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I actually started poling swamps with my 250cm double blade before I got a pole. I still use the double to pole sometimes on back country trips when I don't have a pole. I wouldn't do it in a rocky creek or strong moving water, but my double has held up really well to pushing in muck and...

I was just thinking myself how a longer carbon double would be nice.... I suspect I'm stuck with what I have, but maybe someone will donate one to your cause :)

Alan, thank you for the well thought-out and executed test. I appreciate your approach and effort. To me, this is the crux of it. When I switch to double is when I'm trying to make miles across a lake in my Phoenix during a trip (though I'm confident I don't have your skill or form with a...

@yknpdlr Well, a C4 crossing the plains is a pretty good test of a tie-down system! I didn't mean to imply your system was inferior or anything...just thinking through my own decision-making and looking for opportunities to compare, contrast, and learn. At the end of the day most systems...

I had to look under my hood to get oriented with this pic. I opted for a bolt in the frame along the side of the engine compartment, much closer to the hydraulics that lift the hood. My thinking was that having the anchor behind, or in line with, the bow limits motion better. Before the hood...

Nice boat. Anyone know the weight?

100F with low humidity sounds fine by me when you're on a spring-fed river. It's a far cry from here, where the humidity goes over 90% and water temps in swimming pools are over 90F as well. That is also my wife's preferred paddle position in a tandem. Sometimes we don't even pretend she's...

Inspired by Murat and others, I purchased carbonfiber ferrules with the intention of making a two-piece wood pole. In case of the wood breaking before the ferrules, I'd want to reuse the ferrules, those being the more expensive and harder to replace material. I'm wondering how to avoid this...

I grew up without AC. Now I live about 75 miles further north and our summer power bill seems to go up every year because we use the AC more and more.

Sevareid and Rutstrum are classics - glad y'all are enjoying them. The former I stumbled upon in the UMaine library the summer I worked there. Rutstrum I only learned about more recently after a friend gave me his book on living in winter. Hospital and Haven sounds very interesting - cool to...

Helpful tips, all, thanks for sharing.

Likeiwse I haven't been there since circa 2010, but I echo the sentiment. Fisheating Creek was one of the prettiest places I ever paddled in Florida. I had one of my pics from there as a screensaver for many years. That is the place I learned that napping in a kayak while solo in gator...

The straps were purchased as they were, marketed as hood straps for tying down a boat (I didn't make em myself). I agree, in retrospect, that the webbing isn't terribly thick in any dimension. I can't recall where I got them but they were pretty cheap. I store most of my gear indoors; my car...

More robust webbing - yup. I hear you on not using carabiners, but they're awfully fast and convenient. Maybe I'll reconsider for highway travel.... @scoutergriz those loops sound useful, but there aren't high rises anywhere near me. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled. I do have some...

Very glad!

I went to cinch my bowlines down ahead of a long trip at interstate speeds, and one of my hoodstraps ripped. Seems like UV degradation, if I had to guess, it was flaking material everywhere. I melted the ends and tried to tie the long end to the carabiner and cinch again - it broke again. The...

😆 @eckilson I'm sure it'd be a great river boat too with that rocker. I'd eyed one up as a solo pole-and-paddle boat at one point.

Y'all are terrible enablers. Despite my attendance at a freestyle workshop or two, I don't actually aspire to freestyle paddling, beyond 'functional freestyle' ie useful strokes in real-world applications. And, it seems like the Starfire's acolytes are mostly freestylers.

The lack of moderation on paddling.com, formerly paddling.net, is very sad. But among the ads for who-knows-what nonsense, there are still some good boats to be spotted. I'm very tempted by this one due to its rarity, but I think it's too duplicative of what I already have (Phoenix...

I have both Carlisles and Mohawks. I also have a slight preference for Mohawks, though I consider both beater paddles, reserved for the rockiest of rivers or the most careless of borrowers. I've truly abused both and been impressed with their durability. That said I really don't like that...