Any new "Toys" for Christmas?

[Jatfomike]

Earlier in the year, my wife brought home a couple of new cook books from the library. The first was "Flour,Salt, Water, Yeast" by Ken Forkish. In a nutshell, he quit the corporate life years ago and became a very successful (after a lot of study/work) Artisan baker in Portland, Oregon. He took a lot of what he learned and converted many of his recipes to "at home" versions for the "average Joe". What caught my eye was the fact that he recommended baking the bread in Dutch ovens to develop the proper amount of steam/moisture to help develop the crust. The second book was by Jamie Oliver "5 Ingredients". Basically a book full of recipes for meals for 2 invoking only 5 ingredients and they are all very simple to prepare. I remember looking at it and commenting to my wife that a lot of those would be great for overnight trips. She got me both books for Christmas......I also received a 10 qt. GSI aluminum Dutch oven.....My fry bake pans aren't tall enough for loaves of bread and I have given up on hauling my cast iron on any trips involving portages.....

Mike

 

[sweeper]

My stepdaughter gave me a high speed arch lighter gizmo thingie. I don't think it has any practical application for field use, but she tried.

She also gave me a calendar with pictures of our two old Labs that passed this year. Best gift of the year.

I self gifted myself with the book 'Twelve Thousand Years' American Indians in Maine by Bruce Bourque. I even acted really surprised when I unwrapped it.

 

[Grandpa Paddler]

Sadly, no new camping/canoeing toys this year. Guess I'll have to go buy some for myself

 

[sweeper]

I don't really let/count on other people buying my camping/canoeing toys or want to wait until now hoping I get one.

The important things I still need/want are a decision between a couple of items I haven't made yet or still waiting on a financial opportunity.

 

[Grandpa Paddler]

I don't really let/count on other people buying my camping/canoeing toys or want to wait until now hoping I get one.

The important things I still need/want are a decision between a couple of items I haven't made yet or still waiting on a financial opportunity.

I trust my sons to know what I want/need and be sure their mother knows specifically what the items are.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Santa and I are pretty Close !!

A Big 6" Firesteel, A package of 3, Freud 7 1/4" Diablo Skilsaw blades ! He got a deal on them for me ! Oh and a new TV.

Thanks Santa !

Jim

 

[Roybrew]

The misses got me a new DeWalt thickness planer, and told me to start laying plans to build a wood working shop. More canoe building? I'm beginning to think she enjoys the strip canoe more then I do.

 

[Turtle2]

I got a Superior intragrated underquilt hammock! As a long time hammock camper I love the concept. I look foreward to camping in it. I have great children!

 

[Jim Dodd]

The misses got me a new DeWalt thickness planer, and told me to start laying plans to build a wood working shop. More canoe building? I'm beginning to think she enjoys the strip canoe more then I do.

We have the Dewalt 735 at the Wood Shop. This thing is used hard ! We reluctantly added the Carbide Helix cutter, $400. The Best move we ever made.
In your case probably not necessary. Save the old blades, as they make great scrapers !

 

[ppine]

I received 13 books about the outdoors and a dry bag.
Equipment used in the outdoors to me is deadly serious. My life depends on it. I do not bring toys.

 

[Mason]

The misses got me a new DeWalt thickness planer, and told me to start laying plans to build a wood working shop. More canoe building? I'm beginning to think she enjoys the strip canoe more then I do.

Sounds like a real slave driver.

 

[Guest]

Equipment used in the outdoors to me is deadly serious. My life depends on it. I do not bring toys.

On easy family or group trips I love me some toys in the backcountry.

An all-terrain bocce set (old croquet balls, and a golf ball as “jack” or “boccino”)

PA040041 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Bring extra jacks if you play with DougD, he like to whip that sucker out 100 yards distant for the long game, and is occasionally off target, golf ball never to be seen again. After hurling croquet ball 100 yards distant all the way across Assateague Island my throwing arm hurt so badly I couldn’t paddle the next day. I was not alone.

There are peculiar course hazards to AT bocce when played on wild-pony barrier islands.

EK_0008 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

During one cross-island game on Assateague a pony meandered out of the piney forest to inspect Doug’s long thrown ball, snuffled it, turned around and deposited a pile of pony poop directly atop. No team really wanted to win that steaming hole and be awarded next throw of the object ball.

Some night horseshoes with Cyalume glow sticks is always fun, even if, as I am told, I suck at my own game. We now play with plastic shoes; steel shoes are heavy as heck to pack in, and hurt like heck when they KA-BING bounce off one corner and hit your other-end partner in the knee.

PA040063 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

One family trip, windbound on a large lake, we crafted a miniature golf course in the beachfront sand, carved found-wood putters and used the extra golf balls from the all-terrain bocce set.

EK_0014 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

Over time that evolved into a 9-hole course on the beach. Creating the holes was nearly as much fun as putting through them; one hole had a functional stick & bark windmill.

Christmas gifts? The usual for everyone; good socks, lots of (requested title) books, a challenging jigsaw puzzle for the Missus, another 4-pack of Quick-grip clamps and a fresh sanding belt “eraser” for me.

We did each, as usual, have a Christmas Stocking, filled with little (useful) stuff. Unlike in my childhood my stocking was not filled with ammunition. I kinda miss that.

 

[sweeper]

I trust my sons to know what I want/need and be sure their mother knows specifically what the items are.

Unfortunately, I don't paddle much with any of my family. They are busy working and their vacation time is spent with their families, that and one is a 'City Boy' who will come out for a long weekend a year to have his son learn about the woods

 

[Chip]

I'm UNhappy to have received a Dr. Liliang Well-Built & Handy tool, Multi-tool. It was a gift from my 13-year old grandson, which he selected by himself and purchased with his own money. I am impressed. He knows I like camping and hiking. He knows I'm a tool guy. And here is the sales pitch from Dr. Liliang:

"If he likes camping, hiking, picnic, fishing,climbing and other outdoor sports, the multi-functional tool is a perfect gift idea. Every man needs this multi-purpose tool. Well-Build Multitool for Camping, Daily-Use, Hiking, Fishing, etc."​

So the young man did some research, believed what he read and coughed up the $30 or so dollars for this item, for which, IMO, the best use is as a paper weight. At 14 ounces, it's make a good one--I'd never take it hiking.


The tool is about 5.5" long. Is there anything as useless as a 5.5" claw hammer? It's just long enough that you can grip it and have the head of the hammer right next to your thumb. Screw driver bits insert into the top of the hammer. Straight blade, Phillips, #10 torx, and 8mm Allen bits are provided. Knife, nail file, can opener, and saw blades fold out from the handle. So, I guess there are situations where this multi tool could prove useful, but I'm not holding my breath and I'd hate to have to depend on it for anything. It comes with a pouch you can wear on your belt, too.

I haven't dialed up the courage to tell the kid I won't be using this tool. I suppose I could just send it to Goodwill and never say anything. But I think he might notice. And, really, I'd like him to get his money back. So, I guess it's a conversation I need to have and I'm not looking forward to it.

 

[TrailBlaser]

It's the thought that counts. Throw it in the car and let him know you have it there in case you need it when you're on the road or a camping trip.

 

[Boatman53]

I too would keep it in the car.
Jim

 

[LanceR]

None of it exactly directly canoe related....or at least not yet.

We got a new grandson who was born to my youngest son and his wife last night (January 2). We have a son with January 2 as his birthday as does one of Nancy's brothers. The newborn is their second to go with their daughter and he makes 8 grandchildren for us with another grandson due in June to Nancy's youngest son and his wife. And it's crazy to think that with the COVID related travel issues we also have a 8 month old granddaughter we haven't even met yet.

I sold fairly four high end "safe queen" guns and my low hours gas engine welder/generator to turn them into two other guns and a huge upgrade to my welding equipment.

And perhaps the closest to an immediately canoeing related goodie it is a new-to-me mid 1950s all machined and hand fitted steel Italian made Necchi BU Mira sewing machine in an industrial table. The machine had been professionally serviced three years ago and then stored away so all it really needed was a good cleaning and oiling and it work perfectly. A nice feature is that the stitch length and width have locks so it guarantees perfectly repeatable bar tacks, zig-zag stitches and stitch length will back-stitch in reverse accurately enough to stitch into the same holes. Now I just need to get better so I don't make the machine look bad...... And then I'll try to make a few portage packs.

Lastly and maybe most importantly we have our health. I hadn't shared any of this with the clan here on Canoe Tripping but in October Nancy and I both had COVID-19. She was fortunate to have only a runny nose for a few days and to be very tired for a week or so. I got hit pretty good with respiratory issues, a significant sinus infection, headaches and tinnitus. And all that happened in the midst of a string of CT scans and other tests to see if I had a malignant tumor on the adrenal gland on one of my kidneys.

I have some scarring in the upper and lower reaches of my lungs and it took over two months to get over bouts of shortness of breath but I now have no apparent significant reduction in cardiovascular capacity. And when we could finish the cancer screening that turned out negative as well. I still have the tinnitus with a constant ringing in my ears but am otherwise OK. Given how many folks have died from this dang disease, including two acquaintances, I still feel pretty lucky and grateful to still be looking at the right side of the grass.

Best regards to all,


Lance

 

[Odyssey]

Our family has happily grown to such an extent that we've adopted the secret Santa approach to Christmas. At times it feels weird but this works well for all of us. We draw names in the height of summer and spend months scheming special gift buying for the (un)fortunate person whose name we've drawn. There's always someone who forgets theirs, that's why my wife is The Keeper Of The Names. Grandma Claus and I ignore all the rules of course and make sure the g-kids get surprised with a few trifling things their parents wouldn't think of. I'm pretty sure it's in our job description somewhere. Of course nothing can replace the hugs and kisses and warm embraces we all truly need. Our tightknit family is dealing with staying socially distant and safe in these trying times. Keeping things secret until the last minute was impossible this year with us having to extend Holiday Wishes from safe distances of front porch steps and video chats etc. Whatever.
Christmassy canoe trip stuff.
Our eldest son has a friend who makes knives, and so son #1 made his mom a blade in his friend's shop back in the summertime. She says it's her favourite knife in the kitchen block and too nice to canoe trip with. Okay, fine. She still has her Mora.

I gifted myself this year with a new pair of rubber/neoprene boots. Bogs. Chunky grippy soles and snug dry feet for those cold water trips. My old dancing boots are done and will become garden planters in the spring.


Stay well canoe trippers.

 

[DaveO]

Santa brought me a Sea to Summit Dry mesh duffle. They've been discontinued for a while, but the Elves worked their magic. High quality. Should last a while.



I cannot understand why wet/dry bags are so hard to find anymore. I find them especially convenient for day trips from a base camp. I wore out the one I had that was REI branded. It lasted many years of hard use. It had a mesh end compartment on one end, a closed fabric on the other end, and a dual mesh/closed big main compartment. The main closed compartment was not water-resistant like the Sea to Summit one is, but I stowed small dry bags in there.

I struggle with organization on trips. It is so nice to be able to stow raingear, socks, etc., in the mesh compartment to dry out when they get all wet. When they dry out, they go back in the dry compartment. The compartments flex according to how much gear they are carrying. Weighs a pound maybe. Well worth it to me.

 

[TrailBlaser]

I agree that duffle bags are a great way to carry gear. I have an Earth Pak (50L) dry duffle that I like to use on trips with no significant carries. I put all my hammock gear, kitchen kit and some other odds and ends in it. I've had it for 3 years and am very satisfied with it.