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Review: True and Deep – Songs for the Heart of the Paddler
Nashville songwriter, author and educator Jerry Vandiver recently released True And Deep – Songs for the Heart of the Paddler, an album of canoe country inspired songs. After getting a copy of the album, I was instantly hooked. The songs capture the spirit of a canoe trip in the northwoods and the arrangement takes you on a journey that includes the excitement of canoeing a whitewater river on More Than A River to connecting with the ancient history in The Spirit Of Fishdance Lake. Catchy and humorous songs like Rock And Roots, Too Tired To Start A Fire and Camp Coffee will have you humming the day away while dreaming about your next trip.…
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Kate’s Bars Review
Years ago, I decided that the best food in the world would be a bar named “Food Bar.” You’d eat it in the morning, and it would sustain you throughout the day. While that still isn’t available, many energy bars do the trick for me. Years ago I settled on Clif Bar’s Crunchy Peanut Butter, and that’s what I stuck with. While I’ve tired other bars, I always go back to Clif bars. I was excited when I heard about Kate’s Real Food, which makes beefy energy bars with peanut butter as one of the core ingredients. Peanut butter energy bars with extra ingredients, such as rice, oats, honey, bananas, apricots, raisins and…
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5 Canoe and Kayak Books to Read in 2012
It’s winter in the northern hemisphere and for those of us in the frozen tundras, that means that we have a few choices on what to do this time of year. To get a paddling fix, we can either winter kayak, head to the pool like in the above image or read a book. Included here are five books released in 2011 that deserve your attention. A Book For the Canoe and Kayak Builders Fuselage Frame Boats: A guide to building skin kayaks and canoes by Jeff Horton was the only book that I caught during 2011 for canoe and kayak builders. It’s somewhat flawed (see my review), but offers enough information to…
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Dynaflex Gyro Exerciser Review: a Tool No Paddler Should Be Without
Years ago when I was a climber, I ended up getting tendinitis in my elbows. It went away quickly with rehab, but showed up again later during a 560-mile kayaking trip. After the trip, the tendinitis went away with minor rehab, but I started noticing it again now and then. Then a couple of years ago on a 350-mile kayaking trip I had a major flare-up as a result of adjusting my paddling style to account for another injury. This time, the tendinitis didn’t go away easily. I took a full year of rehab exercises before I had any temporary relief from the pain. It took one more year of…
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Snow Peak Titanium Bowl Review
The Snow Peak Titanium Bowl measures 5.5 by 3 inches and holds 20 fl. oz. It weighs a claimed 1.6 oz. It’s made out of titanium which means that it doesn’t rust and you can cook in it. It fits perfectly inside Snow Peak’s Titanium Multi Compact Cookset. By combining the lightweight camping bowl with the cookset, you get a sub-14 oz. cookset with enough gear to cook elaborate meals for two. But, is it too good to be true? This is my Snow Peak Titanium Bowl review. Snow Peak Titanium Bowl Review I purchased the Snow Peak Titanium Bowl earlier in the year and didn’t use it until I took…
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Initial KeelEazy Review: an Easy-to-Apply Kayak Keel Strip
KeelEazy is an adhesive keel strip designed to replace fiberglass or Kevlar kayak keel strips and canoe skid plates. It comes in multiple widths as long as you need. It’s available in two colors by the foot and additional colors by the roll. The manufacturer claims that it can be applied to fiberglass, polyethylene, thermoformed ABS and metal surfaces. According to the manufacturer it’s 14 times more abrasion resistant than a composite keel strip. It runs $4 to $8 per foot. Kits are available. In September, I received a small sample to do a KeelEazy review. I applied the sample KeelEazy strip to the stern of my Kevlar canoe. Years of…
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Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown Review: the Rescues, Vol. 2
Simon Willis, a journalist and film maker, and Gordon Brown, a world-class BCU 5 Star sea kayaking coach, have teamed up to make Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown Volume 2, the Rescues. This DVD, like Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown Volume 1, combines a sea kayaking journey to a stunning destination with instructional components. The end result is a DVD that you can watch in a couple of ways. You can watch the instruction intertwined with the journey, the journey alone or the instruction alone. It’s like three films in one. For Volume 2, the paddlers head to the Islands of St. Kilda, which are rocky islands west of Scotland…
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Fuselage Frame Boats: A guide to building skin kayaks and canoes — a Review
Fuselage Frame Boats: A guide to building skin kayaks and canoes documents S. Jeff Horton’s, Kudzu Craft, method of building plywood-framed skin-on-frame kayaks in a similar method to those developed by Tom Yost of Yostwerks. The idea is to connect a series of frames with stringers to make the basic shape of the kayak or canoe. Over the frame, you sew or attach a fabric skin that you waterproof with varnish or two-part polyurethane. By following the process, you can build a boat quickly and inexpensively. This is my Fuselage Frame Boats review. Fuselage Frame Boats Review Horton borrows the term fuselage from plane building, because this method of boat…
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Werner Cyprus Review: A Lightweight Carbon Kayak Paddle
The Werner Cyprus paddle is Werner’s most popular Performance Core high-angle paddle. It features mid-size carbon fiber blades filled with foam, which gives the paddle a more buoyant feel when on the water. The ferrule features a geared adjustment system for a precise fit. Werner claims that the Cyprus fits a wide range of paddlers, and that the paddle is great for linking strokes, bracing and rolling. This is my Werner Cyprus review. Specifications Surface area: 610 sq. cm Blade length by width: 46 by 18 cm Weight for 210 cm: 23 oz. Available length: 205 to 230 cm Werner Cyprus Initial Thoughts I’ve owned a 210 cm straight shaft version…
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The Fat Paddler Book Review
If you visit PaddlingLight often, you might have noticed the new advertisement in the sidebar that proclaims “Recovery Can Be Life’s Greatest Adventure.” You might have also been attracted to picture of a book cover with a man in a kayak under a waterfall who’s grinning a wide grin. If you haven’t, just look at the picture at the top of this post. It looks similar. The ad is for a new book called The Fat Paddler. Sean Smith, aka THE Fat Paddler, wrote a book about his life and how discovering paddling (and eating sausages — well, okay, maybe not sausages but his website does reference them in the…
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Marine-Tex Review: Rapid Set Repair Epoxy for Emergency Repairs
The skeg box in my NDK Explorer sea kayak is made from plastic and glued in the boat. There’s no fiberglass protecting the outside edge. Instead, NDK/SKUK just covered the exposed plastic edge with a layer of gelcoat. Although gelcoat takes abrasion well, it fails in impact and really needs fiberglass under it for any strength. Before my last expedition, I noticed that the gelcoat was wearing off the skeg box and the plastic was actually fractured. On its website Sea Kayaking UK actually offers repair advice for this problem, so it’s not entirely rare. The problem was that the repair involved cutting out the broken plastic and replacing it…
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SeasonFive Phantom Review: A windproof, waterproof rash guard
SeasonFive, a recently launched watersports clothing company with a purpose of making innovative clothing to keep you on the water longer, attempts to do just that with the Phantom Long Sleeve shirt. The Phantom uses SeasonFive’s proprietary Atmos 1.0 fabric, which combines a water repellent outer fabric, a waterproof/breathable membrane and a soft inner fabric into one top. I tested the top for the last six months and used it on a 45-day kayaking expedition. This is my SeasonFive Phantom Review. SeasonFive Phantom Features In addition to the waterproof/breathable Atmos fabric, the Phantom features a zippered expansion on the shirt’s back, flat lock stitching to make the seams feel comfortable…
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Tear Aid Review – An Emergency Repair Kit and Patch
On a 45-day kayaking trip about a week from the end of the trip, I stopped for lunch and took my top off to cool off and change to a lighter layer. After lunch, pulling on the drysuit, I felt the neck gasket tear — a smooth, soundless rip that released the tension in the gasket, but caused my stomach to turn. The rip was huge. It ran from the top of the gasket almost all the way to the base. My standard repair kit includes Aquaseal, duct tape and bulk bike tire repair material, but for various reasons my repair kit didn’t come in the resupply box that I…
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The Best Pants You’ll Ever Own: Wintergreen Northern Wear Boundary Waters Shell Pants
Whether I’m backpacking, canoeing or kayaking I want a pair of pants that fits comfortably, dries quickly, packs small, looks good, offers functional pockets and is light. Typically, I end up using a pair of nylon hiking pants. In fact, I found a style I feel in love with over 10 years ago and bought three of them. Those are still going strong. Recently, I had the opportunity to test Wintergreen Northern Wear’s Boundary Waters Shell pants. Over the years, I’ve heard great things about these pants from friends who either worked for the original owners guiding dog-sledding trips or from friends who used them on expeditions. The common theme:…
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Comfy Pants for Paddling: Piragis Boundary Waters Pants Review
In the BWCA, I want pants that feel comfortable while sitting in a canoe, that dry quickly because I end up stepping out of the canoe into the water often at portages, look good for pictures and keep stuff such as compasses and maps handy for when I need it. At least, that’s my criteria for picking a pair of pants. Recently, Piragis, a retail store in Ely, Minnesota, sent me a pair of their Boundary Waters Pants to review. I put the pants through the paces starting with snowshoes hikes in the winter and finishing with spring paddling. Fabric Piragis makes the Boundary Waters Pants out of a comfortable…
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