What dose ageing canoer need?

[yellowcanoe]

I never thought I'd see the day when...
I'd need glasses. I need them for reading, especially maps. Aside from keeping a pair safe from dropping or sitting on, I also keep one of these lenses on a lanyard with the map:
http://www.staples.ca/en/Merangue-Cr...G_2-CA_1_20001

I'd need a warmer and cushier sleep. My wife upgraded her sleeping pad a few years ago, but I'm needing to now. Maybe this:
http://www.mec.ca/product/5030-998/t...10+50050+50130

I'd need a comfier place to park myself than just the ground, or a sitting pad. Those chairs with legs are looking really good to us.
A pair of those are likely in our future plans.

I'd need a pillow. We use fleece jackets, stuff sacks and any other lumps of semi-soft gear. A pillow might be the answer.
Any suggestions?

Compass with magnifier! I just realized that the compass on my PFD has all the writing worn off and doesn't turn. So with a couple of coupons from LLBean I got a new compass with a magnifier on it. That way I don't have to fumble for lost glasses. The compass is lanyarded to my PFD. I see you have a similar approach!

I have not given into the pillow thing. I am still happy with my lumpy stuff sack.. I have gotten pickier in how firm I want it and that I want it to stay on the mattress.

I would look at something other than the MONDO mattress unless you have a Sherpa to tote it. Its not going to fold up to a very portable size. Should be fine for car camping though.

 

[Bearleealive]

I'd need a pillow. We use fleece jackets, stuff sacks and any other lumps of semi-soft gear. A pillow might be the answer.
Any suggestions?

What I have used for ages now, is a fleece stuff sack, about 12x16", with a Velcro tab for a closure. For years I would just use some soft clothes in it, but lately I have added one of those tiny down pillows to the camp kit. I find with the Exped DownMat 9, I need very little loft for my head, as my shoulders sink down into the mat, whereas my head does not sink at all.

I do not sleep a lot of hours at night, especially compared to others, but the quality of the sleep is extremely important to me.

 

[snapper]

For what it's worth, I agree with a lot of what's already been presented here. I'm in my early 60s and had knee replacement 5 years ago so I'm always looking for ways to stay in shape and reduce gear weight as I continue to age. Luckily for me the college pool is open every day at lunch time so I get to swim about a half hour each day. My office is on one end of campus so a couple of years ago I began parking on the other end of campus. It's not much but it gives me at least two 10-15 minute walks each day and I also make sure I take all the stairs to help keep my legs stronger. Diet has always been a bit of a struggle for me but I've been able to keep it healthier and now weigh in at less than I played high school football & lacrosse. With my equipment I have gone back to a hammock because between that & my tarp I come in at 1.5 pounds total weight for my shelter. The hammock also gives me a place to sit so I can leave the Therma-Rest chair at home; although I continue to use a Pro-lite pad in my hammock which allows me to sleep on the ground if need be (an underquilt just doesn't cut it for that purpose). All my canoes have a footbrace because I'm a dedicated seat oriented paddler now; no kneeling on the new knee. Other than that, I continue to tweak things as I can (i.e. alcohol stove instead of white gas) and try for a year round work out routine that doesn't bring me to a gym; man I hate gyms. For me that means cutting all our firewood (we have 2 stoves and a furnace) and getting outside to be active whenever I can.

I guess that's all for now. Sorry for rambling on. Take care and until next time...Be well.

snapper

 

[Odyssey]

The DownMats are a pricey upgrade around here. 2 x $295 = ouch. I couldn't just buy one and take turns with it on our tandem trips. I need to shop in the US to save $$ for some of these gear upgrades. You're right about quality of sleep Bearleealive.
Yes YC, I was concerned about the size of that mattress. We might as well pack our basement futon.
I'm impressed by your attitude and zeal snapper. I need to adopt some of it.
I've floated the idea by my wife of going to hammocks for comfort and weight savings. She refuses to consider it. She really needs the security of tent walls, and truthfully, I like them too. Our little tent gives us what we need, so it may be the last tent we ever buy. But that leads me to ask, is there ever any end to this tweaking and upgrading?

 

[yellowcanoe]

I don't have a Downmat. Cause I don't really cold tent in the winter. I don't need one. I do have a Synmat 7.

http://www.campmor.com/Product___91271

I've had mine a couple of years. I think I paid $90 for each.

You'd have to add 16 percent of course for shipping.

Beans has Big Agnes Pads..

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/6365...g-pad&attrValue_0=Blue/Gray&productId=1066115

If I had two pay out $300 for a mat ..heck that is a lot of motel... And that Helinox cot would make sense to me.

 

[Odyssey]

Compass with magnifier. My baseplate compass poses me no problems, though I occasionally consider a new one...just because. We had an old compass my late father-in-law brought back from WW2, but I was always too afraid to take it tripping. I didn't want the responsibility of keeping it safe. Another family member is keeping it safe now, that's good. My favourite piece of gear is probably the least expensive. My son made a wrist compass for me. Just a little button compass I can look down at while paddling to check our direction.

 

[yellowcanoe]

That is a nifty present!

 

[Bearleealive]

There are definitely better priced, and equally comfortable mats our there, though with lesser insulation, than the DownMat. I would definitely suggest looking at them first, if you are not sleeping on snow. I do still do winter ski touring, and do sleep on the snow.

In the summer, the DownMat is definitely overkill unless you are a real cold sleeper.

One of our 10 year old DownMats may need to be replaced. I have patched a couple holes in it, and then on the last trip, I filled it right full to dip in the lake to source a wee leak. I found it and fixed it, then left the mattress to dry in the sun. Stupid, stupid, stupid......when I came back to in a short while later, the pressure had built up a lot, and there is a large area now that bulges up, the baffles got torn inside, so it is no longer held in that area at the 9cm design thickness. Just thought I would put that out there for others to think about.

 

[Holmes375]

Very interesting thread. I'm also a Synmat 7 user, very happy with it. A couple years ago I added a Nemo Fillo pillow to my kit. First camp pillow I've ever actually enjoyed. An air bladder with a layer of memory foam. Packs fairly small and deploys/adjusts easily.

In my early sixties I find my hands get cold and fumbly sooner than in times past. I like gloves and carry a couple different weights to facilitate those cold mountain mornings when making coffee. Partial to good wool.

Zippers.... I may need to take a 3 A.M. wee and I don't want to fight a fiddly zipper in my bag or my tent. Zippers are the first thing I examine when buying new equipment/clothing.

The journal. Its more than a log of one's trip. Its also a place to note things/techniques that can be improved. I track things I really don't need to take and those that I shall add. Backcountry camping is always a learning experience and my journal helps me remember the little things that I would soon forget upon my return to civilization.

The candle lantern. I got a kick out of watching the recently posted Cliff J. videos on canoe camping. He mentioned the good ol' candle lantern that I still carry with me wherever I go. Friends have chuckled at my little flamer but they are then amazed at how effective the small fire burner is in my tent when the weather turns cold and damp. My high zoot LED lamp illuminates my tent but there's a candle lantern hangin' high in the middle taking the chill off my little world and I'm likin' it. Several friends now carry an obsolete candle lantern in their kits, too. There's a special something that humans and fire share.

Naproxen sodium. Good stuff for those days when one has pushed the limit in distance or weather. Best sent downstream with a bit o' The Macallan.

 

[Bearleealive]

The candle lantern. I got a kick out of watching the recently posted Cliff J. videos on canoe camping. He mentioned the good ol' candle lantern that I still carry with me wherever I go. Friends have chuckled at my little flamer but they are then amazed at how effective the small fire burner is in my tent when the weather turns cold and damp. My high zoot LED lamp illuminates my tent but there's a candle lantern hangin' high in the middle taking the chill off my little world and I'm likin' it. Several friends now carry an obsolete candle lantern in their kits, too. There's a special something that humans and fire share.

I too have carried a candle lantern, the same one too, for 35+ years. It is rare that it gets left behind, mostly in the middle of summer only. Not too bad for light, though mostly use my LED headlamp now, but as you mention, they are fantastic for in the tent. On cold nights, I light it about 30 minutes or so before bed, and it chases all condensation out, plus it works better than a headlamp for getting dressed for sleeping. I have had to change the glass a couple times now. They are still available at MEC.

http://www.mec.ca/product/0102-475/uco-aluminum-candle-lantern/?q=candle

 

[joebh]

Re the Nordictrack posts, my wife and I each have a Nordic track to stay in vague shape for our occasion cross country ski trips to new Hampshire from Florida where we live. She uses it more then I do, partly because of the arm rope thing already mentioned.
I prefer to use Nordic walking poles with rubber tips, which I use when we walk/jog together. I even use it when we do 5k/10K races for charity events. I find it works the shoulder& arm muscles I need to get up those snowy hills in new hampshire better than the nordic track. The great glen outdoor store at the base of Mount Washington auto road rents or loans them for their cross country trails to use in the non snow season. They are about the same as Nordic skiing poles, but you put on rubber tips if you are walking on pavement.
Back to the main post, I buy lighter more expensive kayaks, canoes, and paddles to keep paddling as I age.

 

[wgiles]

I'm 63, forcibly retired (company lost customer and closed) and looking to get back out in the woods. Since my hips aren't what they used to be, I'm favoring canoeing over backpacking. It's getting hard to get back up off the ground, so I have been looking for a camp stool that is light and comfortable, but not sized for a child. Quite by accident, I found that Coleman sells a folding camp chair with a back (they call it a multiple use stool) and it was available online at Walmart for ship to store. It has a one inch tubular aluminum frame and is quite light, but I haven't weighed one. You can see it here:

http://www.coleman.com/product/multiple-use-stool/2000003743?contextCategory=10010#.VGPeFGea9Go

There is also a folding camp stool made by Stansport that weighs about one pound. You can find it online and on eBay.

http://www.stansport.com/index.php/camp-and-hike/furniture/g-613-s.html

This one really is a stool and does not have a back.

One thing that annoys me about these folding chairs and stools is the plastic end caps on the legs. When the legs push into soft soil, the end caps stay behind when you pull the stool out. I have drilled a small hole through the end cap and leg and installed a tie wrap through the end cap and leg to keep the end cap from pulling off.

I hope to be out on the water next spring.

 

[Bearleealive]

I have both of those stools, sold by Coleman. The base of them is basically the same. The backrest on the first one really does no good, as it is low, and you have to lean too far back to get any support. Both are very light, and quite durable.

 

[stripperguy]

I have an earlier version of those Coleman stools...mine weigh less than 1 lb. As Bearlee said upthread, the back is low, I would say too far reclined. I use a twig or stone from wherever I am to hold the seat back at a more comfortable angle. Even so, I like those stools, it really helps to have a seat with a back rather than sit in a mud hole or on a decaying log...

 

[wgiles]

One of the things that I like about these stools, is that it is relatively easy to replace the cloth seat. I have a stool that I have used for some years and the fabric recently started to show signs of distress. I replaced the seat with one made from polyester canvas. I had to drill out the rivets that held the legs together, so I replaced them with stainless steel bolts and lock nuts. The Coleman stool with the back is the least expensive stool that I have seen. I haven't used it enough to have an opinion about the back, but I can drill out the rivets and take it off if I don't like it.

 

[yellowcanoe]

http://www.camptime.com/roll-a-chair.htm

Back is perfect. It doesn't seem like it weighs2.5 lbs at all.

 

[ppine]

The short answer is better padding, a warmer sleeping bag, and better furniture. We portage hardly at all and use two people to carry royalex and wood canoes.

I would caution anyone that uses NSAIDS (ibuprofen or advil, ie) to be mindful of potential kidney/liver damage, especially if you drink alcohol often. It is very important to stay physically active every week between canoe trips.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I know about the Nordic Track. I've also seen them on CL for like $100 on average. I told my wife I was going to buy one but she didn't seem excited about it.

I do like the ski action on them. I don't like that rope thing. I could never get used to it, doesn't feel like poling to me. I wish it had levers more like the elliptical. I still may get one anyway. Thanks for the suggestion!

This is not me.. I wonder what is going on..Those arent my words. I think Oiseaus posts got screwed up with mine.. Please fix this..

The header says Guest from Raymond ME and I remember those were his words.. I don't want to be associated with Oiseau

 

[yellowcanoe]

The short answer is better padding, a warmer sleeping bag, and better furniture. We portage hardly at all and use two people to carry royalex and wood canoes.

I would caution anyone that uses NSAIDS (ibuprofen or advil, ie) to be mindful of potential kidney damage, especially if you drink alcohol often. It is very important to stay physically active every week between canoe trips.

. They re hard on the liver too. Kidney damage is what you get from drinking my water. Its loaded with uranium so we have a reverse osmosis filter.

 

[Bearleealive]

. They re hard on the liver too. Kidney damage is what you get from drinking my water. Its loaded with uranium so we have a reverse osmosis filter.

They do tax the liver somewhat, but are only hard on it if used in excess, just as alcohol is. Your liver is actually a tough organ, the only one that can actually regenerate itself.

I contracted HepC from bad blood, during the time I had leukemia over 25 years ago, and received lots of different blood products. I did not even know until 12 years ago, when I got a letter in the mail saying that because of the time I got the blood products, I should go get tested. Well, sure enough...

Anyway, my doctor, who is the head of the Gastroenterology Research Group at the University of Calgary, said that my liver damage was not too bad, and that moderate usage of alcohol, and ibuprofen or acetaminophens, would not cause damage. People that abuse alcohol will have more affect, because their liver is already overtaxed, and in danger.

BTW, I finally started a study with new HepC drugs this Monday, and hope to finally get this monkey off my back. Fingers crossed I was not one of the 13% that got a placebo.