Old Town Pack Solo

[Matt C]

I steamed ribs into my pack, nice and stiff now

jason

I have heard tell of some OT Packs being overly 'flexible' amidship, I'm just curious: how much do you weigh? None of my Packs oilcanned excessively (like my MR Serenade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dvW3xX7NNo) but they do/did 'give a little' with my 190 pound butt in the saddle.

What's the orange tubing for?

 

[latremorej]

Orange tubing is for a diy spray deck, and this one oil canned really bad. With my 225lbs rear on the seat, I couldn't even fit a GSI dry box under there. Probably canned in 4 inches maybe?

 

[Matt C]

Nice job on the spray deck, Jason! What year was the Pack?

 

[latremorej]

Jeez, cant remember what year it was, I picked it up from a lady on craigslist and it now hangs on my father's garage wall 6 hours away! It was pretty beat up though.

http://www.canoetripping.net/forums...discussions/diy/380-old-town-pack-restoration

here is the old post I put up about it a bunch of years back

 

[latremorej]

Also, as YC stated up thread, I loved this little boat on the Oswegotchie. I had it on Stillwater once too! Didn't get too far away from shore! Carrying up the trail was a breeze and it's good to fish from. I wouldn't use it for trips longer than a few nights though.

Jason

 

[Matt C]

Jeez, cant remember what year it was, I picked it up from a lady on craigslist and it now hangs on my father's garage wall 6 hours away! It was pretty beat up though.

http://www.canoetripping.net/forums...discussions/diy/380-old-town-pack-restoration

here is the old post I put up about it a bunch of years back

Nice read! A lot of work invested. Too many mods now to get a real weight, but I would have been curious as to the weight of yours since it oil-canned so bad. All three of my Packs weighed in at between 35.5 and 36 pounds, a little more than advertised, and I believe what may have kept the oil-canning to a minimum.

 

[latremorej]

That could be, thinking back, 35lbs seems to right on track but I dont remember. For some reason, 38lbs after the ropes and ribs seems right in my mind. I wont be up north until August, but if I remember, i will try to get a weight, and look at the Ser# to see what year it was made

jason

 

[Guest]

Too many mods now to get a real weight, but I would have been curious as to the weight of yours since it oil-canned so bad. All three of my Packs weighed in at between 35.5 and 36 pounds, a little more than advertised, and I believe what may have kept the oil-canning to a minimum.

Y’all are making me miss my OT Pack. I may need to find a photo of that canoe, all dressed up with camo spray covers as a duckhunting canoe. An old (both known for 40+ years and pushing 70) friend owns and paddles that Pack yet today.

My Pack was a 1988, so a few years before Uniroyal was EPA or OSHA mandated to make changes in their Royalex sheet manufacturing process. It weighted right around the speced weight of 33 lbs, and a few pounds heavier with some custom outfitting – truss seat drops, skid plates, some doohickies to make the DIY front cover more of a raised cowling for a better hunting hide and to accommodate a gun rest.

It oil canned a little, but not unreasonably for a flat-bottomed RX canoe. The little U “keel” helps stiffen that bottom a touch.

About Pack weights; a friend, a large 200+ lbs friend, had a 1991 or 92 Pack. After the front thwart rotted out he didn’t bother to replace it. With his bulk on the seat the Pack only bowed in slightly.

I was astounded when I saw that, but when I later picked up his Pack I discovered the secret, verified with a scale; his un-outfitted & thwart-less OT Pack weighed every bit of 50lbs.

Some of the Royalex sheets from around 1990/91-ish are suspect; a few were heavy uber-RX, others were more average weight but somehow less durable.

The pre-1990 Royalex was absolutely a superior material; I know some picky RX paddlers who actively seek out pre-90’s used canoes for that very reason.

Jason, when you get a look at the HIN on the oil canning Pack I’d be curious about the year.