Securing Gear in Your Canoe
Securing your gear to your canoe is an easy way to give your self some insurance should you capsize. After all, this is the main reason to secure gear to your canoe. All plan on capsizing even if there is no chance that you will flip. Keep in mind that if your gear is not secured and you do capsize it float away in a matter of seconds.
Securing your gear on flatwater trips
Its pretty simple to secure your gear to your canoe in a flat water trip. You don’t really need to anything other than secure your gear by strapping it to your canoes thwarts. This method of securing your gear will not keep it in place if you do flip over but it will keep it secured to the boat so at least it wont float away.
Securing your gear on rougher trips
When you will be paddling on longer trips or in rougher conditions you will want to make sure you secure your gear well. If your gear is not secured well it can pop out of the canoe while still tied to the boat. This is bad since it can get caught on a rock and either get the boat stuck or rip your un secured gear right out of your boat. Securing your gear on a rough trip doesn’t only keep your gear secure but it can add much needed floatation to your canoe as well as keep it balanced.
The bags will only act as floatation if they packed right. This means the weight of the bag can not out way the amount of water the bag displaces. Make sure to keep as much air in the bag as you can when you close it.
Secure Your Gear- Techniques
Securing your gear with a single rope may work once or twice but it can become a long process if you will be loading and unloading gear on longer trips. More experienced paddlers will secure their gear with custom placed d- rings or drill holes. You can glue d-ring patches to the inside of your boat. You can then secure your gear with special quick locking straps. You can also drill holes at the top of the side of your canoe. You can make a small loop of rope to place in these holes to use to secure your gear. These loops act much like the d-ring patches.
Secure Your Gear- Test Run
After you spend some time customizing your canoe to secure your gear you may want to take it on a test run. Just because you spent all that time getting your boat prepared to be secure doesn’t mean it worked. It is better to learn about what you did wrong securing your gear on a short weekend trip rather than a week long trip. So take note of how well your gear stayed secure. Keep notes of what you need to fix when you get home. It also will not hurt to capsize on purpose and see how well you gear stays secure in the event of a flip.
