How to outfit your canoe. Part 1- Airbags

How to outfit a canoe

With so many options for personalising your canoe, it can be a bit overwhelming where to start. One of the first things you should put into your canoe is airbags. These are essential if you need to rescue your boat. They aren't there as oxygen bags if you get stuck under water to some people confusion!

So, a couple of questions to ask your self before starting:

What are you intending to use your canoe for?

Worst case, can you self rescue in the environment you plan on going?

I've set my canoe up for solo use on open water and white water. So i've gone for some big 60" bags from Tribal Airbags. Put simply the more airbag in your canoe the less it can fill with heavy water which inhibits rescue! To secure them in i've laced my boat at 10cm intervals simply by using a tape measure, permanent marker and 4mm cord. I think 10cm looks smart and really secures your airbags. Also at 10cm you'll find you'll have a close attachment point for the end of your airbags to attach to.

When measuring, make sure you measure from the same point down each side of the canoe otherwise you'll get wonky lacing! I measured from the nose cap working towards the carrying yoke. When it comes to attaching the end of the airbag I used an S clip to secure the nose end to my painter loop and i've threaded the other end straight through the lacing. You can use small karabiners as well to attach the other end of the bag. You'll want to glue a D ring to the floor of your canoe to allow a strap to go around the bag. I use Gorilla Glue that's waterproof, bonds dissimilar materials and can be used outdoors. It does expand slightly so don't go too crazy with the glue! if you do have a bit spill out, after it's cured you can use a knife and scraper to tidy it up. To neaten the end of the lacing I drilled 2 holes 2cm apart. This allows you to half hitch your lacing on the inside of the canoe keeping the outside free of things to catch and also looking smart.

From time to time I do paddle tandem. To give me the versatility, on my front airbag i've made the 4 pieces of lacing closest to the seat removable. This is without affecting the rest of the lacing. This means i can remove that lacing, roll my airbag up and retighten the yellow strap. I carefully thought about the placement of my front D ring to allow me to tighten it if I paddle tandem. I simply placed the D ring far enough towards the nose of the canoe that even after rolling the airbag the D ring is still under the airbag to allow for tightening.

The rear airbag goes under my seat just to get as much from my airbags as possible. If you do this, make sure you cover any sharp bolts from your seat and make sure there isn't anything else that could puncture your airbags.

So thats's how i fitted my big 60" airbags! If you paddle your canoe tandem more often a 30" airbag will likely be more suitable and require no rolling up if you need your front seat. 30" airbags are very common but obviously more difficult in the case of rescue or self rescue. Foam blocks are common in a club/centre environment due to there durability. Out of all the options these tend to dispace the least amount of water making the boat harder to rescue. With all this airbag talk, it's just as important is to make sure you know how to rescue others or yourself. Otherwise it makes no difference what you've out into your boat!

Part 2 on canoe outfitting will look at a sailing set up.