Recent content by PaddlingPika

Would something similar to the yoga block beverage holders described on this site work for your coffee mug? A spill-proof lid might make one-handed sipping difficult. It can be nice to pause paddling long enough to sip coffee without having to set the paddle down.

A couple of years ago stepping out of a canoe in current led to a torn meniscus for me. At first the knee was sore but not bad - couldn't quite bend it all the way but I could still kneel. After about six weeks it got dramatically worse; I could hardly walk and certainly couldn't kneel. After...

I have a couple of sets of battery powered boat lights but hadn't been using them. Usually after dark I just have a headlamp to turn on if needed. Trying to keep hands/arms low with an in-water recovery is what I do when a headlamp is required for avoiding stumps and such. One time last year...

That is an interesting point. The cracks are not directly at the point of impact (at least I don't think so), they are in areas of greater hull curvature above and below the impact.

There have been discussions about moving to lighter weight canoes as we age but that tends to mean more fragile construction. I want a canoe that is both light weight and robust! The Flashfire is one of my favorite canoes. I had a Bell Flashfire that weighed about 36 pounds and then when a...

I kept hoping that someone would start making the Mohawk solo models in T-formex. The Mohawk Solo13, Solo14, and Odyssey were popular canoes around here and it used to be not too hard for a paddler wanting to get into solo canoeing to find one used for a reasonable price. My first solo canoe...

As a result of this thread I'd looked at the REI website during their sale and ended up purchasing a pair of their sun gloves. Not sure how durable they will be but so far they are comfortable for paddling. I wear long sleeve woven shirts for sun protection but the cuffs pull up when reaching...

That is a beautiful canoe - looks like a fitting way to arrive at a beautiful campsite! What make/model canoe is it?

Zip all the way, to protect the zippers as Tketcham says, although I've sometimes left an inside window covering unzipped. An unzipped door is more likely to end up sticking out in the dirt and not staying on the ground sheet while taking the tent down - more likely to snag the mesh and get...

I wouldn't rule out the Wenonah Voyager or using wind covers. Flashfire and Wildfire are probably my favorite canoes, but for big open water (which I do only rarely) my Voyager is what I choose. It is easy to make progress paddling straight into a headwind in the Voyager. If the wind is from...

Have you tried a pad that is not glued in place - something with rubber grip material on the bottom and/or a pad cut to fit snugly wedged from one gunnel to the other? I don't have any advice for what glue or tape to use, but if it were me I'd try to find a removable solution first.

You don't necessarily need a thermos to have good re-hydrated lunches. My sister-in-law made some delicious lunches from recipes in a backpacking cookbook. They were packed by individual servings in zip-lock freezer bags. At breakfast time one would add water to the bag to start re-hydration...

The 8 ft telescoping REI poles have worked well for me the few times I've set up a tarp. Bought mine more than a decade ago.

Low to the water docks are my first choice for getting in or out. I'm a wimp when it comes to wet-footing. If I can keep my feet dry and still not scratch my canoe that is what I go for. A couple of years ago though in my eagerness to avoid wet feet for a local paddle I decided to try...

I'm pretty sure different manufacturers did have different versions of "Royalite". I bought an R-84 Mohawk Odyssey about 20 years ago so was paying attention to their descriptions. Here is a Mohawk ad page linked to on the Mohawk website Mohawk ad that describes the layers they used.