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Skeeter Beater Magnetic Vehicle Window Screens Review
I’d hate to admit this but since I bought a Subaru Outback, I tend to sleep inside the car more than I front-country camp anymore. It’s far more convenient unless I’m camping in the same spot for several days. That doesn’t happen as often as it used to. The car gets stuffy without the windows down, so during bug season it’s good to have mosquito netting to cover the windows. This last summer, North Fork Gear sent me a set of Skeeter Beater Magnetic Vehicle Window Screens to review. The Skeeter Beater Magnetic Vehicle Window Screens allow you have open your car’s windows while providing protection from biting bugs. Made…
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Lightweight Camping Cookware for a Family of Three
When I used to solo canoe trip, it was easy to pick cookware. I’d just go with the lightest cookset that made sense for the time of year and trip. As my family has grown from one to three, I’ve found that it’s a little harder to balance lightweight camping cookware against ease of use and the desires of everyone on the trip. While I’m willing to forego special treats on a solo trip, it might make the night better for my kid if we have pudding after dinner. That means more lightweight camping cookware to haul along. The weight adds up. Still, we have managed to refine our selection…
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Trekology Ultralight Camping Pillow Review
Over the last couple of years, I’ve been experimenting with different pillow options that range from Hyperlite Mountain Gear Stuff Sack Pillow to stuffing clothing into the sleeves of my coats. Nothing has been comfortable. So, when searching for inflatable pillows, I came across an inexpensive option that was well reviewed on Amazon. It’s the Trekology Ultralight Camping Pillow. This is my brief Trekology Ultralight Camping Pillow Review. Description The Trekology Ultralight Camping Pillow is technically called the Aluft 2.0. It’s $16 on Amazon. It is an inflatable pillow. It takes three to five breaths to completely inflate. When inflated, it’s about 17 inches by 11 inches and about 4…
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PaddlingLight News Update
Just a quick news update about the PaddlingLight website. Over the last year, I’ve been meaning to update the website to increase the speed and load times. I finally had a few days to do that, so before the craziness of my fall schedule kicked in I sat myself down into my office and worked on the website. This is step one of getting things updated around here. While doing that, I also made a few changes to the look of the website. It’s basically the same-ish look but with a slightly more compact design with a simpier color scheme. Hopefully, I also increased readability. Let me know if you…
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Photography and Paddling Mix in My New Video
The other morning, I paddled out to a location that I’ve wanted to photograph at sunrise for a couple of years. I paddled about 20 to 30 minutes in the dark and landed under cloudy skies. I thought it was going to be a big bust. In the end, the clouds broke up and the sunrise was amazing! Pictures below. The video I made from the morning is a mix of paddling and photography. Most of my photography is landscape photography, but if I’m traveling by canoe or kayak I’ll put a canoe or kayak into the landscape. It’s a combination of the two activities that I love most. I…
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Sag to Seagull Route Trip Report
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Sag to Seagull route is a short trip that can be broken into an easy multi-day trip or a long day trip. It consists of paddling across two large lakes, through many islands and across three small lakes. There are three easy portages. At higher water levels, you can skip one and maybe two of the portages. The route passes through areas of the BWCA that burned at least once in recent years. We recently paddled the Sag to Seagull route over four days and three nights. Most of the days consisted of short paddles between campsites and then lazy days in the campsite…
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Fenix PD36R Flashlight Review
Having a bright flashlight with you on a paddling trip, especially when night paddling, can make a difference between being able to navigate and being able to be seen while on the water and not. In the U.S. if you paddle at night, the U.S. Coast Guard requires that you carry a bright, white light to point at other boats as needed. The ideal flashlight will be bright, light and watertight. To that end, I was recently able to checkout a new flashlight by Fenix. This is my Fenix PD36R Flashlight Review. The Fenix PD36R is an USB-C rechargeable flashlight with a maximum brightness of 1600 lumens out to the…
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Siskiwit LV Launched
Ralph M. recently completed a Siskiwit LV build. Here’s what he wrote: I put my just completed Siskiwit in the water (Puget Sound) for the first time on Thursday evening. It is a wonderful boat; stability and handling exactly as you said. Excellent response to leaned turns, a bit of skeg as needed. With skeg all the way down it obediently heads downwind. I had whitecaps building up, modest chop, a good first test for an old guy with back problems. Weight is a bit under 40 pounds. Thank you for a really good design. Here are a few photos that he took of his kayak. It’s a…
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Sawyer Bug Spray Review: Better than DEET?
What a year to test out a new bug spray and do a Sawyer Bug Spray review. This year has been buggy. I live in northern Minnesota where the state bird is the mosquito and where black flies like to rip into your flesh to drink of your blood — like vampires. Seriously. We have no-see-ums as well as biting flies of all varieties. In a normal year, it’s hard to mow the lawn for about a week or so, because you’ll have 1,000 bugs swarming around you. This year, it was a full month of hard lawn mowing. At points, you didn’t want to be outside. We have a…
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What I Carry on my Life Vest for Kayaking
What you carry on your life vest for kayaking varies based on personal choice and what you use your vest for. But, many beginners or intermediate paddlers skip carrying gear on their vest in favor of throwing it into a day hatch. That can be a bad choice. As the Coast Guard says, “If it isn’t on you, you don’t have it.” As an example of what to carry, I present to you what I carry on my life vest for kayaking. Vest fit is personal, but also a bit of a compromise with features. The vest that fit me best only had one tight pocket and made it impossible…
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Hyperlite Mountain Gear Stuff Sack Pillow Review
Getting the comfort of your bed at home when in a tent feels challenging. There’s an entire industry behind making a bed in a tent comfortable. It seems like you can check off two items out of this list: comfortable, lightweight, inexpensive and durable. Enter the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Stuff Sack Pillow. I bought one several years ago and have been using it since then. This is my quick Hyperlite Mountain Gear Stuff Sack Pillow review (what can you say about a pillow). How many items will it check off? Hyperlite Mountain Gear Stuff Sack Pillow Review Description The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Stuff Sack Pillow is designed to be stuffed…
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Free Boundary Waters Maps You Can Print at Home
File this under really useful and holy cow! Peter Wagner did the canoe world a huge service. He used Caltopo and GPX data compiled by forum members of the BWCA.com to make free Boundary Waters maps. You can download the maps and print at home. He made modifications to that data set to show campsites, portages, fire perimeters and Primitive Management Areas. But, he says not everything has been verified. The maps look very nice. I downloaded a few and even though he states that campsite and portage data hasn’t been verified, everything was correct on the maps that I examined. After being really impressed by his project, I pestered…
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What to do about paddling niche websites…
I’ve devoted much of my life to paddling. Started when I was a kid, guided sea kayaking, had a sea kayak guiding business, sold paddlesports equipment at the retail level, was an ACA L4 Open Water Coastal Kayaking Instructor, been a columnist for print paddling magazines, published my photos in a canoe load of magazines and calendars, and have been blogging on this website for over 15 years (it used to be called Nesmuking). During my time blogging, I’ve witnessed the death of great paddling websites and blogs and the rise of crappy affiliate marketing niche websites. And crappy niche sites are getting top results in searches and giving people…
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The Explorer vs. Tempest
Back in 2013, I asked about switching from an Explorer to a Tempest on an online forum. I loved the Explorer, but I knew exactly what I didn’t lov about it. And, I was hoping to find a sea kayak that was better than the Explorer but still felt Explorer-ish. I tried several boats and liked the Vaag and Tempest best. The Vaag didn’t click with me with its stability profile and the Tempest clicked with me. I eventually bought a Tempest to use in my sea kayaking business (read: Why I Got Out of the Sea Kayak Guiding Business). But, found that after paddling it daily for much of…
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How to Replace Kayak Deck Lines
This topic may seem like a nobrainer, but over and over I’ve seen this done incorrectly. So, while it may seem like a topic that doesn’t need explaining — after all, how hard is it to cut off the old deck line and put in new line — I’m going to tell you how to replace kayak deck lines the correct way. How often do I replace the deck lines? Part of your preventive maintenance schedule should be replacing your kayak’s deck line. When you notice that the line looks faded, it’s time to replace it. Also watch for fraying along the line, especially at each of the fittings. Or,…
