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  1. yknpdlr

    Safest places to canoe in the USA after a nuclear war

    When I was in the Air Force, flying with the Strategic Air Command (specializing in nuclear delivery systems), we were definitely a target at our base not far from the southwestern corner of the Adirondacks. We knew that not only was the base itself a target, but so was the area several miles...
  2. yknpdlr

    Pack canoeists, do you use portage thwarts or yokes?

    I'll add that with the bolt-in yoke method, I use a thin line tied from bow to stern with a quick release clip at my hand, the line being slack enough for me to grab it at my hip. This allows me to control tip of the canoe for going up or down slopes. Sometimes the quick release is needed...
  3. yknpdlr

    Pack canoeists, do you use portage thwarts or yokes?

    it does work, but the glued in block is too thick (high). The clamp installed itself at a steep angle tended to not be secure and slide off the block. So I had to fabricate small wood spacer blocks to put through the clamp bolt to extend the depth of the metal clamp to the level of the block. it...
  4. yknpdlr

    Pack canoeists, do you use portage thwarts or yokes?

    i have posted the photo of me carying my Hornbeck with a Knupak many times and will not repeat tha here. But i do have a photo of the knupak breing mounted on a custom bent yoke temporarily held at the canoe's CG by with bolts and finger tight nuts through the wood gunwales. Time to...
  5. yknpdlr

    Your three favorite pieces of comfort or luxury canoe camping gear

    Unlesss I am in a relaxed campsite situation, I cannot wear a bug shirt during heavy exercise activity. it is just too hot to wear. Contantly moving is my best bug defense. Other than its lack of ventilation,, it is just too annoying to bushwhack without it getting caught in every branch I pass by.
  6. yknpdlr

    So, what old item do you still use?

    When I started racing in the Adirondack 90-mile canoe race in the 1990's, At first I used a beautiful Grey Owl wood bent shaft paddle. It served me well in several years of racing. I still have it but it is now more of a museum piece since I soon discovered carbon bents and the G.E.. is a bit...
  7. yknpdlr

    Winter conversation

    My brother, a formerB-52 pilot and a then TWA pilot, was an early adopter of modern sport hot air ballooning beginning in the mid 1960's and into the 1970's. He was responsible for organizing the launch of 41 hot air balloons during the opening ceremony of the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. He flew...
  8. yknpdlr

    Late Jan. 2026: Snow where you are?

    That is exactly what I have understood is true also. Don't count on my 5 feet of snow depth to do anything but to protect them over winter hiding in the dead grass below
  9. yknpdlr

    Late Jan. 2026: Snow where you are?

    Tug Hill Plateau, east of Lake Ontario. Although I grew up and still live on the perimeter of the area, this and last season are some of the deepest existing snow levels I have ever seen. I have a small hunting camp near these images. Normally I ski 2 miles in to shovel the roof, have done so...
  10. yknpdlr

    Splash cover

    A home made cover on a voyageur canoe racing in the Yukon River Five Finger Rapids. Myself in the bow, in one shot i am sumerged diving through a standing wave, in the next i am paddling air. Each paddler has their own adjustable coated nylon fabric segment, all held firmly in place and...
  11. yknpdlr

    T-Satellite

    i advise my students (especially those who may need a of extra personal work on land nav) to find just such a place, or a park or limited road bounded area state forest containing some varied topography. Explore away, practice getting "lost". Don't panic, figure it out, or know that a road is...
  12. yknpdlr

    T-Satellite

    That does make sense, especially as we get older or are a long time out on a particularly difficult route. I would not be opposed otherwise to that and have done it myself, reluctantly. But for some, the temptation to haul it out is just too great, and to "cheat" when you find yourself asking...
  13. yknpdlr

    T-Satellite

    For many years, I taught land navigation to young wilderness guides in training. Some got it, others struggled (a lot). There was no greater feeling of pride than to teach proper procedures and then to observe a student under test do it properly and successfully and to lead a group to a...
  14. yknpdlr

    T-Satellite

    I have always spent my time bushwhacking mainly between remote western Adirondack area ponds, with or without a Hornbeck in my company and the lowland ridges in the Pepperbox, Five Ponds, Pigeon Lake, Ha-De-Ron-Dah, and West Canada Lake wilderness areas. I am not a peak bagger by any means and...
  15. yknpdlr

    T-Satellite

    For 50 years I wandered in remote Adirondack wilderness areas, mostly far from any trail with only a map, compass, a standard wrist watch, and a bit of experience. My wife has a written itinerary and local DEC forest rangers who I knew, knew generallly where I was going, although I often made...
  16. yknpdlr

    Videographer/Drone Pilot Wanted

    Sounds like a great adventure. My son has a drone videographer business, I have sent you a connection email. I just bought my first drone for Christmas and am studying for my FAA certification, but am a long way from being a videographer.
  17. yknpdlr

    Savage River to start producing Monarch hulls

    A married couple team paddler friend of mine have a GRB Monarch with wood gunwales that they race and apparently like very much. I was in the market to get a nicely performing stable boat for my daughter a few years ago and I knew that my good friend Brian at Mac's Canoe Livery had one like it...
  18. yknpdlr

    Stay Out of the Woods in June!

    Visited Scotland a few years ago with my wife, and grown son with his 3 kids. Spent a day roaming the famous Culloden battle field trails near Inverness. How the Scots could ever have run through that thick heather and woody brushy low growth wearing kilts, while wielding swords and other...
  19. yknpdlr

    Splash cover

    i used snaps on my hornbeck wood gunwale in the photo I posted above. But snaps can become difficult to use, especiallly if they get dirty or in sand. Separately, my team installed home made nylon covers with velcro on two woodstrip cedar voyageur canoes. glueing the loop strip part to just...
  20. yknpdlr

    Splash cover

    I made one myself for my Hornbeck, fited around my backpack in the sstern. It works well to keep out rain, paddle drips, and wave spray in bigger waters that I have crossed (including Lake Champlain). i used foam noodles with a dowel stiffener inside to make end water spill dams. We also made...
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