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Securing gear in a fiberglass canoe

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Date/Time: 04/29/2024 10:40AM

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Securing gear in a fiberglass canoe

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Previous Messages:
Author	Message Text
heavylunch	06/26/2019 08:37AM I have seen people flip a canoe accidentally and it is surprising how well their packs floated. They didn't just float a little bit, they were like 80% above the water.
Wables	06/23/2019 08:11PM I riveted nylon pad eyes under my gunwales in numerous spots. Not beefy enough for packs, but great for rods and paddles. Most of mine have BDBs in them.
4keys	06/23/2019 07:56PM yellowcanoe: "4keys: "I'm wondering if anyone who does tie gear in has ever swamped-as in flipped the canoe upside down- and what did you do after? Could you get the canoe upright with packs still tied in, did you cut them out, did the canoe stay floating and you just hung on till you got to shore??? We always hear about people who swamp, their packs fall out, and float for a few hours, but never hear from those who tie gear in. My husband is also old school and ties everything on big water, and won't listen to my arguments not to tie. " Yes.. It was impossible to get back over and do a boat over boat. I have dumped with loose packs and was able to retrieve them all and empty the boat mid lake and reenter.. The only time I will tie now if something is loose and heavy and will sink. Everything is in dry bags so the sinkables are limited.. On Superior it was the loose camp chair that sunk. Rivers are a different monkey.. Loose stuff is just about impossible to get back so tieing in snugly is essential.. But in the BWCA where you are doing many portages a day..just try tying in and see how frustrating it is." Maybe your experience will help convince my husband not to tie in. We are usually out there by ourselves so there would be even less chance of us righting a loaded flipped canoe.
Banksiana	06/23/2019 12:14AM I use gravity to hold stuff in the canoe. Hasn't failed me yet.
x2jmorris	06/22/2019 09:50AM Never tie anything in
yellowcanoe	06/22/2019 07:37AM 4keys: "I'm wondering if anyone who does tie gear in has ever swamped-as in flipped the canoe upside down- and what did you do after? Could you get the canoe upright with packs still tied in, did you cut them out, did the canoe stay floating and you just hung on till you got to shore??? We always hear about people who swamp, their packs fall out, and float for a few hours, but never hear from those who tie gear in. My husband is also old school and ties everything on big water, and won't listen to my arguments not to tie. " Yes.. It was impossible to get back over and do a boat over boat. I have dumped with loose packs and was able to retrieve them all and empty the boat mid lake and reenter.. The only time I will tie now if something is loose and heavy and will sink. Everything is in dry bags so the sinkables are limited.. On Superior it was the loose camp chair that sunk. Rivers are a different monkey.. Loose stuff is just about impossible to get back so tieing in snugly is essential.. But in the BWCA where you are doing many portages a day..just try tying in and see how frustrating it is.
nctry	06/22/2019 05:43AM Mitchum: "If I do decide to lash gear, should I: add thwarts? Add some sort of d-ring patch to inside of hull? If so, what’s the preferred method for doing this on a composite boat? Rivet a tie down or pad eye to the underside of the aluminum gunwale?" Again... welcome! I had a guy setting up a canoe for me replace some rivets in the gunnels with stainless ones and in doing found some clips or whatever with them on the inside I could put in bungee dealee Scott’s (haha). Scott makes those things. I could untie the one end slip it through and retie so it was well attached and it was a great way to carry fishing rods and some other loose stuff.
bobbernumber3	06/21/2019 08:28PM 4keys: "I'm wondering if anyone who does tie gear in has ever swamped-as in flipped the canoe upside down- and what did you do after? Could you get the canoe upright with packs still tied in, did you cut them out, did the canoe stay floating and you just hung on till you got to shore??? We always hear about people who swamp, their packs fall out, and float for a few hours, but never hear from those who tie gear in. My husband is also old school and ties everything on big water, and won't listen to my arguments not to tie. " Loose gear floating down Saganagons helped a bush pilot spot us in the water. Hanging on to floating packs helped our buoyancy. My reasons to not tie... and why waste the time?
bobbernumber3	06/21/2019 08:22PM Mitchum: "If I do decide to lash gear, should I: add thwarts? Add some sort of d-ring patch to inside of hull? If so, what’s the preferred method for doing this on a composite boat? Rivet a tie down or pad eye to the underside of the aluminum gunwale?" Don't bother lashing. But do add a thwart to your canoe. A friend has a snakey Kevlar with only a yoke. We call it the "devil canoe" for the number of times it has tipped. The canoe without a thwart twists oddly in rough water and waves and makes it very difficult to maintain balance.
Mitchum	06/21/2019 07:46PM If I do decide to lash gear, should I: add thwarts? Add some sort of d-ring patch to inside of hull? If so, what’s the preferred method for doing this on a composite boat? Rivet a tie down or pad eye to the underside of the aluminum gunwale?
4keys	06/21/2019 05:40PM I'm wondering if anyone who does tie gear in has ever swamped-as in flipped the canoe upside down- and what did you do after? Could you get the canoe upright with packs still tied in, did you cut them out, did the canoe stay floating and you just hung on till you got to shore??? We always hear about people who swamp, their packs fall out, and float for a few hours, but never hear from those who tie gear in. My husband is also old school and ties everything on big water, and won't listen to my arguments not to tie.
jwartman59	06/21/2019 12:38PM bobbernumber3: "jwartman59: "I tie my gear in anytime I’m on big water. D rings work well. I agree, most bwca lakes don’t require this precaution. A few do. " You confused me here... so why do you tie?" i'm old school, i still do stuff the way my dad and old boy scout troop master taught me. i paddle in the bwca as if i was on an arctic trip. even though it is highly unlikely i'll ever do another expedition type trip i like to practice those skills. i have a lot of experience swamping in whitewater, most always from water coming into the boat from waves. very rarely from striking a rock and flipping. either way having the gear lashed in benefits the canoe by displacing water. the canoe is much easier to handle without all of the water splashing back and forth. same thing on a bwca lake. if for some reason you swamp a canoe with packs lashed in is going to be much easier to handle than a boat full of water, with the packs secured and watertight it is even possible to paddle a swamped canoe. forget the stuff about righting a swamped canoe is deep water and reentering the canoe. that's something for russian gymnasts. lashing in gear should only take a minute or two, again i don't typically do this, but if i feel the need to kneel then it's time to lash the gear.
AmarilloJim	06/21/2019 09:25AM I think the only item I might strap in is my spare paddle.
Hank	06/21/2019 08:58AM Hi Mitchum, I bought my Mohawk Blazer 16' fiberglass canoe in the mid-1990s and it is the only tandem canoe I own. It has been on many trips in the BWCA. I've take my wife and two kids in it (when the kids were small). It is a fantastic canoe for tripping. It is, of course, heavier than Kevlar. It is slower than a boat made for strictly lake tripping. It is fairly wide and has rocker. It is still a fine canoe for both rivers and lakes. I don't tie my gear. Sometimes I will use a Bungie Dealee Bob or two to fasten my rods under the stern seat if the waves are very high. You could also tie them to the rear painter attachment. The canoe is still sold by Classfive Canoes.
bobbernumber3	06/21/2019 06:24AM jwartman59: "I tie my gear in anytime I’m on big water. D rings work well. I agree, most bwca lakes don’t require this precaution. A few do. " You confused me here... so why do you tie?
jwartman59	06/21/2019 01:27AM I tie my gear in anytime I’m on big water. D rings work well. I agree, most BWCA lakes don’t require this precaution. A few do.
minnmike	06/20/2019 11:44PM I agree with all responses, but I do tie in fishing poles when I have days I want to cover miles. I also tie in a spare paddle. Now that I think of it I strap all paddles in canoe when portaging. The fewer loose items I have to carry in my hands on portages, the better.
walllee	06/20/2019 08:17PM Agree with all the above...
Mitchum	06/20/2019 04:05PM Thanks for the quick and kind responses. I really appreciate it.
Blatz	06/20/2019 03:48PM Yup don't tie in your packs
nofish	06/20/2019 11:31AM I agree with Jackfish. Securing your packs to your canoe during travel is not a good idea. Constantly securing them at the end of each portage just to undo it all at the start of the next is a pain. The only benefit you get from it is if you do capsize they packs don't float away. However, you'll likely have a very hard time flipping your canoe back over with your packs all secured inside. You'll probably find yourself floating in the lake trying to untie the packs so you can flip your canoe which sort of defeats the purpose of securing them in the first place. If you use a good liner in your packs they'll float a long time so you'll have time to right your canoe and paddle after all your packs. A friend of mine capsized on Brule maybe 5-6 years ago. He was with his wife and kids so he got the family safe and left the packs to deal with later. It was later in the day so he had to wait until the next day to go look for his packs. He found them all still floating the next day with nothing wet inside them.
Jackfish	06/20/2019 11:07AM First of all, welcome to the board! :) Tying down? As in tying your packs into the canoe so they stay with the boat if you capsize? Don't do that. Just put your packs in the canoe and go. Having to tie and untie your packs at every portage is a pain in the rear and an unnecessary time waster. If you have packs lined with large contractor-type plastic garbage bags or you have other similar "dry bags", etc., they'll float until next week. Besides, if you dump in the middle of the lake and your packs are tied to the canoe, you'll be fighting your packs, the canoe and the water as you try to untie them, get your canoe uprighted and get the packs back in. Keep the open side up and don't paddle whitewater or take other similar risks in the wilderness and you'll be fine.
Mitchum	06/20/2019 10:38AM I have an older (2003?) Mohawk Blazer 16 (fiberglass). It has been a great boat but i have never camped out of it. These boats only come with a yoke, no thwarts. Any suggestions on how to tie down gear for a 3-4 day trip? Should I: add thwarts? Add some sort of d-patch to inside of hull” Rivet a tie down or pad eye to the underside of the aluminum gunwale? Strap things to the yoke and not worry about it?