Recent content by Steve in Idaho

My preference is for no gelcoat, simply because it adds weight but no strength to the build. But lacking gelcoat, the outer layer should be glass or maybe carbon, otherwise scrapes and scratches in kevlar will fuzz. This is one reason why I like the layups from Millbrook and Clipper, for...

Welcome @canoekevin ! It's been years since I was in a Camper, so you'll have to take what I say with a grain of salt. Most of the lightweight canoes (40 lbs and under) I'm aware of are not going to have the flat bottom personality that the Camper is famous for. My first inclination (probably...

Here's another.... The Mores Creek branch of Lucky Peak reservoir on a quiet day is a dead flat course through rock walled canyon. Fairly wide, but no beaches, no bank you can park a canoe on. Beautiful currentless glassy stretch of water that is popular with paddlers. Put one ski boat or wake...

Much like what @scoutergriz said, that local stretch of river I mentioned tends to change significantly, sometimes drastically, every spring. One feature that appeared after spring flood several years ago was a debris and log pile that blocked the existing channel so thoroughly that it created a...

Weather classifications.....it's Idaho....look up and behind every ten minutes. :LOL: Seriously - Two summers ago, on the upper Teton River...blue skies and fair weather forecast....clouds appeared over the top of the mountains to the west. Fifteen minutes later, we're in a squall with...

I see the problem with this as the same problem with "Class 1" designations. My local river has a ~15 mile stretch that is called class one by everyone who ever wrote about it AFAIK. Yet it is sometimes strewn with serious hazards - sweepers, strainers, powerful eddys, etc. Right in the first...

Oh, now that I took the time to read the article, I guess that's obvious. 🙄 I would lament the loss of any desire for hot spring soaking caused by it, but that already happened. The Internet disclosing all the "secret" soaks to the general public pretty much ended it for me. Thinking of the...

Around here, one night add blue/green algae to the mix. In other places, dangerous reptiles. ;)

I sure miss my old Trooper with its steel gutters.

Well, I found a killer deal on some used unknown brand of gutter mount bars (maybe Thule or similar "aero" bars). From all I read, the load capacity should be at least about 90 lbs. That will do for any of my solo canoes, the heaviest being about 45 lbs. It will certainly be fine with the 30 lb...

I see what you did there. ;)

It's an interesting question. I don't know how to answer, because I can't imagine how one would reliably determine it. My local lake has somewhat restricted access, and is aligned pretty close to the prevailing wind. It's about seven miles long, so it doesn't take a really strong wind to build...

I like it.

Good idea. I've never used AC when actually camping in the RV, and never really missed it. You might want to look into portable diesel heaters. But anyway, I've been getting by with a Buddy propane heater when winter camping in my truck cap.

Much activity around here is scheduled around the expected appearance of bg algae. Previous reports have stated that the brain eating amoeba is found primarily in warm waters. I wonder if the geothermal contributions to Yellowstone waters are in play here.