A lot of people seem to like the PakCanoes and similar boats for wilderness trips. But how well do they perform when paddled empty, without a lot of gear in the middle? I can have only one canoe, both for trips and afternoon jaunts. Someone I know who has a PakCanoe says it has a tendency to hog in the middle when he’s not carrying gear.
ok
I’ve only paddled my Pakcanoe 150 solo empty one time - seemed fine to me
I did add two extra sets of tubing to the bottom, which likely helps to stiffen the hull. There are 5 sets of clips on the bottom of the thwarts (or whatever they are called)- you get 3 sets of rods for those 5 sets of clips, the keel and 2 stiffeners. I just went to home depot and found some very light tubing and fittings so that I can take them down into 3 lengths each, and still be at a length that fits inside the big duffle bag.
mostly, I just didn’t like the empty clips against the bottom of the hull, but it does stiffen the hull also.
My. 170 hogs
Paddled tandem with no gear
You could compensate with a six gallon jug water amidships