Design
Backpack Boat
Designed by Paul Butler
A 5 ft, 25 lb boat meant to be carried, wheeled or towed to remote fishing lakes where nothing larger can go. Straps rig it to a pack frame, and its twin skegs double as an axle mount for wheels. The wide beamed hull supports an average adult on flat water and can be paddled facing forward, rowed with 3 ft oars or pushed by a tiny trolling motor.
It is built by a variant of stitch and glue, or traditionally, with a bottom of fiberglass and graphite, and needs only a jigsaw, drill, block plane and a few clamps. Optional side compartments add flotation and dry storage. The plans also cover the Backpack Plus, a 6 ft 9 in version 4 ft wide at the chine that weighs about 43 lb as drawn.
What building a Backpack Boat actually takes
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Those medians firm up as more people log this boat.
Builds of this boat
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