Tips Sail

For decades, the canvas canoe pack was the basic piece of storage gear for a canoe trip. People today either continue to expound on their virtues or curse them in favour of modern, high tech alternatives. In the U.S., they are marketed as Duluth Packs and the company (started by French Canadian Camille Poirer in 1882) still churns out beautiful (and expensive!) packs today. One such pack was recently listed on Ebay for $100,000 US!

In this country, Woods Canada made their own versions beginning in 1909. These packs simply referred to as "Woods Packs" feature prominantly in the paddling films of Bill Mason but had a much more common utilitarian role of hauling forest fire hoses and axes in the bush. Below are the two models, the No.1 Standard and No. 200. These designs were later adapted by Duluth Pack to make their famous Northwoods Pack.


No.1 Standard and No. 200 Woods Packs
The company closed up shop a few years ago, but their their trademark and product line have been acquired by another company and many of these items are being produced again. Here's a pic from their 2009 Catalog.


From the Woods '09 Catalogue
In keeping with the direction of making my own gear, I decided to try and attempt a basic canvas pack for the planned canoe trip next summer. This fastastic Tutorial on making a Canvas Pack was detailed enough, but not having access to an industrial sewing machine limited my options. I also had a hard time sourcing out heavy duty 15oz mildew treated canvas from a local source and wasn't about to pay the expensive shipping and import duties if I ordered from abroad.

Instead, I stumbled on the page of Backcountry Gear Exchange, a small outfitting company based in Kearney (just outside the western access points to Algonquin Park) that was setup to recycle and reuse old gear. I picked up a battered old Woods #200 pack for $25 CND (brand new retail for $115 + tax). It needed repair to the leather components and was missing the tumpline strap, but overall the heavy duty canvas on the faded pack was sound. Here are some pics with it partially filled with a bag of wood shavings.


Views of the pack - front, side, back
The leather straps on the pack needed replacement. Removing the simple splash rivets was simple enough with a pair of pliers, but a former repair job on one buckle area used Slotted and Robertson screws that were preened over square bolts as a makeshift rivets.


Torn tumpline buckle strap; Makeshift rivets
Removing them required sawing the face of the bolt into quarters with a small hacksaw and then chipping away at the metallic fragments. Once loosened, the screws came off easily enough.


Sawing the bolt face; one screw rivet removed
With the other leather pieces removed, the canvas pack will get a thorough washing to get rid of the grimy stains on the exterior. Then the bulk of the leather components will be replaced. More of the next stage posted here.

Pack baskets typically have a handle at the back to take the strain off the straps when lifting. I've seen it made from leather, but the more aesthetic ones are made from bent wood. Wanting to use up some scraps, I thought I'd try to bend a handle out of walnut stock. 4 strips of differing thicknesses and lengths were soaked overnight and then added to pot of boiling water on the stove. Could've carved a form to bend around but got a little lazy, so once softened, I bent them by hand and eventually placed them in a trigger clamp to hold the shape. Only 1 piece cracked so I had three pieces to choose from.


Bent walnut stock in clamps
In the end, I opted for the piece on the right. It didn't bend symmetrically but had the best length and proportions. While it dried out, I begun to lash the rim with 1/8" leather lace in a double cross pattern. Some space was left in the back for the handle which was shaved down with a crooked knife and further shaped with notches where the inner flat rim would rest. The tips were cut down to a point to insert into the weave of the basket.


Bushel handle; Inserted into the rim
After the handle was securely in place, the remainder of the rim was lashed with lace to end up with the following...


All lashed up
The bottom of the basket still needed runners - pieces of wood that elevate the bottom weave from the ground while also securing the straps of the harness. An unused scrap walnut found in the storage room would do nicely. It had a distinct warp to it, but I figured it was still usable for this project since the bottom of the basket will naturally bulge and curve when loaded. At 1 - 1/8th", it was too thick so after marking out the pieces, I shaped them down with the spokeshave and rounded the edges. Slots where the harness straps would run through were chiseled out too.


Walnut stock; shaped with a spokeshave
The pieces would be secured to the basket with wood screws attached to inner runners made from another scrap piece of neatly planed basswood - figured the light creamy basswood would blend nicely with the unstained reed. I couldn't resist decorating this wood with pyrography since it burns so well, so one of the inner pieces has a paddle design quickly burned on it.


Runners complete; attached to the bottom


Paddle Decoration


View into the bottom
Unfortunately, trying to reach down into the basket and screw the runners properly proved to be a major difficulty as I had difficulty seeing and had to work by feel. In the end, they went on lopsided, but this is the bottom of the basket so I didn't care by this point.

Still to do...a custom pack harness saved for another post.

July 26 Update: Part 3 now posted