: As for carrying the kayak two man; I've never carried a canoe
: two man (my guide says single is easier) so I don't see why I'd have to
: carry my kayak two man. Thanks though.

Ryan,

Kayaks have decks, while the canoes you are used to, do not. When you stick a canoe over your head to portage it, you probably rest one thwart on your shoulders, and you can easily see what is in front of you by tipping the canoe back a bit. You just don't want ot tip it back so much that the back end drags on the ground, or the front end snags overhanging trees limbs.

With a single kayak, you stick your head in the cockpit, and brace the edges of the coaming on your shoulders. You might juut as well have put your head in a bucket. Unless you have a huge cockpit, you can't see much in front of you. Assuming your eyes are about 8 inches above your shoulders, you would need a carrying rack that would lift the kayak at least 8 inches off of your shoulders. If you raise it that high then I have no idea how high you'll have to reach to hold on to the sides of the boat. You may need to add some kind of handles for control.

With a double there is no cockpit in the middle to stick your head into. If you use either the back or front cockpits the boat is off balance. If two people try this, the boat may balance, but they are both blind.

The other option is for one person to grab the front handle, and the second to grab the back and do a two person portage. Even with empty, light, kayaks this is no fun if you just have a strap. It cuts into your hand. A wooden handle is better. Grab lines on the sides can help at times, too.

Since you will be wearing packs when you portage, consider packs that are designed around external backpack frames. You might be able to construct kayak mounts from a few pieces of PVC pipe that would go from some point on the kayak to your backpack frame, thus transfering the weight to your hips, and simultaneously holding the boat high enough over your head that you can see the surrounding terrain. In a truly ideal world these pieces of PVC would also serve as tent poles.

"Portage" is a truly nasty word.

Hope this helps.

Paul G. Jacobson