How to Secure an Ice Chest Into a Canoe

Before you try to secure your ice chest into a canoe, make sure you have an ice chest suitable for canoe trips or canoe camping. It should be sturdy and small enough to sit on the floor near the middle of the canoe. Most important, your ice chest should have sturdy handles that can be used to secure it to the crossbars of the canoe. This is the only way to secure your ice chest in case of a tipover. If the handles break, you may lose your ice chest.

Things You'll Need

  • Duct tape
  • Rope
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Instructions

    • 1

      Load your ice chest completely with chilling devices (such as ice packs or ice) and anything that will be in the ice chest for the duration of your trip. Pre-chilling the items is a good idea, because they will slowly warm as the ice or ice packs in the chest thaw.

    • 2

      Close the ice chest and latch it if possible. If there's no way to securely latch the ice chest shut, consider sealing it with a continuous strap of duct tape all the way around its mid-section. You could also lash it shut with a piece of webbing or rope.

    • 3

      Place the ice chest on the floor of the canoe, as close to the middle as possible. Only items heavier than the ice chest should go closer to the middle of the canoe than the ice chest. If possible, have someone else hold the canoe steady while you position the ice chest.

    • 4

      Run a piece of rope through one of the ice chest's handles, and tie it securely to the nearest thwart, or crossbar, of the canoe.

    • 5

      Tie a second piece of rope securely between the ice chest's other handle and the same thwart, if the ice chest is directly underneath it, or the nearest thwart on the other side of the ice chest if the ice chest is sitting between thwarts.