Before my first trip, I was confident I could carry a canoe with no problem - after all, my pack weighed more than the canoe. The pain of actually carrying my canoe gave me an appreciation for my pack's hip belt that I hadn't really had before! After I got back I looked for better ways to carry the canoe and quickly found references to the old Knu-pacs, but of course I couldn't find one. I did find a couple of posts talking about homemade versions, but they never really had a lot of detail. I decided to make my own anyway, and I took pictures and notes in the hopes of helping anyone else interested in the idea.



I started with a Stansport freighter frame. Not only was it the cheapest frame Amazon carried, but it used stitching for all the important stuff - which my wife reinforced for me. Some of the more expensive frames actually used rivets, and reviews indicated the straps would sometimes stretch and pop off ... and there's no real way to reinforce that. I really didn't want the canoe coming down on my head!



1" PVC was the perfect size to slip over the frame. In the end, I used:
* 1x 13 3/8"
* 2x 1 1/2"
* 4x 2"
* 6x 1 3/4"
* 4x elbows
* 4x caps
* 4x Ts
The piping is sized such that the fittings all butt up against each other - if there's a way to make the whole thing smaller, it'll require different parts than what I got.



I used standard PVC primer/cement to assemble the 2 "U" brackets and the "H" frame. As it turned out later, I should have just cemented the whole thing.



I knew the canoes we were renting had yokes with adjustable shoulder pads, but I didn't know wide the yokes were or if I'd have to do something weird, so I wanted the flexibility to turn the main brackets. Thankfully, I was just able to move the pads so they were a little wider than my brackets.



The whole setup worked well. For the first couple of portages, I had 2 other guys lift the canoe, but with the canoe completely off the ground it was hard to line up my brackets: the canoe kept moving! We quickly realized it was much easier if only the front end was lifted: it required a bit of crawling on my part, but lining everything up was much quicker, and we got into an easy rhythm. Most of the time someone helped me at the far end, though with some contortions I did manage to get it off without help once or twice.

I learned a few things, of course.
* It turned out that my brackets were quite a bit larger than the yoke, so the canoe would sometimes thud forward or back when I changed my torso angle. I'd added some rubber high traction stuff (the kind you use in kitchen drawers), but it was shredded very quickly.
* That probably wouldn't have been a problem ... except that I didn't cement the Us onto the H, so a U actually came out during one trip. Thankfully it wasn't sudden, and I realized something felt wrong, so I was able to get it down safely. From then on I always checked that everything was tight before each new portage.
* Having the adjustable shoulder pads was great, since they ensured the canoe always stayed centered. If they hadn't been there, I don't know what I would have done ... I can envision the whole thing sliding to one side and tipping.
* I'd expected our canoes to be balanced front-to-back (like you see in the Knupac promo pictures), but they were actually really back-heavy. I'd tied some medium weight paracord to the bow and stern, hanging around hand height, and it worked fine ... except that because the canoe was so unbalanced I really had to tug on the cord to keep the canoe level. I eventually found a way to use my arm's weight on the cord so it didn't take much effort, but on the first portage the cord really bit into my hands. Wearing my fishing gloves mostly took care of the problem, but a thicker cord would have been nice.
* I never got as much weight off of my shoulders as I would have expected. Don't get me wrong, the carrier made a _huge_ difference, but it was never as comfortable as my pack. Maybe it was the weight distribution, maybe I didn't adjust the straps right ... or maybe it's just cheap and not as good.
* It was great having the extra storage space of the freighter frame - I was able to attach my tent and cot and carry them with the canoe instead of trying to carry them along with my main pack.

I'm absolutely planning to use it next year - though I'll cement everything, use thicker cord, and try to find a better way to stop the canoe from moving forward and backward in the bracket.

I appreciate creativity and effort.
I also am an older paddler who has experimented over time and tend to come back to what most people do. I use the yoke but prefer the cupped pads over the box type as in your photo. Balancing like you see on TV is achieved by location of paddles or other gear you leave in the canoe and yoke location so it is at center balance point.
I paddle a Bell Magic and seat location makes finding the balance point difficult as my head bumps into the seat. I chose to move the yoke forward and secure my liter Nalgene bottle with correct water content to the bow achieving balance. The cupped pads restrict slipping and I am often portaging hands free. After a long portage I have water.

Nice job! Glad it worked for you. A couple of comments as the resident biggest fan of the Knu-Pac.

First, most canoes are pretty well balanced around the yoke. Yours is just unbalanced due to that seat in the back. As mentioned above, you could strap some paddles on the front seat to balance things. It makes things much nicer. Even when balanced, having a rope like that was part of the Knu-Pac. Even if the canoe is well balanced you want a way to control the angle when going up and down hills or ducking under tree limbs. I like to use the rope made for sailing sheets. Sheets are the ropes used to adjust sails and so they have the following properties: very low stretch and good feel and control in the hand, even when wet. West Marine is a good source for lines. You want the line pretty short. It should just fall to your hand when the boat is upside down. Knu-Pac came with a snap buckle you could put in the middle so you could disconnect it if you wanted to do so without putting the canoe down.

Second, I generally find it easier to leave the bow on the ground when putting the canoe up. That way there isn't any crawling around.

Third, the way you used the pads to control side to side motion is great. That was recommended or to use some pipe insulation to create side to side buffers.

You should be able to get most of the weight onto your hips. I suspect you just need to play with the pack adjustments on your straps. It is definitely an art and I'm glad I have a friend who is really good at it.

Good luck with your mods this year. The back and forth motion with the actual Knu-Pac cradles isn't a problem because they have much less distance inside them.

I've read other references to that snap buckle, but I've never been able to find details on it. Do you happen to have a picture or more detailed description of what it's like?
Thanks for the other tips :) I'll keep those in mind next year.

They are the sort of buckles shown here , probably 1" or smaller size. With the Knu-Pac, they came with about 8" of webbing attached to each side, but it might work to just tie the rope to the buckles.

In our canoe, we keep half of the line at the bow, half at the stern, with some velcro straps. At a portage it is quick to deploy the rope and they can also serve as short painter lines at either end for tying up the canoe. But I also carry longer lines because that is often needed, depending on the situation for tying up for the night.

Nazrax: "I've read other references to that snap buckle, but I've never been able to find details on it. Do you happen to have a picture or more detailed description of what it's like?
Thanks for the other tips :) I'll keep those in mind next year."

I am probably the biggest hater of the Knu Pac but not here to diss it.
I kept on using the bow and stern lines with the buckle by my hand even after ditching the rest of it.. And have ever since that day in 2003 I bid Knu Pac bye

Here is the type of buckle you want. Its very handy for getting the boat off you as the last thing you want is a paracord around your neck;;

buckle

Very nice DIY setup you made BTW.