our Sawyer canoe has a simple round aluminum tube as a centered thwart. I am looking for shoulder pads that can clamp on without drilling. Most of what I can find are for shaped yokes. Ideally, something with a c-type clamp. Any suggestions out there?
Chosen Valley yoke pads from Rutabaga
http://www.rutabaga.com/chosen-valley-canoe-accessories-clamp-on-yoke-pads
And go with the thicker pads, I wasn’t a fan of the thinner padded Chosen Valley pads.
Be aware that any pads clamping to the round thwart will not be as secure as clamping to a yoke and you quite likely will have the thwart hitting the back of your neck with the canoe on your shoulders.
There is another solution. Nothing… For years my portage pal had a PFD with foam over the shoulders. He portaged a Wenonah Odyssey with no yoke but with a thwart with no discomfort.
Now those sorts of PFD seem to have disappeared ( good things often do) but if you put a pool noodle around the thwart and duct tape it so it does not come off you may be quite well off.