REVIEWS
17 Reviews
Happy to send it back
I returned the item because the rack system was too small for my canoe.
Bruce57
Too expensive for the engineering. Cost of the Evo Flush bar and the addition of a conversion kit $$. How does the average customer afford it
CanoeJack
The Portage is marketed as being compatible with the Wilderness-trim Subaru Outback (6th generation). However, the beam of a standard touring canoe is exactly as wide as this vehicle's rails, and the mounting method of the Portage makes it impossible to combine the two. Seems like it would be fine for a very narrow canoe, like a pack boat or solo canoe, but unless you have an extremely boxy vehicle with at least 42" between its rails, forget this product. Additionally, the Portage only includes two tie-downs. To properly secure a canoe you need four. That may be why some other reviewers are having issues with the canoe shifting in cross winds.
Chaz
Bad design, not enough space to put the four holder on the bars. I have a St-Maurice canoë from Shawinigan, Canada.
Stella brown
I’v had to replace the Thule square bar system due to rust after 20 years of excellent performance. The square bar canoe carrier was solid, easy to adjust and much sleeker than its replacement. However this unit is easier to install and remove and does the job well enough.
46er
I have the older version works much easier. The price is ridiculous.
Waldo
Easy to install so far so good. Can't wait to use it this summer
Drob23
Trying to research options to haul a canoe a few times on my F150 and this came up. It’s a bit of a pricey option when combined with the the roof rack. In the end I was able to haul a canoe securely without issue. All straps were provided and the install was easy and secure. I’d recommend it.
theoldgunner
Simple to use and holds the canoe tight. I appreciate that it can be quickly moved from one vehicle to another and it is configurable for the various cross bars. Very happy with my Thule Portage.
Bought at the same time I purchased the Wingbar Evo (which I'm very happy with). I followed the specifications for my car (Chevy Cruze). Bought this product for my canoe. We followed the instructions (which could be a lot clearer, and youtube videos, and unfortunately, it does not fit. The clamps that the canoe is supposed to rest on need to be place on the outside of the Evo Clamps. This is not how it was designed. Disappointed as I followed Thule's buying advice for my vehicle. Also the instructions for the ropes needs to be a lot clearer and we managed but I'm not convinced it was right. In the end, placing the canoe one the roof rack and tying down with the ratchet straps with rope at the front and back does the trick. You don't this product, it was a waste on money and we could have bought cheaper ratchet straps and rope.
Lynn
Had a set for 20 years on my Saab that worked flawlessly. These fit my canoe perfectly. and hold well.
mikec
I drove about 4000 km across Canada with a canoe using this product connected to wingbar evo's on a Forester. I've done lots of canoe tripping before and used other systems, including tying directly to bars and foam supports. A few notes on install: - Ensure that your cross bars are wide enough and that their attachment points won't impede with the installation of these friction-based attachments. Canoe gunnels at the attachment points are generally 2.5 to 3 feet wide, so you need bars of the same width or more for this attachment system to work, as it needs to wrap around the entire bar to clamp to. One of my side had these attachments on the outside of the clamps to the roof rack and the other two on the inside (i.e., the canoe was offset and not on the centre of the car, as the clamps were in the way). - Figuring out 2 Nm of force is difficult with these screw clamps; what typical person knows that? Since friction was the only thing holding these things on, I screwed them as hard as my fingers would allow. - The product comes with two tie-downs for the front and back of the vehicle. Four would be better (see below). I fell in love with the product during the first 2500 km through Ontario. It worked flawlessly. It was easy to install and the canoe was very snug to the bars. I didn't feel comfortable driving over 105 km/h, as the car handling seemed to feel a bit uneasy above those speeds. But that was ample fast for the roads I was on. Now, the reason for dropping one star. Once we got to the Prairies, the wind picked up to a 40 to 60 km/h crosswind. This meant that we could really only drive between 60 and 80 km/h comfortably, as the wind was dramatically pushing the canoe around. The crosswind was slowly sliding the attachments away from the gunnels, since they are only friction-based. We had to stop every hour or so to push the attachments snug against the gunnels, and I was tightening them as much as I could to try to limit this. The only thing I wonder is if we had four tie-downs rather than just the two, that may have limited lateral movement of the canoe. I will certainly be attempting that with future uses of this product. Overall, it is a great product and I recommend it, particularly if you are not exclusively driving in commonly windy areas.
Tim
I have used other car roof canoe carriers and found them lacking. This one, used in combination with the Evo WingBar, is tremendously better. The engineering and quality of materials is impressive. I can't imagine anything more secure and easy to use.
Jim
OK to be fair, I haven't done my final installation (waiting for xadapt12 kit) but can say I love the concept, just not the "clamps" that hold the portage padded feet. They don't really fit an AeroBlade very well (flipped or not). I am going to use Xadapt12 which holds padded foot to AeroBlade by means of T bolt in AeroBlade track. (That's what center hole in padded foot is for.) Expect if to work excellently. Crossroads foot pack and AeroBlades also excellent.
Portage Paul
Purchased the Portage to use on my 2015 4Runner with 53" Aerobars. The canoe I own is a 14 6 Old Town Saranac. I can only get one side of the canoe in the brackets (either front or back). For example I set the back brackets up and place the canoe in them and then move to the front brackets and they cannot be spread wide enough. They are limited by the distance between the roof rack rails. Not a bad product but definitely not going to work on every vehicle. If you have a setup similar to mine might want to save the money.
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