a large pack on their back, and a small pack on the front. All paddles and PFD's are stowed in the canoes. Not sure how everyone else does it, but it works for us.

We take 1 pack per 2 guys. We also take aluminum canoes, so the guy with the boat doesn't carry a pack. 1 pack holds 2 guys personal gear/clothes. their tent, and 1/3 (for a 6 man group) of the food and crew gear. Each pack usually weighs about 70-80 lbs, as do the boats. We use the Granite Gear Superior One packs, 7400 ci, and they're perfect size.
We also all carry Camelback's, or knock-off equivalents, which hold the map/compass. I've found that when hitting the portage, this makes things very easy. I jump out of the front at waist deep, clip my Camelback to my portage sack with a carabineer, and then shoulder the pack and pull the boat in far enough my buddy can hop out at waist deep (well, sometimes I lie and tell him he's at waist depth and watch him get dunked, but that's another story) and he then shoulders the canoe, with our paddles wedged in between the cross-supports and the front seat and our PFD's nicely strapped around a seat or cross-piece. He then goes across the portage first, walks in, and with me right behind him, walks till I tell him he's clear of rocks, and drops the boat. He then holds it while I drop the portage pack right into the boat, and then we're off. Nothing ever touches shore, and has to be picked up twice or more, and we never double portage.

4 guys. 2-2man teams

4 packs with all food/tents/supplies
2 small packs with food

single portage.

Everyman take their large pack. The teams split up the canoe(1 man) and the small food pack/paddles(other man).

Our group dominated portages last year.

WWL

If I was basecamping I would take luxuries like fresh food, chairs, depth finder, etc. and not worry about single portaging. Get a real early start and double portage. 3 large packs per (2 man) canoe and a daypack. The person with the canoe carries the daypack.