See also
Pack & Bags

Walking back four miles along the Jurassic Coast the other evening (left) was a lot more tiring and took longer than paddling nearly the same distance to get there. That’s not so surprising. A steady paddle on a calm day with only your arms is a lot less effort than walking 340 metres of elevation gain, carrying the boat on your back.

It wasn’t helped by the fact that the TXL was in my Lomo Blaze, a holdall with basic backpack straps, so the whole weight was hanging from my shoulders. I like my Lomo; unlike a rucksack the bag is made from heat-welded PVC which is waterproof. Yes it may have a regular zip for the lid, but it cost 40 quid and is a lot easier to load, access and see what I’ve forgotten this time. I’ve even used it as a ditch bag on desert trips (left; sadly I needed to ditch that time). But Lomo is not a great backpack for long. As I neared Kimmeridge, mesmerised by the setting sun, I had a vision of a Better Way…

I’ve been through this all before
…how to carry the boat and gear sustainably over land and water. Besides trolleys for train trips, there are packframes like the Lastenkraxe fit to carry a well-fed moose calf, pack harnesses like the NRS Paragon and Six Moons Flex PR which wrap around anything. Even my huge, airtight Mk1 Watershed UDB sausage bag became semi rigid when ‘pressurised’, but had a rubbish, ill-placed ‘harness’ (so needed an NRS). The wheeled Ortlieb 140 could also be backpacked – but not long term.

For a multi-day trip, mixing walking and paddling (aka ‘packrafting‘), like we did in Knoydart (above), packframes or just a proper rucksack make sense. But for day paddles they’re overkill and awkward to stash or keep dry on the water. My brainwave was using the paddle shafts as an external packframe to create a rigid rod from the top of my holdall to the waist (below).

As we should all know by now: for longer walks over rough ground weight supported low on you waist is more sustainable than hanging high from your shoulders. It makes you less sore and much more stable which adds up to less fatigue. That’s why both the heavy hauling Lastenkraxe (below left) and Six Moons Flex come with such generously padded hip belts: it’s where most of the weight is carried.

The Lomo 60 Blaze is just a holdall with backpack straps and handy grab handles at each end; it doesn’t have a hip belt but it does have a run of Molle webbing lashing points (above right) to which I sometimes strap my paddles. The shafts from a 4-part paddle could be lashed to the Molle each side (or even a whole 2-part paddle), with the lower sticks hooking into any waist strap or belt. Though it would be nice, for a couple of hours with 8 kilos there’s no need for a fully padded belt with pockets and an SOS ripcord.

The shafts are zip tied (blue) to the Molle at the lower end, so the weight rests on the shaft’s collar (above). The shaft then tucks behind a belt and the weight should at least partially be spread onto the hips, not all hanging from the shoulders.
While I was at it, I decided to cut off the Lomo’s redundant carry handles. They get in the way when groping around for the backpack straps which can perform the same carrying function. I ‘zip-sewed’ the loose ends into loops (left) to take a half paddle or two on each side.

All that was needed was a chest strap (left and above left) to pull the weight in close. This alone makes a big difference to stability, I find.
Tested outside with the Lomo loaded for a day paddle, it felt pretty good considering the minimal effort involved. Best of all a belt doesn’t have to be attached to the bag in any way and could even be your trouser belt. Just tuck in the shaft ends, tighten up and jog forth.
The advantage is that for a day paddle ending in a walk of a couple of hours, no extra gear is needed, bar a belt or strap. In the boat the near empty holdall and belt are rolled up out of the way or stuffed in the Deckpack. Assuming you’ve not repurposed your paddle as a packstaff, your day-paddling outfit ought to be a lots easier to carry, especially over rough or steep terrain.