I’ve long pondered and pined for good on-the-water storage for stuff I’ll be using and accessing all day – like drinks, snacks, and my phone/cam.
The typical thwart bag swings and sways. Racers glue foam drink holders to bottom of hull. I’ve seen a couple bags with d-ring tie-downs to prevent sway – the rings have to be glued in place.
I had a thread or two going about this over on the hacked canoetripping forum.
I’m now thinking that maybe an UNDERSEAT stowage area might be nice for people.
…I’ve also pondered this as a product that the public might like. In addition to a personal solution to my own problem.
But for my own problem, I have an old glass Malecite that oilcans coz i’m 180 lbs, I guess. And my partners aren’t always petite. So I’ve bolted the seats directly to gunnels to stiffen the hull – took out the “hanger” aspect. And I have foam blocks under the seats. Now boat is great and stiff. But I’m thinking I could build storage units that both stiffen and store stuff for under the seats. Too bad I’m not very handy. But it’s possible. I’d want them to have fold-down drink-holders and fold-out snack/phone pouches. …It’s a thought!
I dont know if such a thing could be reproducible to help others in various types of canoes.
I have a 10+ year old Granite Gear STOWAWAY SEAT PACK-SAGE bag. It’s designed to use as an under seat bag but I use it as a Thwart bag. Two of my canoes have tractor seats and & switch between sitting and kneeling in the other two. It doesn’t particular flop around as it has a plastic stiffener that can also act as a cutting board.
I wouldn’t use under seat storage because I’m a kneeler so need every bit of under seat space and even when sitting I’d want the option of kneeling in rough conditions. But lots of people sit all the time. For day trips I just attach my Mountainsmith Day pack to my front thwart…so it sits on the canoe floor but the front thwart attachment holds it upright and it’s secure in case the boat swamps. It has much more room than the two thwart bags I own.
Both of these bags are standard zip-shut sorta closures. How are they for drink-holders? Terrible. How are they for phone access? Not great. Hot tip: look at everything the Fishing Kayak innovators are doing. They are serving their users with convenience every which way. Enough ergonomic functionality to make your head spin.
That said, I like the idea of a pack on the floor, leaning against a thwart. Sounds like a decent sorta base. Now it needs desk-like fold-out holder units. Maybe on 3 sides. With some skid-proof friction stuff on the bottom. One pouch holds a lotta chow. Other is a drink-holder. Other some kinda secure yet easy to use electro-device holder.