Level Six already boasts a long history of making life on the water safer and easier for paddlers.
They produce some of the most reliable rescue equipment, top-of-the-line paddling apparel, and durable gear available for all things kayaking, canoeing, and paddleboarding. They make it a point to impact the lives of paddlers beyond their time on the water, too. The team at Level Six consistently puts conscience before commerce, and dedicates a solid portion of both their time and their profits to causes that support paddling communities and protect the environments that provide our playgrounds. Level Six currently donates 1% of all profits to watershed conservation efforts, saves 50,000 plastic bags each year, uses 100% recycled cardboard, is working toward carbon neutral production, helped raise thousands of dollars for the Ukrainian Red Cross, collaborates with a handful of programs to increase access to watersports, awards kayak school scholarships to a group of young paddlers each year, sponsors events for grassroots growth in small whitewater communities, and stands by the Ethical Trading Initiatives Framework to ensure humane labor practices. All this to say, Level Six doesn’t just care about manufacturing bomber paddling gear. They care most about the people using it.
That’s where the motivation for their new line of canoe accessories comes from. Most of us would probably say that we step into a boat so that we can leave behind the rest of our lives on the shore for a while. At its core, paddling is one of the most cathartic activities imaginable. But the amount of work and worry that goes into planning and enacting a long boating trip can sometimes throw all those good intentions to the wind.
Cue a host of canoe accessories designed to take the edge off, almost as well as that river beer waiting for you at camp after a long day.
Level Six wants to absorb some of the stress involved in a multi-day paddling trip so that you can focus on what you got on the water in the first place: enjoying time on the water.
Bad Hass Barrel Pack
The name doesn’t lie. This harness earns its stripes because of how easily it adjusts to fit whatever you’ve got to work with. The Bad Hass Barrel Pack nestles either a 30 or 60 liter barrel, whichever fits your needs best, and keeps it secure either in your boat or on your back. Air mesh keeps it nice and light (since the load itself is more than heavy enough), and the structured back panel plus plenty of padding around the hips and shoulders makes lugging a barrel as close to a comfortable experience as it possibly could be.
Algonquin Backpack and Tripping Pack
These designs take their title from Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada — nothing short of a worthy namesake, so it’s a good thing that they live up to the hype. Neither of these pieces are necessarily “groundbreaking”, and that’s the whole point. They’re new takes on timeless pieces that will always serve an unquestionable purpose on any boat: basic gear storage. The Algonquin packs simply make meeting those needs that much easier and trustworthy. The Tripping Pack holds a whopping 96 liters worth of gear, and features eight different webbing handles along with a harness featuring the same comfortable air mesh padding as the Bad Hass to make transporting it from the boat to the shore a breeze even when fully loaded. Its little brother, the Algonquin Backpack, takes the more traditional backpack route and holds 55 liters with all the same portage components. Both packs are fully waterproof thanks to removable roll-top dry bags, which makes the packs themselves more versatile and helps with internal organization.
Helium Yoke Pad
Don’t worry, Level Six didn’t forget about the most unwieldy load of all: your canoe. The small but mighty Helium Yoke Pad makes all the difference when you’ve got the weight of the world (at least as far as your trip goes) on your shoulders. There’s no way to make a long portage seem easy, but this handy pad might make it feel like the time is going by just a bit faster. Air mesh padding returns for lightweight comfort, and Grip-Tex fabric prevents sliding. It’s the little things that make the big things more manageable, and the Helium Pad is no exception.