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How to Choose a Tent
A tent is your home away from home. It needs to be waterproof, durable, but most of all it has to be easy to set up. There are many types of tents and which one is right for you depend on many factors. Will you be backpacking, bike touring, or family camping? How many people will be using it? Do you need to use it in winter or will you camp in windy and exposed conditions? By considering a few factors you pick select the perfect tent for your needs.
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How to Choose a Sleeping Bag
With the multitudes of sleeping bags hanging off of the racks, the many choices of insulation, prices ranging from $17.99 on up, and different shapes and sizes, it is difficult to make a choice. By considering just a few factors you will have the perfect sleeping bags for your needs. Temperature Range The perfect temperature for your bag depends on where and when you will be using it. If you plan on taking a trip to Alaska in winter, you will need a different bag than one you would take on the RAGRAI bike ride in Iowa in summer. One bag can’t do it all. Also, you need to determine…
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Avoid the Beaver and Save the Weight: How to Choose a Water Filter
It hit me about halfway up the mountain. It hit with that instant urge. It was coming and now, so I ran into the woods, didn’t have time to dig a hole, dropped my pants around my ankles, and that was the start of a six month bout of beaver fever. About halfway up the mountain, she started to have the runs. It just so happened that there was a road and visitor center at the top of the mountain, so she kept on walking. About every ten minutes, she had to go. We feed her all our water, but by the top of the mountain, she was completely dehydrated.…
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How Much Food Should I Pack
Dear PaddlingLight, As I canoe more, leaving the river of home and enter the BWCA, I must portage. I do not want to carry needless weight. So, I am planning a 6 day trip with lots of portaging, some are 340 rods, some only 8. However, as a soloist, I have determined to double portage, thus a 340-rod portage is really 1020 rods. So it is like this, I get by on minimal food on a timber trek. Although I climb serious hills, I am not carrying a 60-pound pack or a canoe. I am assuming the physical exertion even on a small mile trip is demanding. I am wondering…
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Dear Nessmuking: Your Questions, Our Answers
Dear Nessmuking, I am in the process of choosing an ultra-light canoe and becoming a little frustrated by the whole thing. There seems to be a lot of b.s. out there, especially from those trying to sell me a boat. I’ve narrowed my choices to the Bluewater Tripper and the Quetico 17′. A few dealers have been telling the Souris River oilcans badly and that it is a problem that will worsen with age. The others have told me the Freedom Tripper is too small for the occasional 3rd paddler (in my case all 3 people are a little over 51/2 ft. tall with a total weight of about 400…
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Free Aleutian Baidarka Kayak Plans
Free plans for building an Aleutian Baidarka Kayak using the Hulls boat design program.
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Notus Racing and Cruising Canoe: An exercise in using FREE!ship
Using the Notus Racing and Cruising Canoe as the subject, this tutorial shows you how to import offsets into Free!Ship and create decks and sails. Also, included is a spreadsheet to make offset import easy, and the imported plans for the Notus for free.
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Free Kayak Plans From Glen Smith
Glen Smith often contributor to the Kayak Forum and moderator at the Bear Mountian Canoe Forum has provided the following two kayak designs for free.
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Igdlorssuit: Free Kayak Plans for the Boat Before Anas Acuta
Igdlorssuit: Free Kayak Plans for the Boat Before Anas Acuta
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Siskiwit Bay Builder Photos
Pictures from home builders of the Siskiwit Bay. If you have pictures you’d like to share, please, contact us. Thanks. Drawings for this kayak are available. Jim Smith Project finished March 2014 Jim writes: I have completed construction of a completely 3D printed, customized Kayak. The Kayak measures 16ft 8in [5.08m] long and cost around $500 to make. It is made of ABS plastic, machine screws, brass threaded inserts and a little bit of silicone caulk. That’s it. And it floats. And I can Kayak around in it. In order to print such large, solid sections of Kayak, I had to modify my home-built, large scale 3D printer to print…
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Free Kayak Plans – Siskiwit Bay
The Siskiwit Bay is all-around fast mid-sized British-style touring kayak. This solid boat suits a medium to heavy paddler looking for good initial stability and with increased flare above the waterline lots of secondary stability. As the water gets rougher, this kayak feels more stable. It's a fast design slightly more efficient than most British kayaks in its class. When built with a Layback Lounge, it's an easy roller.
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Goodnow Kayak Free Plans
The 16' 8" Goodnow kayak is stunning. It's lines flow beautifully and it begs to be built and paddled. At 17 5/8" wide, I'd have a hard time fitting into it, so I decided to model the kayak for a possible upscale and build. Included here is the FREE!ship file for your download and some information about the kayak.
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35 Day Challenge
Why the 35 Day Challenge? Simple. The 35 Day Challenge is engineered to challenge your perceptions as what is possible when traveling by canoe. A small waterproof pack, like the Sealline 35 Day Pack can be used to carry everything you need for a backcountry trip. And you'll still be comfortable while doing it.
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Review: Orikaso Fold Flat Bowl
A review of an innovative new product designed to help save weight in the kitchen, a place where saving weight is needed.
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How to Pick a Bell Solo Canoe
How to pick a Bell solo canoe.
