Has anyone used a Knu-Pac for portaging a canoe,what are your thoughts on it ,how did it work,What was good and bad about it. Wanting to do a BWCA trip ,need a little help after a back problem, will it take the load off my upper back?
A old timer that just needs a little help!
yep
don’t use the knu-pack, just a packframe with a yoke to fit over the thwart. Assuming that the hipbelt is sized reasonably correctly for you, it will take some or most of the weight off your shoulders, depending on how you adjust the shoulder straps. There have been quite a few threads on the knu-pack. Do a search and you will find them - might find some tips of interest in them.
i bought and tried one
didn’t like it at all. hard to get the canoe up and positioned on the holders above my head without being able to see what i was doing. i ended up tearing up the cane seat and had to replace it.
What do you mean about your upper back?
Be sure about the location of the injury before you commit to learning to use a packframe. I am able to throw my 65#+ WW boat up onto the extension bar of my old Kelty pack frame, and the boat rests nicely there, with the extension bar right on the balance point of the triple saddle, six inches ahead of where I sit.
In my case, my reason for trying the pack frame is that carrying the boat balanced on my head (!?!) occasionally aggravates my left greater auricular nerve, which is WAY high in the cervical vertebrae. However, even using a lighter boat (our 50# 17’ Bluewater Chippewa tandem) on a padded portage yoke is a considerable improvement, enough that I would not feel the need for the pack frame approach. There are other ways to get a boat onto a pack frame, but personally, I do not have the patience anymore. If I cannot “throw” the boat up, I am not willing to back under it, and the back-under approach will not work very well with short boats, anyway.
Knudsen Knu-Pac System
The reason I am looking at the Knu-Pac is about 4 years ago I had back surgery and a disc removed,when I lift over about 75Lbs. I get a numbness in my leg, looking for something to put the weight on my hips and legs In portaging my canoe and gear. Thought the Knu-Pac might do the job.
tandem or solo
what was said about the difficulty of loading a canoe onto the knu-pak or any similar rig is true. It is harder than just throwing a portage yoke onto your shoulders. The problem comes in trying to get the thwart to settle into the yokes on the frame. One of the other “knu-pak threads” has a link to a similar system that uses a frame with a platform on the top instead of yokes. That would be easier to use by yourself.
But it is no problem at all if there is someone with you who can help. Helper just rolls and lifts the canoe, leaving the stern point on the ground (yes, this is tough on the equipment, so do think of a way to pad the end point)and then “walks” his hands along the gunnels from bow towards the stern until the canoe is high enough for you to duck ender the center, and hook onto the thwart. Generally, even if you paddle solo in a group, explaining why you need to use a packframe and asking for help will get you enough sympathy to find a helper. If not, offer to buy a beer (or two) for anyone who helps you out.
If you are alone, it is hard, but not impossible to load the canoe yourself. Best bet is to find something like a tree branch you can rest the bow of the canoe on at a steep angle - if it is stable enough, you can then duck under and get set-up. Then hopefully, just lift the bow off the branch - takes some practice, and you may need to skid the stern point back a few inches in the dirt.
watch the clearance
It didnt work for me with a solo as there is very little room between the center seat and the portage yoke.
I didnt have any problem getting it on really. Getting it off was tough . You have to literally throw the canoe skyward; otherwise if one or the other horns get stuck on the yoke the free one will slide between the seat and the yoke and there you sit all twisted and still attatched to the canoe.
The folks at Knu Pac suggested putting the yoke farther forward and adding weight to the bow, but I cant deal with that. Or moving the seat back and I cant do that either. More accurately wont, for performance and paddle placement.
This is where the triple saddle helped.
I am used to throwing the Synergy up onto my head and balancing it on the flat of the foam seat. When using the pack frame, the extension bar supports the foam seat area, and so there is a good deal of latitude in making the original throw and catch, followed by adjustments fore and aft to achieve balance. The arrangement may be safer also, in that if a strong wind tries to blow the boat off the pack, it will not “catch” on the pack, but can be slid off to the side and dropped safely.