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It’s All in the Knot
Earlier this year, I was guiding a trip in Pigeon Bay, which is on the border of Minnesota and Ontario on Lake Superior. It was a windy day, but the wind was from the southwest, which, because the bay runs east northeast, usually means that it’s going to be calm in the bay. The bay itself is about 4 miles deep from Pigeon Point to the furthest west point of the bay, so it escapes the fury of the lake on any winds except from the northeast. The bay is formed by the Canadian mainland and Pigeon Point, a slender peninsula with a maximum width of about half a mile and…
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Review: Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown Volume 3
I’ve been a big fan of the Sea Kayak with Gordon Brown videos. I thought that the first volume was innovative in its approach in that it intermingled the instructional aspects of the video with a journey narrative. The approach kept the instructional components fresh and although you could watch each section separately, it was fun to watch them together. Volume 2 took the same approach and applied it to rescues and towing. I thought Volume 2 was a big improvement over an already great volume 1. In Volume 3, Simon Willis and Gordon Brown take the series a different direction; the journey narrative is gone and the instructional components no…
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Comfort Paddling Tuilik Review
I’m a huge fan of tuiliks (read The Tuilik: a Perfect Bit of Kit for Winter Kayaking), which are a combination of a hooded paddling jacket and sprayskirt. I like them because they’re warm, they give you a larger freedom of movement vs. a neoprene sprayskirt, which helps with torso rotation. They make rolling easy, because they’re buoyant. They keep your head dry, which in the cold water I paddle in (usually doesn’t get above 55°F), makes rolling more fun and warm!. Until this spring, I had only used neoprene tuiliks, but this spring, Paulo from Comfort Paddling approached me about his waterproof/breathable tuiliks. I was excited to try one and write…
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GoScope Extreme Review
One of the problems with the curved and flat GoPro mounts is, because they don’t move they create a static scene when kayaking. The video ends up showing only one direction, often pointing at the kayaker, which is boring. In a video, about 15 seconds or so of the same angle, especially in action videos, is about all a viewer can handle. If you doubt this, search Youtube for sea kayaking surf videos and see how extremely boring watching someone surf is when the same angle is shown during every ride. To make an interesting video, it’s nice to have multiple GoPro units mounted all over the kayak. If you’re…
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Grand Portage National Monument Rendezvous Days and Powwow
Every year during the second weekend of August, Grand Portage and the Grand Portage National Monument hosts Rendezvous Days and a Powwow. During the event, 1000s of people and 100s of reenactors show up at Grand Portage to experience what life was like for fur traders, who used canoes. The event celebrates the cultural heritage of the Anishinaabe and the history of fur trading in the area. The Rendezvous Days celebration harkens back to a different time, when beaver pelt was one of the most important trade items in the world. All across North America, the canoe held a central role in the trading of beaver pelts. It was easier to…
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Grand Trunk Double Hammock Review
I recently received a Double Hammock from Grand Trunk Goods to review. Grand Trunk Goods claims that the Double Hammock is “The world’s best portable hammock.” So, in this cursory review, I set out to find out if that claim was true. I’ve used these simple fabric hammocks before and currently own three of them. They occasionally get put up in the backyard (although this year has been too buggy to enjoy them), and now and then I like to take them along on trips into the BWCA, especially on trips to Brule Lake. There are a bunch of island campsites on Brule Lake and it’s great to paddle to…
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National Hammock Day Giveaway
Did you know that there’s a national hammock day? I didn’t either, but, whether or not this is a made up holdiay, it’s one that I’d like to celebrate. You can easily celebrate it by kicking back on July 22nd in a hammock. If the bugs in northern Minnesota aren’t too bad that day, I’m going to. To help you celebrate Grand Trunk Goods is giving away $3000 in prizes — that’s a lot of hammocks. To win you need to upload a photo of your Grand Trunk gear or a photo of where you want to go with your Grand Trunk gear and then you get your friends to…
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Kayak Deck Slates
Over the past few years, I’ve run into many kayakers who see my sticker deck slates and ask where they can buy them. Unfortunately, they were only made in England and were was hard to get them and then they stopped making them. Over the last few years, I’ve toyed with getting some manufactured and offering them for sale on PaddlingLight. I even went so far as to have a graphic designer draw slates up, but then sat on it. This year, I took the plunge and had it done. I did an initial run of 100 slates to see how well they sell. Before I put the offer up…
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Paddle Float Rescue with Heel Hook
In the comments of my The Paddle Float Rescue: Why is Everyone Down on It? Jeremy Vore of The Art of Paddling wrote about using the heel hook during the paddle float rescue. I’ve tried the paddle float rescue with heel hook before using Sea Kayaker’s Magazine’s version, which has an awkward start that involves stretching your arms across the paddle shaft. It also locks the paddle under two decklines which makes it hard to get out. Jeremy’s version of the heel hook paddle float rescue is much simpler, uses fewer moves and doesn’t put your arms in an awkward position (and what looks to me, puts your shoulders at risk), although…
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The Paddle Float Rescue: Why is Everyone Down on It?
One of the first self-rescues that many kayakers learn is the paddle float rescue. The paddle float rescue (reentry) uses an inflatable bag, called a paddle float, on the end of a paddle to act as an outrigger that helps stabilize the kayak as the swimmer gets into it. The paddle float itself is simple and is easily stored bungee-corded to the back of a sea kayak’s backband. With practice the technique can be fast and effective even in rough water. In the Midwest, where I live, it’s becoming increasingly popular to claim that the paddle float rescue is a relic of an older era of sea kayaking and something that…
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Canoe & Kayak Magazine People’s Choice Award
I need some help to try and win a Canoe & Kayak People’s Choice Photo Contest. Please visit Canoe & Kayak People’s Choice Photo Contest. And then click “Vote” on my photo. Thanks! Here’s the image again. A sea kayak on Two Island Lake in Cook County, Minnesota. The clouds reflect in the calm water at sunset.
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Sawyer Squeeze Filter and Fast Fill Adapter for Hydration Packs Review
I’m always looking for a better way to filter water in the bush, and I’ve tried it all. I started with iodine pills, bought various pumps, tried electronic filters, tried hanging filters, chemicals and boiling. I didn’t think that there was anything that I hadn’t tried until I saw Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter System. When offered, I jumped at the chance to review the filter and the Fast Fill Adapter for Hydration Packs, and I couldn’t believe my luck that it was offered just as I was about to buy one. First, I’ll put my biases out there. I used to sell Sawyer’s products when I worked in retail, and…
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Lawson Hammock’s Blue Ridge Creek Camping Hammock Review
When my 5 year-old son said he wanted to do something fun, I didn’t hesitate: we grabbed Lawson Hammock’s Blue Ridge Creek Camping Hammock and jumped in the truck. There’s a section of Lake Superior shoreline just North of town that’s uncampable in a tent because of the beach ball sized rocks strewn over the ground. It’s also one of my son’s favorite spots on Earth and the hammock was the key to a great family experience. We do a lot of camping in tents and in hammocks, so we’re well practiced. Even so, the Blue Ridge Camping Hammock went up easier than any other shelter we’ve used. After finding…
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How to Pick the Perfect Campsite
At the end of a long, hard day of kayaking or canoeing finding the perfect campsite can boost your morale and make the day’s effort feel more rewarding. With limited daylight and no desire to paddle further, and a just okay campsite at your bow, it’s tempting to paddle on just to see what’s around the corner. Follow the advice on this How to Pick the Perfect Campsite flow chart, you’ll find the perfect campsite every time you start to look. Click the image to view it larger.
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Around Madagascar on My Kayak Book Review
I just finished Riaan Manser’s Around Madagascar on my Kayak and I have mixed feelings about it. It sort of pains me to write this review, but if you have limited reading time for adventure stories, then I want to make sure you know what you’re getting into before you read this book. The short version is, skip this book and read something by Jon Turk instead. The Good First, the good stuff: Manser’s writing style is frank and open. He’s not guarded in what he writes, which allows the reader to at points get into his head. The beginning part about gaining sponsorship and putting together the trip is…
