Solo Paddling Gear for the Boundary Waters

To wrap up the series (except for electronics), here’s a list of the solo paddling gear for the Boundary Waters that I used on my recent trip. It’s pretty basic compared to all the rest of the gear lists. I plan on making a public spreadsheet and getting the electronics list up soon.

Canoe for the Boundary Waters

I use the Northstar Magic. IMHO, there isn’t a better solo canoe for the Boundary Waters. It’s fast, stable, and holds its directional stability in the wind regardless of where you point it. It’s a dry ride. The flare gets it over even steeper chop that you might encounter on the bigger lakes, such as Brule, Kek or Gunflint. It likes to go straight, but it’s easy to turn, especially if you are willing to heel it over a little bit. I generally do a hit-and-switch-style of paddle stroke, but it also performs well with a c-stroke. The shouldered tumblehome keeps the paddling station narrow despite the flare.

Mine comes in a 28.7 pounds using the Starlite layup with the paddle holders and deck bungee. If you forego the wood gunwales, it can be lighter. But wood gunwales look so good. I decided to get them.

I will say that this trip beat it up a bit. I wasn’t as careful as I have been in the past, so I’ll need to fix a few scratches with the kit that Northstar sells. I ended up lining over a mile of whitewater and all the bushwhacking that I did scratched up the sides.

Portage Yoke

I use Northstar’s Clamp-on Solo Yoke w/ CVCA Pads. This gets the job done, but it’s a little futzy. Because it isn’t sized perfectly for the Magic, you have to move the clamps around and then twist the clamps until the lock into place. This isn’t a big deal if you are doing big lakes between portages. It’s gets to be a pain when you do small lakes and small portages. One of my future plans is to get a new yoke and make it fit more exactly for the Magic. I wish there was a yoke on the market that just snapped into place on solo canoes.

Life jacket

I need a new vest. Mine are in various conditions, and my lightest is the Stolhquist Brik, which they don’t make anymore. It was super comfy, and it is time to replace it. Due to the pandemic, it’s hard to get new vests right now. I’m thinking about getting a NRS Ninja or a Stolhquist Rocker.

Rescue Knife

I put a rescue knife on my life vest because I knew I was going to be either running rapids or lining rapids. If you are using painters on your canoe, you need to have a knife ready in case you need to cut the rope. I put a NRS Pilot KnifeCo-Pilot on my vest. It’s easy to get out, stays locked in when you don’t need it and weighs 4.7 ounces with the sheath.

Canoe Painters

For this trip, I didn’t bring painters, which are ropes tied to the end of the canoe. Painters are helpful when paddling whitewater and moving water, but for flat water trips I seldom bring them (See: Ranting about Painters). Ideally, you’ll put a hole and tube into your canoe just above the waterline to allow the rope to pass through it. Then you’ll use 25 feet of floating rope on each end. This allows you to tie the canoe off, but more importantly it helps when you need to line your canoe around rapids. I’m not going to describe the process, but you don’t want to let the stern get caught in the current and swing out sideways to end up pinned on rocks or worse.

Rope is/isn’t that heavy. If you get Sterling’s UltraLine in 3/8″, it’s about 2 pounds total. If you plan on using painters, do yourself a favor and get Sterling’s rope. It’s the best on the market. It’s rated over 5,000 pounds and weighs very little. It’s awesome stuff. I used to climb with Sterling ropes. They make such good ropes and by far the best floating rope on the market.

Anyway, I was already carrying 50 feet of bear bag rope and the 1.5 miles of rapids that I needed to either run or line on the trip was such a small part of the trip that I decided to skip the painters and figure it out when I got there. The rapids were on the Poplar River outside the BWCAW. To make the bear bag line work — and I don’t recommend this — I let out about 20 feet of rope and then wrapped 5 feet around the rope bag. Instead of holding onto the rope, I held the bag. The water I lined was about knee deep. When it got deeper, I stayed near the shore if I could. In the end, my solution worked, but it wasn’t ideal. If I was doing the trip again, I’d probably stash a set of painters at the start of the river section before I started the trip. Still, the water was low and the rapids weren’t all that powerful at the level I had so the bear bag rope worked fine (I also skipped 0.4 miles by portaging down the Superior Hiking Trail).

Paddles

I carried a ZRE Lightweight Bent Shaft Carbon Paddle as my main paddle and a Mitchell Seneca Straight Shaft as my spare. Using a lightweight carbon paddle saves so much energy over the course of the day. If you do about 30 strokes a minute, which is about average for a recreational paddler — I do more — then with a standard wood paddle, you’d be lifting about 21,600 pounds each day. With a carbon paddle, you lift only 8,010 pounds per day. If that doesn’t convert you, I don’t know what will. It’s so much easier on your body and energy levels. ZRE makes a lighter paddle which will save another 900 pounds per day.

I like to carry a beefier paddle with me for rocky situations and as a spare. I also used the Mitchell on sections of whitewater on the Poplar that I could safely paddle with a kevlar canoe. My Mitchell is old, beat up and the fiberglass is starting to delaminate (do you notice a trend with all my gear in this series. Much of my gear is old and getting worn out and needs to be replaced — maybe I should set up a replace Bryan’s gear fund). After the trip, I ended up removing the old delaminating sections of fiberglass and putting new glass on the blade. I still need to do a final sanding and re-varnish it. The paddle came with a varnished grip, so I’ll take some time to sand of the grip varnish and oil it.

While I love my Seneca, if I was buying a spare paddle today, I’d likely get a Sanborn Gillis. I’d get it in the Wilderness layup. Darren Bush, owner of Rutabaga’s, helped design it, and it’s a well-balanced paddle.

Paddling Gear
Northstar Magic w/deck bungee and paddle holder	459.2
Removable portage yoke with Choosen Valley Pads	31.8
Stolhquist Brik w/big-ass knife	34.1
Mitchell Seneca Straight Shaft Paddle- 54 inches	24
ZRE Lightweight Bent Shaft Carbon Paddle -52 inches	8.9
	558	34 lb 14 oz