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The History of Blue (originally green) Barrels

Glenn MacGrady

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Here is the origin of the blue barrel for canoe tripping, as told by Wally Schaber, who was Bill Mason's canoe partner and former owner of Black Feather and Trailhead:

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"In 1985 I took a side trip on the way home from ISPO to visit a small British show at the Crystal Palace in London. In the literature it was called a canoe show which I quickly learned meant kayaking ,at the time, in UK. Aside from all the colourful and innovative British paddling products there was one booth selling tent poles out of a plastic barrel. I enquired about the lid for the barrel and was shown a wide mouth black lid with a gasket and metal clamp to hold barrel and lid together.For years ,in Canada ,we had been experimenting with various sizes of dry bags to line canoe packs or olive jars ,with their frustrating narrow mouth, to keep our gear dry.

"I knew instantly this barrel was the answer! It was the perfect size to fit across each side of the mid thwart of a 17`Prospector. Anxiously I bought all I could find at the show (6 plus four 30L versions that nested inside ) and brought them home as my luggage. Four of the original barrels ironically were green and are now rare collectors items.I found the manufacturers name at the show and immediately sent them a request for a container load price.

"Chris Harris, Bill Mason,Mark Scriver and I were excited to try them out but we had to invent a harness to use with the barrel to assist in portaging. It was Mark Scriver ,our canoe program buyer ,who sat down at the sewing machine and designed our first harness for use on the original 30 and 60 litre barrels. Ironically ,a group of Swedish and Danish paddlers on their way to the Yukon in 1986, stopped in Ottawa bought supplies at Trailhead and we arranged for them to meet Bill Mason. They were thrilled with the visit .They showed us their gear and to our surprise they had independently conceived of the barrel as the perfect Canadian canoe tripping waterproofing system.Their harness design cleverly incorporated the barrels handles where ours sat in a pocket the same size as the barrel bottom.

"By 1987 we were importing the barrels by the container load. Mark`s original harness design was improved by our chosen manufacturer, Cerro Torre Packs in Vietnam.

"Life was now grand and dry for canoe trippers throughout Canada.

"Eventually the marketplace discovered that the barrels could be purchased cheaper ‘second hand’ from importers who used them to ship chemical and dry goods around the world. Why someone would trust packing their clothing and food in a barrel that was used to ship dangerous products I could never figure out.

"Eventually the used and new market surpassed our abilities as importers (Johnson Camping who also owns Old town Canoes made their own Yellow Barrel) .

"As one of the many camping innovations Trailhead brought to Canadian canoe camping “The Blue/Green Barrel” is the one with the most far reaching impact . . . ."

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No wonder I never heard of blue barrels in the early 80's when I bought my trusty, and much more aesthetic, Duluth packs.
 
Here is the origin of the blue barrel for canoe tripping.
(Interesting backstory omitted)
By 1987 we were importing the barrels by the container load

Eventually the marketplace discovered that the barrels could be purchased cheaper ‘second hand’ from importers who used them to ship chemical and dry goods around the world. Why someone would trust packing their clothing and food in a barrel that was used to ship dangerous products I could never figure out.

No wonder I never heard of blue barrels in the early 80's when I bought my trusty, and much more aesthetic, Duluth packs.

Thanks for that barrel history Glenn. The timing helps explain why I had not heard, or thought about, sealed barrel storage until 25-30 years ago.

I knew about the olive barrels and lab bucket alternatives, and found both lacking. The (by then usually blue) barrels, when I bought my first used one, which is still in regular use, were a revelation and I thought I was just behind-the-times gear wise.

Not especially aesthetic, but dang sturdy and watertight. For un-hung, less rodentia nibble-able food storage I’ll take a well sealed barrel over a soft side pack of any kind. Every time.
 
I bought my first blue barrel at Trailhead in 1989. I never knew the history of the barrels ( or why Trailhead had so many)! Thanks for the history Prof Barrelhead!
 
When I first met Wally Schaber in Ottawa in the early 1970s' he invited a group of canoe trippers to his parents home and demonstrated, on the dining room floor, waterproofing duffle with a 4 x 10 foot sheet of 4 mil plastic wrapped up around your sleeping bag and extra clothes tied up and put into a Woods No 1 pack. I guess things have evolved from those days.

Bob
 
interesting, I remember using a barrel on my first solo trip in 1978 because it was better than using a half dozen olive jars
 
A heavy duty trash bag lines each of my canvas packs. Just another modern/vintage compromise. Wooden paddles and a composite canoe. Wool socks and quick dry undies. Cotton duck pants and bear bangers in the pocket. I have two knives with wood handles hanging from leather dangler sheaths on my leather belt, but you won't catch me rubbing sticks to light my fire. A quick scratch from a modern ferro takes care of that. We all pick our battles however it suits us. Mine needn't be yours.
As per barrels etc I like light and dry as part of my kit, that's why I choose ways of keeping dry goods dry; trash bag, dry bag or barrel. I pick my poison and accept I will never be entirely 'authentic'. None of my "vintage" stuff is ugly IMO. The same cannot be said of my modern stuff. Have you seen my underwear?! (Just kidding.)
I get the esoteric emotional and tactile connection with the past. Trust me, I really do. I live every day with one foot behind me in my past and the other stepping ahead into my future and my head on a swivel. Welcome to my world. But I need some modernity in my physical world so I can physically get things done.
We have a Thanksgiving trip coming up. (October.) Crisp frosty nights and brisk fall days. That calls for down bags and wool blankets, Neo Air sleeping pads and wool toques. Mix and match. It suits us and enables us to keep wandering out there while we still can. Hope you all find what you're looking for.
 
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If any of us had been around when the wood-canvas canoe was invented, I'm sure a certain number of us would have been like, "You call that new-fangled, wood-canvas monstrosity a canoe? Real canoes are made of birch bark, sewn up with roots, and waterproofed with pitch!"
 
My Blue Barrel lived with me for a very short time. Actually it took 1 trip before I got rid of it. Of course I was excited about using it but found during 7 days it was too big (30) for the way I like to pack my hulls. Also due to operator error during the shuttle things got shaken up a bit. When we made first camp I opened the barrel to discover the eggs I packed had broken open...so had the bag of Bisquick! Nice gooey pancake mix on the bottom! I stick to what I've used for a long time and am quite happy with. I'm glad to have tried the barrel but it just wasn't for me!
 
interesting, I remember using a barrel on my first solo trip in 1978 because it was better than using a half dozen olive jars

In don't read Wally Schaber as claiming he was the very first person to think of using barrels. In fact, he admits that a group of Swedish and Danish paddlers had independently gotten the idea to use them. His claim seems to be that Trailhead popularized European barrels for canoe tripping and was the first outfitter to offer them commercially. If that's true, barrels probably came into mass American practice somewhat after Canada.

And then, after that, the practice of re-using of stinky, poison chemical blue barrels likely took off for easy availability and price reasons, perhaps following the olive jar example.
 
In don't read Wally Schaber as claiming he was the very first person to think of using barrels. In fact, he admits that a group of Swedish and Danish paddlers had independently gotten the idea to use them. His claim seems to be that Trailhead popularized European barrels for canoe tripping and was the first outfitter to offer them commercially. If that's true, barrels probably came into mass American practice somewhat after Canada.

And then, after that, the practice of re-using of stinky, poison chemical blue barrels likely took off for easy availability and price reasons, perhaps following the olive jar example.

yet the first line says "Here is the origin of the blue barrel for canoe tripping" I was not alone in using them in the late 70's early 80's so obviously that was HIS first exposure to them, not anywhere near the "origin" of them.
 
Smaller olive jars are making more sense to me these days, particularly since expedition isn't in my vocabulary. These barrel shaped hard-sided packs remind me of being a travelling cousin of Samsonite suitcases but they're just as likely to be related to wanigans aren't they? How about that evolution eh? Wood wanigans morph into plastic tubs, canvas packs mutate into dry packs?
I'll have to dig out my Bill Mason books in which he mentions the barrels. I'd always thought the olive jars were bigger but now I don't know.
All this folk history makes for interesting reading and speculation. And re-evaluating our gear choices. I saw recently a post elsewhere by Kevin Callan in which he includes a photo of him sliding two olive jars into a pack. That might be where I am headed but I'm not sure. And I am growing fonder of dry bags and packs in general.
Our gear is once again laid out and scattered on the family room floor. (Better clear it away before the g-kids arrive on Saturday.) And I am where I always am at this stage. Where in the evolutionary chain of events am I? I am experimenting once again with what fits into one of our wanigans in their canvas packs. The barrels sit aside for now. I'm not sure I wanna go there but we shall see. I have all our dry and dehydrated meals already prepped, but given the cool season upon us a couple steaks and a dozen eggs wouldn't go amiss. Decisions.
 
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Does anyone have a source for olive jars? The only jars I've seen with olives in them are made of glass, none to large, fragile and heavy.
 
Does anyone have a source for olive jars? The only jars I've seen with olives in them are made of glass, none to large, fragile and heavy.

I got mine 30 years ago in the “Little Italy” area of town. Maybe try an Italian grocery or food wholesaler.
 
Smaller olive jars are making more sense to me these days, particularly since expedition isn't in my vocabulary. These barrel shaped hard-sided packs remind me of being a travelling cousin of Samsonite suitcases but they're just as likely to be related to wanigans aren't they? How about that evolution eh? Wood wanigans morph into plastic tubs, canvas packs mutate into dry packs?
I'll have to dig out my Bill Mason books in which he mentions the barrels. I'd always thought the olive jars were bigger but now I don't know.
All this folk history makes for interesting reading and speculation. And re-evaluating our gear choices. I saw recently a post elsewhere by Kevin Callan in which he includes a photo of him sliding two olive jars into a pack. That might be where I am headed but I'm not sure. And I am growing fonder of dry bags and packs in general.
Our gear is once again laid out and scattered on the family room floor. (Better clear it away before the g-kids arrive on Saturday.) And I am where I always am at this stage. Where in the evolutionary chain of events am I? I am experimenting once again with what fits into one of our wanigans in their canvas packs. The barrels sit aside for now. I'm not sure I wanna go there but we shall see. I have all our dry and dehydrated meals already prepped, but given the cool season upon us a couple steaks and a dozen eggs wouldn't go amiss. Decisions.

My big decision today was to switch to my larger Fall/Winter day pack. In the summer on day paddles I sometimes bring no pack at all. Today when launching it was sunny with some clouds and I decided to skip my sun hat. 2.5 miles upstream the sky darkens and it gets colder and starts raining and I have no hat at all, much less one of my three fine warm waterproof hats. Then the dog starts shivering and whining. Time to start bringing all the good warm back-up stuff in a bigger waterproof pack.
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Great thread resurrection! I got a contract last Friday to teach Outdoor Ed at the high school. Yesterday I loaded up barrels with 30 pounds of weights and went on a hike, ten kids walking through town carrying blue and yellow barrels. I gave them a generic history, but will use this thread today to deliver the real deal.

Barrels were a game changer for our club. Previously, we had a bunch of canvas packs. We instructed the kids on lining them with three heavy duty garbage bags, but kids being kids, there were always some with wet clothes and sleeping bags by the end of day one. Not good in early June in Northern Ontario. The packs always need constant attention and replacement as well. The only way we lose barrels is when they get "borrowed" by staff members who "forget" to return them.

The best harnesses I ever bought were Hooligan, made in Canada. I got them around 20 years ago, put them on the food barrels, and they are still going strong. The cheap "one size fits all" are prone to straps breaking when used hard for long periods of time. However, they are all easy fixes with industrial thread and a heavy duty needle.
 
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