Hello all: The kayak portage yoke issue was discussed a bit back in 1998. After several years of toting a light touring kayak around the BWCA in the 1970's, I developed a removeable and adjustable yoke in 1980 to make things easier and more comfortable. Following below is the post written in 1998 describing this yoke: Re: portage yokes I might as well get in on the portage thread, since portage country is pretty much my home turf. Harold Kroeker's yoke concept is similar to the method I use. A number of years of kayak touring around the Boundary Waters convinced me that the only serious method of portaging- at least on solo trips- was to carry the kayak in the same way as a canoe, with a yoke. I developed a removable yoke in 1981 that has since been offered in similar form by the Yoke Shop, a Wisconsin yoke maker. My yoke utilizes the padded shoulder rests commonly used by canoe yokes, and available from any Minnesota canoe shop, or Piragis Northwoods, Ely, MN. The thicker they are, the more visibility you get while under the kayak. A spacer can also be added to create clearance. The yoke has clamps, similar to gunwale clamps, to attach the yoke to the coaming of the kayak. This requires a polyethylene hull or a fiberglass kayak with the coaming bonded structurally to the hull. As Harold says, the balance point is forward of the seat, and portaging stern first is best. This also allows you to keep the rudder out of trouble if you have one. The clamps on my yoke fit into 2" to 3" slots in the crossbar that allow for a variable distance between the clamps when they are tightened down. This allows for some variation in the position of the balance point and the resulting difference in the width of the coaming at that point. Thus, you can leave some gear inside the kayak that inevitably effects the location of the balance point. Over the years, including several trips in Alaska and a traverse of the MN-ON border (Voyageur's Route) from International Falls to Grand Portage, and on to Duluth, I have found that I can get my heavy gear out of the kayak and clamp the yoke on, and double carry over the portages faster than most bumbling canoe parties. Only an efficient canoe group with a single carry is faster. It is still a bit of a chore, though, and to cut down on the number of portages, I gravitiated to the biggest of the lakes, which is where a sea kayak excells anyway. I would be happy to answer further questions; I hope this isn't too esoteric a topic for most. Andy Knapp Minneapolis *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
----- Original Message ----- From: "Andy Knapp" <AndyKnapp_at_worldnet.att.net> > My yoke utilizes the padded shoulder rests commonly used by canoe yokes, > and available from any Minnesota canoe shop, or Piragis Northwoods, Ely, > MN. The thicker they are, the more visibility you get while under the > kayak. A spacer can also be added to create clearance. > > The yoke has clamps, similar to gunwale clamps, to attach the yoke to the > coaming of the kayak. This requires a polyethylene hull or a fiberglass > kayak with the coaming bonded structurally to the hull. Andy's idea reminds me of a simple yoke for Klepper owners that would work on either the single or double Aerius models. It comes from Eric Stiller who was manager with his dad of the Klepper shop in NYC. Since I know there are a number of Klepper owners on PaddleWise on several continents, I thought it might be useful to mention. The yoke takes advantage of the groove on the hidden side of the coaming facing the skin. This groove has been used for other devices. For example, the Arctic or Expedition tuckunder spraydeck has a bead in its heam that fits into that groove. When the air sponsons are inflated, the bead gets tightly pressed into position and the spraydeck stays on quite tenaciously. That grove is also used, to a degree, with the J-bolts that clamp on to the coaming and are the basis of devices like compass/chart boards, sailing cleat boards, and even hiking seat attachment. The yoke is simple and rolls up to a size not much bigger than a toilet paper roll that has been three quarters used up. The yoke consists of a band of hypalon about eight inches wide and with a length sufficient enough to go across the width of the cockpit and have its beaded ends tuck under the coaming and reach into the groove. The bead is a thin enough piece of cord to snug into the groove, around a quarter inch or so, perhaps thicker. To make the yoke, you get two pieces of hypalon of the size I mention above and cement them together using the cement meant for making patch repairs of the hull (or use barge cement). The bead is placed in position prior to the cementing process. The hypalon band is surprisingly comfortable across a clothed shoulder. I suppose that one could put some cushioning material in between the hypalon layers if you chose. But that would make it a bigger package to roll up, albeit it could serve double duty as cushioning at the bottom of the long piece bag when in transit through airlines etc. The yoke is used like you use any yoke, i.e. across your shoulders. Your head will be in the cockpit somewhat, just how much depends on the slack or generosity of length of hypalon you made the yoke of. Of course, with a folding kayak, you do have another choice in portaging: disassemble the boat and carry it in smaller loads in its carrying bags. You can also use the bags for carrying other gear when you get all the boat parts to the other end of the portage. You can also do what Jon Watermann did in his Arctic crossing (latest Sea Kayaker has a chapter from Jon's upcoming book). He had a single Klepper. At various points he had to portage over great distances. Sometimes he would drag the whole boat behind him. But other times he disassembled the boat and used the skin as a toboggan that he pulled behind him with his normal gear on it. On his back he carried a good deal of the frame in the long Klepper bag. I often wonder why anyone would want to buy a kayak that cannot fold down and be stuck with a one piece boat that takes up storage space and is generally limited in its paddleable waters range to places you can drive to with it on the roof. :-) ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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