The Happy Camper: My Top, Most Useful Gear Picks of 2024 for Canoeists
It’s that time of the year when I load my canoes on their racks, hang my paddles and pack away my summer sleeping kit. Now, it’s time to pull out my winter canvas tents, unroll my freight toboggan and brush some accumulated rust off my wood stoves. It’s also time to reflect on the paddling season and decide which new gear was my favourite.
I went on lots of canoe trips this year—48 days in total—and I tested and reviewed a lot of new pieces of camp gear throughout. Here are the top five that I am definitely planning to repack for the next paddling season:
Recreational Barrel Works Red Barrels
Recreational Barrel Works is a Canadian-based company that’s well-known for its blue barrels (60 litres and 30 litres) used by countless canoeists to keep their gear dry and food sealed. In 2024, they came out with a red coloured barrel. I am not sure why, and I am not sure why I quickly ordered one. I like being different, I guess.
It didn’t take long to unstrap my old harnesses off my blue 60-litre barrel and strap it on my shiny new red one.
But here’s where it gets really interesting. Late June came about, and with it were those pesky ankle biters. I hate those biting insects more than any other.
I then remembered reading an article on how Australian sheep farmers place blue barrels out in the fields to attract the nuisance “bush fly.” It seems the insect is attracted to dark colours, such as blue. The blue barrel acts as some type of fly pie. So, I brought my new red 60-litre barrel and my old 30-litre blue barrel on a trip with me to Quebec’s Kipawa Lake.
Lo and behold, the pesky ankle biter flies visited our camp, and you guessed it, they preferred hanging out around the blue barrel more than the red. My 30-litre blue barrel became our fly pie every day. And my new red 60-litre barrel became my best friend.
Slackseat
Inventor and canoeist Cole Bennet asked me to try out his latest product: Slackseat. It’s a kneeling thwart alternative for solo canoeists.
It all made sense to me when I tried it out. When you paddle a canoe solo, you’re best option is to kneel in the centre of the boat, keeping low to the water and at the proper pivot point. You are more stable there, and more in control of the canoe. The problem, however, is that your knees really start to hurt, your legs go numb, your ankles get crushed, and paddling solo isn’t fun anymore, especially for an old guy like me.
Traditionally, I have used my square camera box, a stuffed dry bag or even an enlarged Nerf football to help relieve the pressure off my lower body. All worked but none of them portage well.
Cole claims the Slackseat works like a hammock for my heinie, and it does. When you sit on it, your legs tuck nicely underneath, but with no pressure placed on them. It’s also adjustable, allowing you to alter the height and lean more to one side, which is the proper way to solo paddle a canoe.
A big bonus is that it stays strapped to your canoe, so no issues with the portages. And there’s no need to permanently attach a centre seat.
PortagePal
The owner of PortagePal, Josh Vermast, caught a glimpse of a picture of my canoe buddy, Ashley, on an Algonquin portage during one of our annual spring trout fishing trips. He had several fishing rods tangled up in one hand and extra paddles tucked and grasped loosely in the other. It’s a common scene for any paddler. Josh immediately mailed me his new product to help poor Ashley out on our next trip, and it absolutely did. This invention is amazing!
The PortagePal works by having two elastic hooks and loop straps attached to a ribbed handle. You are able to transport paddles and fishing rods in a compact and organized manner rather than loose and fancy-free.
I wish I had gotten this product years ago.
Men’s Hyperport H2 Sandal
I have always loved Keen sandals, but the Hyperport H2 are extra special to me. The comfort is unbelievable. Seriously! Yes, they are water-repellent, with spacious room across the forefoot for your toes to spread out and have a lace-lock bungee system as well as an anti-odour control. That’s all great. But it’s the arch support, the maximal cushioning and extra thick midsole, that I love.
Plus, the extra traction they provide is incredible. The bonus is they only had the bright yellow left to order, so I went with the bumble bee colour. Sounds weird, but it’s the best colour. I’ll never lose them around camp.
Recreational Barrel Works—Coureur 2-Part Canoe Pack (Heritage Series)
I learned from Recreational Barrel Works that having a rectangular pack stacked on top of another (52 litres each) would work perfectly while paddling my solo canoe. One pack tucked away in the bow and the other stored behind me in the stern. They would balance the canoe out nicely, and I would simply buckle them quickly together for the portages, using the tump and modular shoulder straps to handle the load. After all, voyageurs did the same thing with their packs stuffed with fur pelts.
On my solo trips, I would have one pack store my food and kitchen kit and the other would store the rest of my gear—perfect! And when I went on that far northern canoe journey to Opasquia Park with my buddy Andy, I used the same pack system. My personal gear went in one and his went in the other. It worked flawlessly.
I used the Coureur 2 pretty much all season, but I haven’t put it away in storage yet. I figured the two packs, unattached, would fit superbly on my freight toboggan while winter camping. Double duty. Ya gotta love that!
