Recent content by yknpdlr

For those who think that bags can be odor proof I have a story. I have heard that a bear's sense o smell is 7 times better than than of a blood hound. I was an Air Force air crewmember (navigator) when we flew into the Philippines one day with a load of airmen passengers on a KC-135. Now...

I'm with pblanc. I can't tell you how many wilderness search reports include the subject's lack of having a reliable source of light (a cell phone does not count as a relisable llight source for travel). When comes down to what is necessary, other tha a compass and a fire starter, a headlamp is...

Depending on who is doing it and the particular canoe, sometimes it is easier for a single person to do the carry with an appropriate portage center yoke. sometimes it is easier for two to carry upside down with a yoke at each end. sometimes with foam noodles on the gunwales for a dual upside...

I dropped CANOE and Kayak magazine several years ago because it seemed to focus 95% on anything but canoeing. Virtually every article was geared toward the young kayak community with acdtive young paddlers and photographs and white water. Oh there might be a token short article on canoes once...

I suppose I could make that permanent addition in my own canoe, but I often paddle race or train with several different canoes from diferent owners. That requires me to use foam blocks and creative other holding methods if there are portages.

In my guide boat I use webbing tie down straps attached to my seat to hold a long ~1" diameter dowel with tennis balls on the ends to hold it above my heel. Works good and is infinitely adjustable. It would also work in the stern of a canoe. But I have not considered using the concept in the...

As a primary bow paddle racer, I have struggled with various types of bow foot braces for years. I might be in anything from a 34' or 28' voyageur to a C4, to any kind of C2 canoe. They all have various distances from seat to bulkhead or bow stem to deal with. A couple of my paddling partners...

Wow, it has been such a long time since I heard the word "Chibougamau". Fun to pronounce. My dad took me there on a fishing trip in the mid-1960s. We drove up in his International Scout jeep-like vehicle, long obsolete now. Great memories. All dirt road from Senneterre on north at the time...

Caleb Davis Tremolo branded cherry ottertail. Edges are thinned for slicing. Tip is splined for strength. 10% varnish, 90% oil mix on grip and shaft. Reverse ratio on blade. I have a bunch of them.'nuf said.

Got caught in a bad thunder storm and downpour while racing on the Yukon River in a large carbon voyageur canoe. Debated for a while what to do, but decided to continue on since we were in a canyon section with high rocky cliffs on both sides and thus felt relatively protected. The worst part...

Recall the strange case of Carl Skalak who was canoeing in the Adirondacks and got caught in a not too unusual late November snowstorm. The snow was heavy, and although within walking distance of self-extraction, he pressed the SOS button on his SPOT device for the first such rescue in the...

I also had what I thought was SPOT insurance for a while, but recall that it might have had strict limitations, as was indicated when I carried it ( as a race rule mandated requirement) during Yukon River races. GEOS provides S.O.S. monitoring and emergency dispatch through the dedicated...

A dear friend and fellow wilderness guide instructor and BSA leadership contributor for the past 32 years died suddenly this past May. I have reported on the pain of this event here before. Over the years, partly in friendly banter, partly out of curiosity, whenever one or the other of us...

I almost forgot to mention, by our own rules, each multiple of 500(ish) miles of pit crew support costs me another solid gold nugget at her favorite Dawson gold jewlery shop. :eek:

My wife's interest and participation has changed considerably over the years. At first we would take two small kids and a dog Adirondack canoe camping loaded into a 17' Grumman. it was good as long as a) it wasn't too far, b) bugs were few or at least manageable, c) it was warm enough to swim...