Loading up a backpack, and fishing gear, the Pack was just the right size and weight to carry through those long wooded portages balanced on my backpack frame. And I do mean rock solid stability. It can turn on a dime, but takes an experienced paddler to keep it on course as it is so short it doesn't track well. Only a mild sensation of tippiness that quickly goes away after a little paddling around. Great little canoe. I've done a few multi-day trips with it and it holds a lot of gear. I kept it one season, and feel it has a place, but not for me. Also carry a 54 inch aluminum and plastic single, likewise built for abuse. I have had three other solo canoes and like this one the best for tracking, stability and turning. Read Pack reviews or submit your own review to share with the paddling community. I've found with a bit of heel to the side of the paddle the turning pressures are balanced out and the result is a nice, straight and surprisingly quiet glide. The two side pieces of the frame are right against my hips and not comfortable at all. pad-eyes around the gunnels for tie-downs, I'm making some waterproof boxes to put between the cane-seats and hull. Paddles nice, and yes it is a canoe, and yes it is "tippy". Also, I am another that paddles the Pack backwards. It is very difficult to place a yoke- and in the case of the Pack canoe it must be a clamp on yoke- on center and still find enough room to fit ones pack and head on either side of it up in the canoe. Old Town Pack RX Solo Canoe. I was in 1-2' waves yesterday and though busy maintaining control all went well. and in tough Royalex. It makes the boat much more stable and comfortable. I am a woman in her 60's, 5'4", and strong, but no Amazon. I wanted to write something here because this site was so useful when I was trying to decide whether to buy a Pack. I mentioned that because when I say that I've never felt uncomfortable in it, I didn't want to give the impression that I'm constantly in the water and just used to it. Also, if you tilt it to the gunwale, it's going over. After reading the reviews, I bought it. I wish it had slightly higher gunwales, and more rocker. Snap a dry bag to the seat and put your dogs in the middle/front. Unfortuinatly, neither my daughter nor I like being in the same boat and the Ram-16 was too large for me to solo so we switched to kayaks, the Coleman sitting in my boat-barn, mostly unused. I need to get rid of a couple of boats but the Pack will not be one of them. I can vary my leg position, sometimes sitting cross legged and at other times with legs out stretched. Tracking is a little off probably because of it's short length but it's still easy to paddle along. This boat is made of royalex, but still only weighs 33lbs! This canoe is not sexy or impressive to look at, it is just fun to paddle and lightweight. I use my adjustable kayak paddle (BB Glide) set at 240cm. Great, lightweight canoe, perfect for ponds, slow rivers and small lakes. This review is more for people considering using this as a tandem. Thanks to a hint I read on line somewhere, I marked the center of gravity on the gunnels with tape (with the help of a strong young man who patiently tried various spots). I use the seat as a work surface and the thwart as a brace for my behind. Old Town states the canoe can handle up to 550lbs so just don't go over. I have owned the Old Town Tripper, Discovery, Guide, and Pack canoes and have found the Pack to be the most versatile, fun, and easy to use. I forgot to bring the GPS so could not check hull speed but I easily kept up and passed Odile in my WS Mallard kayak. 12`0L, 32W, and 11.5 deep. I sold it about 10 years ago. We have been building adventure since 1898. I do disagree with some who indict its stability. Raising the seat did not raise the center of gravity because it helped me to kneel and actually lowered the center of gravity. If anyone knows of one for sale please give me a heads up. But, unlike a full-size, 2-man canoe, I cannot climb back into it on water if I jump out to swim. It paddles easily with my 260 cm kayak paddle. Perfect for what it is designed for; lightweight, shallow water solo paddling with a variety of purpose for the experienced paddler! Good boat. The minimalist seat gets a lil hard on the rump after a couple hours so I may do some tweaking here. The Old Town Pack is about the lightest and easiest handling solo canoe that I have found. Also with 2 bad knees and a frozen shoulder I still had no difficulties getting the Pack up a steep rocky river bank at the takeout. What a great boat! Excellent condition. I'm not up on all the lingo, so I don't know if that stroke has a name. I use a canoe paddle. Boxed. I lowered the seat on mine 1.5". So far I have taken the canoe down class II rapids on the Delaware River in PA and White River in VT. Very stable, and easy to paddle with a Kayak paddle (240cm). FIBERGLASS OLD TOWN PACK CANOE. I have loaded my Pack with five days worth of provisions, including a reclining lawn chair, for a summer trip down the John Day River in Oregon. If you are having difficulty finding a drop in replacement for your modern wooden OLD TOWN CANOE seats, either cane our webbed, these seats are the dimensional equivalent. There is nothing like laying down in a canoe on a cool but mostly sunny fall day watching the clouds float by. In tandem paddling (300#) we had way too little freeboard. PROS: Very stable out of the box. For cushioning I use a foam gunwale support for cartopping and it is just enough to take the pressure off. For the value and what it can do, it scores high. Its best use is for fishing, paddling streams and small ponds/lakes. Currently own 3 other OT canoes, Camper, Penobscot, and Tripper (ranger model) so very familiar with these tough canoes. Bottom line: I take it down Class II and III and have never rolled it, and take it across Burntside Lake and the other big lakes in the Boundary Waters when the wind is up and whitecaps racing, and have never had a problem. If you’re browsing eBay for that special new canoe, you will find that Old Town’s trademarked wood and canvas canoes are still available. The width was just a little to much for a short guy to clear with either a single or a kayak paddle (255 cm). You should take the Pack out on your favorite pond or lake and learn it's limits. I fit just fine kneeling or sitting, though find sitting on bench less stable. One demerit for the possibility of the boat to send you a rare emergency telegram. I have owned two Old Town Pack canoes. Soon, I will try overnighting like this once I make up a deck cover. It makes for a quiet and secure ride. In retrospect, another inch or two forward for the seat may have been even better, but this is splitting hairs – the new seat location is 100x better than the factory location. My wife got it for me for father's day at an outrageously cheap price and I couldn't be happier with the boat. Size 13 feet make it hard to tuck my legs under so my solution was to replace the seat with second thwart mounted at the rear of the two seat attachments. The high seat position allows you to store more under it, and the high position also gives you better leverage for paddling. After one dumping in a cold lake trying to stand up, I lowered the seats with some wood spacers from Old Town and the stability was improved greatly. Simon Gardner and Chad Smith have over 25 years combined experience in light weight boat building. I found a nice used Old Town Pack Canoe for sale, and I got it. Replacement seats to fit old town canoe. I don't hunt out of it but great for getting away from everybody. I have switched to a canoe paddle. This is very close to where the seats on my other solo canoes (Moccasin, Serenade, Ladybug) are set for my size paddler to get optimum trim when unloaded, except for me!