I made a long trip with many portages through Quetico Provincial Park during the summer of 2021. During that trip, I decided that my old 65L canoe pack was ready for retirement, and something larger, with better water resistance was in order.
After talking with a few people, reading reviews, and doing my own research, I settled on a pack with a lot of room and a good reputation: the “Eureka! Canoe Pack 115L”.
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| Eureka! Canoe Pack 115L |
This pack is huge, with tons of storage space! It’s effectively a single large compartment bag, with welded attachments for carrying it in various ways. It also has six “D” ring attachments to hang additional pieces of loose gear to when the need arises.
All your gear goes into the bag which is roll top style. Two straps then go over the top of the bag to cinch it tight, and two additional straps go down the sides to secure the ends of the roll top.
To carry the bag a on a portage, it comes with shoulder straps and a padded hip belt. To help you lift the bag into and out of your canoe (which can be heavy with 115L of gear), there are two strong gripping handles on the back of the pack. These are fantastic for quickly hauling the pack around.
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| Side View of Eureka! Canoe Pack 115L |
While the bag is rated at being watertight, I would personally never trust all my gear (including my electronics and sleeping bag) to a single layer, even one as thick and strong as this one.
Dropping your bag on a sharp root during a portage, or getting caught up in a fishing lure, can happen too easy. I compartmentalize my gear in the pack into smaller bags, with the stuff I really, truly want to keep dry in their own watertight bags. This makes packing and unpacking easier, and gives me more confidence that if I go for a swim on a class 3 rapid, my gear will be dry, if and when I eventually find it again! 😀
I’m happy with my investment and believe it will last me for many years to come. I purchased my Eureka! Canoe Pack 115L online from Outdoors Oriented, an Ontario, Canadian retailer.