assuming that you have to pack things in your kayak in small bags, how do you put it all together for a portage?

hikers can fit all their gear into an internal frame pack, and the tall narrow shape of those is perfect for the top of a kayak. Plenty of room for two of them on most kayaks. I didn't notice any stability problems at all in doing that, since my butt (which weighs a whooole lot more than my pack) was well below the water line instead of up like it is in a canoe.

don't know if I'd use a duluth pack because of the size, but you certainly could put a couple small packs into a duluth pack pretty quickly at a portage if that was your thing, then just bungee the empty pack while paddling.