Does anyone have a recommendation for a comfortable carrying yoke, or add on pads? I have a strip canoe that has a yoke, but it is not very comfortable for a long carry. Any suggestions that you have would be appreciated. Thanks!

I really like the pads on my yoke. "delux portage pads" from piragis are about the same thing. Just affix the hardware to your wood (I assume) yoke and attach.

Hex

Here is what I use. I have these for both my Souris River Quetico 17 tandem (clamp on style) and my Wenonah Prism Solo (pedestal seat)

http://www.gear4portaging.com/pages/180334/index.htm

I have the one that looks like a padded toilet seat. It's very comfortable, but sometimes a little restrictive. I plan to get a set like bogwalker's for my other canoe and see which one I prefer.

Check out Spring Creek's portage seat/ yoke on canoegear.com
Very comforable, but versitle as a third seat if need be!

The portage yoke pads that I have were sold to me by Joe at Red Rock when I bought my Souris River Canoe, I have not checked the web site Bog listed to see what they look like, but the pair that I have mount to your yoke, they are black about 3 x 5 pads about 2.5 inches thick, very comfortable when hauling the Quetico 18.5 around.

Bruce

To make a yoke more comfortable, you have to add pads or shape it to fit your shoulders better. Unfortunately, no matter how much it may improve a stock yoke, the weight is still being carried on your shoulders so your spinal column is being compressed. If your arm or arms are raised to stabalize the boat, then the weight is being carried on an engaged, taut muscle... ouch. For balance, most people lean forward, which also strains the lower back. And, your head is still inside the boat, restricting visibility and more vulnerable to the skeeters (they first target on CO2, which you're exhaling vigorously into the hull). An alternative,which eliminates all of the problems above is the Knu-Pac (http://www.knupac.com). Check it out.

Hey,
I'm a big fan of the Knupack. If you have or can get an old camptrails or Kelty pack frame,you can retrofit with the u shaped brackets from knupack for about $45. With this system you can carry alot of the weight on your hips. If you hook up the lines from stern to bow you can also control the attitude of the canoe with your hand at your side. This frees up the other hand to kill insects etc. I find that my arms get tired on long portages from holding on the gunnels to contro the boats attitude. This is also eliminated. Only downside is you need your pack frame for all the portages. Toodles,Frogge.

Hey Guys, I'm thinking about purchasing a retro-fit kit for my frame pack. I am a bit skeptical though. What about the wind blowing you around, and it must be hard to get up or down?? What about low hanging branches and drying to crash through those thickets? I think the when the going gets rough the Knu-Pac could start to have problems.

Still this would be great for portaging a kyak, and for the $45 it could be worth a try with the canoe. How much lighter does it make the canoe feel?

I just made a set of yoke pads useing this picture as a plan. I love them. They turned out great and I only spent about $15 on materials and had enough for a second pair.

http://www.rutabaga.com/product.asp?pid=1000139

Here is the link, I couldn't get the picture to work.

Brian -- what type of padding / foam did you use? After researching all the options, I made a pair as well using a plan that is in Cliff Jacobson's book, "Expedition Canoeing". I used them on a trip in June and they worked out well. I spent about the same as you did for the pads; we used some vinyl fabric that we found on clearance at Wal-Mart, some old pillow stuffing and lots of polyurethane.

Dan - I just used some 4" foam that I had lying around topped with some pillow stuffing and all wrapped up with some cheap vinyl. I kept it simple and cheap.