[normhead]

I see.

Said the blind man to the deaf man.
"I C" in internet chat room jargon.

[Just1MoreDave]

No keels? Isn't that kind of annoying? I know it makes the canoe easy to turn and better on rivers, but on a lake, I thought they were worth it.

The canoe I'm working on is supposed to weigh 70lbs finished. I think I'll make a carry yoke for it but I don't expect to use it.

---------- Post added 04-14-18 at 07:20 PM ----------

Not hard... they really haven't changed much over the years...

There was definitely some incantation when my dad did it.

[monochrome]

For about 20 years (ending about age 55) I was out about 30 nights a year, mostly Boy Scouts. Some of it was car camping, some was Alpine Trekking, most was a day-hike in, one or two nights in a tent and hike out in the morning. Water was always the big planning issue. I used Polar Pure* to treat water dipped from a lake (beyond scat distance from shore) or pump filtered into a 5-gal. collapsible bladder (I/we carried two bladders on the ends of wooden hiking staffs across our shoulders) and then Polar Pured.

Main Gear:
Tent: Eureka Timberline Outfitter 4 w/ Vestibule; HD plastic sheet footprint cut to size inside and out; storm rigged; palm pusher for tent stakes
Pack: Kelty Super Tioga external frame with full storm cover + lean-to legs
Pads: Therma-Rest folding closed cell foam and 3/4 self-inflating (these strap to the lower frame)
Bag: One of several down mummy bags rated to the expected temperature. Dry, wicking polypropylene thermal U-wear, socks and hat adds 10 degrees of warmth
Chair: Therma-rest self-inflatable stadium pad + Crazy Creek folding ‘Camp Chair’
Filter: Pur Katadyn
Light: Typically didn’t stay up late enough to need a lantern; hung a small Maglite from the ridge line inside the tent.
Water: 2 ea. 1-qt. Nalgene bottles - 1 flavored, 1 clear water
Staff: Solid cherry 5’6” staff with laminated and shaped grip, rubber cane tip working end.
Hat: Tilley Cotton Duck or Stetson Explorer Fur Felt 2 3/4” brim
Deet: 100% in the little orange bottle, couple drops on a bandana

Typically did thiis with 3 other people and divided things like cooking kit and Whisperlite stove, white gas bottles and dehydrated food among us. We didn’t carry much clothing - rain pants served as long pants and rain jacket as overahirt on cool mornings, etc.

Now I only do large group trailer camping (Boy Scouts on Scout Reservation) so I use an aluminum Byer folding cot and have the tent all to myself

Polar Pure was no longer a legal product for some time. The active ingredient,iodine, was prohibited by DEA, because Meth heads could use the product to make dope.Those in the know laid in a lifetime supply before the end. Eventually, after 4 years of negotiations, the family business owner convinced DEA that if the price was raised to $20 for just grams of product the cost of this ingredient was higher than the street value of the Meth it could produce.

So ‘those in the know’ now have a low-cost lifetime supply of little brown bottles with a few beads of Iodine in the bottom.

[normhead]

No keels? Isn't that kind of annoying? I know it makes the canoe easy to turn and better on rivers, but on a lake, I thought they were worth it.

The canoe I'm working on is supposed to weigh 70lbs finished. I think I'll make a carry yoke for it but I don't expect to use it.[COLOR="Silver"]

These are 17 foot featherweight boats and because of the length they track really well. One is 35 pounds, the other is 45 pounds.

Whether or not they are worth it depends pretty much on your canoeing skills. For one of those guys who can turn a canoe on a dime in the middle of a lake paddling with one hand, a keel is a hindrance.

One of the techniques we used getting my canoe certifications was docking. You and your partner paddle straight toward a dock, pivot the boat sideways (about six feet out and using your momentum to snug the boat up tot eh dock) and have to stop the boat, 6 inches from the dock, parallel to the dock. At times the boat is moving sideways. A keel would be a hindrance.

Some fo the canoe snobs I hang out with from time to time will snort if you say the word "keel". They think of it as something like training wheels on a bike.

In short, a keel creates drag, your boat can be faster without it, using proper technique.

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Last edited by normhead; 04-15-2018 at 07:52 AM.

[Just1MoreDave]

My canoeing skills are 99% in this canoe I'm restoring, which always had a keel. So I could be awesome and always held back by the keel.

The factory built the canoe with sponsons, airtight chambers on ether side, just below the gunwales. Those really are training wheels - nearly impossible to roll the canoe beyond 30 degrees. Fortunately they were removed by a previous owner, because they look like a lot of work.

[Auzzie-Phoenix]

Good thing I went to the lake to collect sticks and pinecones today before the rain came... looks like it's here for the long haul and going to soak everything thoroughly. I keep a small supply of sticks and pinecones in the car as firewood or kindling (depends on size of fire and containment apparatus used (ring vs stand vs collapsible firepit/grill). The hard pinecones make excellent natural firestarter, just hold one upside down above a lighter, wait for it to catch, once it's started stick it in the kindling at base of firewood to get the fire started.

[ChrisPlatt]

Twice I canoed the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Some of the locals reminded me of the extras in the movie Deliverance.
You'd never know you were but 100 miles from NY City...

One of those trips was made in a dry Spring after a mild Winter, so water levels were low. We portaged more than we paddled!

There are plenty of places for whitewater canoeing and rafting within a few hours of here, but that's too much excitement for me.
I did however own a silly Sima Sports Pouch, a waterproof vinyl camera bag with inflatable air bladders. Now I own a Nikonos.

When my brother moved back to Long Island from Louisiana he gave me one of his twin Kmart fiberglass canoes.
It was an extra wide model, for stability while fishing. The model was curiously named "Yankee Rebel".
I car-topped that one into many places to fish, including a few I probably shouldn't have.

For years I owned a 12' Grumman aluminum rowboat which I kept on a NY City reservoir Upstate for fishing.
Sadly one Spring I found that one of the countless nearby dead trees had fallen dead center on it.

Chris

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Last edited by ChrisPlatt; 04-16-2018 at 11:01 PM.

[Auzzie-Phoenix]

I'm not sure which is worse for my outdoor activities... PA weather, or my work schedule.

[ChrisPlatt]

IIRC a number of early Spring camping trips I planned were washed out.
Later I would wait until May - when it was drier - to be on the safe side.

Chris

[monochrome]

IIRC a number of early Spring camping trips I planned were washed out.
Later I would wait until May - when it was drier - to be on the safe side.

Chris

I recall arriving at a reserved campsite to find it ankle deep in water. Put everything inside the Suburban on the roof wrapped in tarps, folded all the seats* down and slept sardine-style in the back.

* Why I had bench seats instead of chairs.

[Auzzie-Phoenix]

First camping trip is tomorrow. I don't care if they are calling for snow and or rain. I'm going. I have my reservation made and everything. Family member already raised the "but it's going to be cold" argument (the same one they always bring up for any outdoor hobby that I do in winter and have for years.... to which I gave my standard response of "when has the cold ever bothered me?".

[normhead]

First camping trip is tomorrow. I don't care if they are calling for snow and or rain. I'm going. I have my reservation made and everything. Family member already raised the "but it's going to be cold" argument (the same one they always bring up for any outdoor hobby that I do in winter and have for years.... to which I gave my standard response of "when has the cold ever bothered me?".

There's no bad weather, there's just poorly prepared people.

I've spent nights out in a tent at 20º below. If you do it right, you are comfortable. And you wake up in amazing places.

[SSGGeezer]

There's no bad weather, there's just poorly prepared people.

I've spent nights out in a tent at 20º below. If you do it right, you are comfortable. And you wake up in amazing places.

Yep! Proper equipment and behavior are the keys. Spent a few nights nearer to -40 than -30 in tents doing cold weather training and getting enough water to drink was the biggest challenge.

[mattb123]

There's no bad weather, there's just poorly prepared people.

I've spent nights out in a tent at 20º below. If you do it right, you are comfortable. And you wake up in amazing places.

To a point, of course.

[monochrome]

There's no bad weather, there's just poorly prepared people.

I've spent nights out in a tent at 20º below. If you do it right, you are comfortable. And you wake up in amazing places.

Tenderfoot Mom to Scoutmaster: What do you do if it rains?
Scoutmaster to Tenderfoot Mom: Plan B
Mom: What’s Plan B?
Scoutmaster: Plan A in Rain Gear.