Pyranha’s Portage Pack—little more than shoulder straps and a hip belt—is an impressively slim solution to tumpline headaches and kidney-crushing drags. Engineered to ease transportation of a kayak over long treks to the put-in, the Portage Pack facilitated little more than frustration on our trial installation. We chose to ignore Pyranha’s recommendation to view their online instructional video before attempting to merge the knot of webbing and buckles with a kayak. Thirty minutes later, helmeted heads hung in defeat, we fired up our shaky satellite Internet connection and were soon tramping through the woods piggy-backing our Karnali like an overgrown toddler.
Pro: Allows for a hands-free carry.
Con: Only compatible with kayaks that have dual grab handles behind the cockpit. Since this includes nearly all modern river runners and creekers, this shouldn’t concern anyone except lazy playboaters.
pyranha.com | $80
This article originally appeared in Rapid magazine, Spring 2010. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.
