I’ve asked about this before, but the idea has stuck with me. I still haven’t taken the leap, though, to develop anything.

So, when I paddle my canoes I often wish for various pouches near me. For sure I want a drink holder – right now I have a bike bottle cage in one boat, others boats are bare. Probably an insulated holder would be nice. Then there’s the thwart in front of me: seems like that cd be a dandy place to stash my smartphone, or a map, or snacks. If I was a fisher-dude, it wd be nice to stash a lure box there. A bluetooth speaker, even, at times. Yes, I know there are various thwart bags on the market: all swing’n’sway pouches w a zip.

A soft cooler in various sizes that can be easily attached inside a boat might be neat.

These folks make something: https://paddling.com/gear/north-water-canoe-thwart-bag/

Would you like any other pouches or holders?

In my sea kayaks I often have a big tube in front of me that I can put some stuff in, sorta. Stack it in. Water bottle, etc. My kayak cockpit is a lot more snug than the canoe sitting area, but maybe I would enjoy having a pouch on the floor under my thigh or off to the side. Also, many rec kayaks do have a much bigger sitting area.

Ya know what? Bicycle riders have about 100 different kinds of bags and holders to fit anything under the sun anywhere on their bikes. They also offer quite a few lines of such bags that are ULTRALIGHT. Could paddlers learn anything from them?

I used to fabricate bike bags, so… yeah… it has given me the idea.

One snag is how to best stabilize items inside a hull. We have 3 points of attachment: Gunnels, thwarts, and the inside hull. I suppose we need some sort of hook-clip over the gunnel. Strap for thwart. And attach-point for the hull — maybe a few sq/inches of velcro? The North Water people have a nice D-ring patch to glue in to make a tie-down point – but maybe only for roto boats since it’s for vinyl adhesive? Could be readily adapted for other glues, I suppose.

I also like the idea of a pouch or holder that just gloms onto wherever you stick it. Like it could stand up on the bottom of the hull.

Would anyone like to see a modular system developed where various bags and holders could be stashed around you in your boat?

– Jeff Potter

They would need to stay in the boat if overturned and not be a yard sale.

Under deck bag. we have them in all our kayaks. Northwater as well as others carry them.
“D” rings with fastek buckles get glued to the underside of the deck and the under deck bag has the matching fastek buckle.
Grayhawk clued us to them many moons ago and installed the first “D” rings

I have a deck bag I put on the kayak forward of the cockpit in the kayak. In the canoe it gets strapped to a thowart. I carry the cell phone in a pocket of my PFD. Camera goes in other pocket.

I like the idea of the under-deck bag that Northwater has, but I only have plastic kayaks and don’t trust glues to hold on to them. Bolting them on (the attachment method I would use) is a bit too much work for me to consider so far.

@Peter-CA said:
I like the idea of the under-deck bag that Northwater has, but I only have plastic kayaks and don’t trust glues to hold on to them. Bolting them on (the attachment method I would use) is a bit too much work for me to consider so far.

It’s doable. I use my Northwater under-deck bag with two Eddyline kayaks. Installed Seattle Sports Tri-Way LashMate Minis inside the cockpits using Marine Goop. Nite Ize gear ties connect the bag to the LashMates. The gear ties make it easily removable. LashMates still holding tightly.

I have a pair of North Water interior mounted cockpit bags which I’ve never used because they mount on the side and there’s no room for that in any of my boats except behind the seat. I use that space for my hydration bag, sponge and paddle float. I should list those bags for sale here. Would be great in a canoe.

@Peter-CA said:
I like the idea of the under-deck bag that Northwater has, but I only have plastic kayaks and don’t trust glues to hold on to them. Bolting them on (the attachment method I would use) is a bit too much work for me to consider so far.

Use west Systems G-Flex epoxy and it if you do the prep properly, they will hold forever

Haven’t tried every epoxy/glue, but my experience matches this:
“Polyethylene plastic is wonderful stuff because nothing sticks to it, including epoxy. Even polysulfides like 5200 or Sika‑flex won’t stick to boards of high-density polyethylene - such boards must be screwed in place. But this makes polyethylene very useful when working epoxy. For instance, we use throw-away polyethylene cups to mix our epoxy in. Once we’ve finished our job, we put the cup (and usually our paintbrush and mixing rod) aside in a safe place. The next day we can pull the cured epoxy out of the cup to see how it has set up. If it’s hard and brittle, we know the epoxy has cured well (and we can re-use the cup on our next project). If it’s still tacky, we know something went wrong and we’ll probably have to do the job over again.”
From http://hackingfamily.com/Cruise_Info/Equipment/Epoxy.htm

Yep, when building boats the first thing you do is clean those PE bowls that you mixed epoxy in the day before…
For small jobs I would use those clear 35mm film canisters that you don’t find now.

@Rookie said:

@Peter-CA said:
I like the idea of the under-deck bag that Northwater has, but I only have plastic kayaks and don’t trust glues to hold on to them. Bolting them on (the attachment method I would use) is a bit too much work for me to consider so far.

It’s doable. I use my Northwater under-deck bag with two Eddyline kayaks. Installed Seattle Sports Tri-Way LashMate Minis inside the cockpits using Marine Goop. Nite Ize gear ties connect the bag to the LashMates. The gear ties make it easily removable. LashMates still holding tightly.

I should have specified my plastics. The ABS/PVC of thermoformed glues should hold just fine to, it is polyethylene (rotomolded) kayaks that glues/epoxies don’t stick to.

@Peter-CA said:

@Rookie said:

@Peter-CA said:
I like the idea of the under-deck bag that Northwater has, but I only have plastic kayaks and don’t trust glues to hold on to them. Bolting them on (the attachment method I would use) is a bit too much work for me to consider so far.

It’s doable. I use my Northwater under-deck bag with two Eddyline kayaks. Installed Seattle Sports Tri-Way LashMate Minis inside the cockpits using Marine Goop. Nite Ize gear ties connect the bag to the LashMates. The gear ties make it easily removable. LashMates still holding tightly.

I should have specified my plastics. The ABS/PVC of thermoformed glues should hold just fine to, it is polyethylene (rotomolded) kayaks that glues/epoxies don’t stick to.

Read my post above -West Systems G-Flex epoxy will do the job.
Check it out - Go to their web site it sticks to all materials, including plastics and you won’t get it apart,

Pic shows my set-up from a day trip yesterday. Mountainsmith DAY pack has three internal pouches plus two large external mesh pockets (mine hold water and one also has a fixed blade knife in plastic sheath…I used to store phone in a peanut butter jar in one of them). Main internal pouch is big enough to hold additional containers for clothes, food or whatever.

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