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My Dream Portage Pack: A portage pack prototype idea
For the most part, my needs for a portage pack are met with Cooke Custom Sewing hybrid portage packs. We have an Explorer, a Ruck and two Pioneers. But, there’s a missing pack that I haven’t been able to find on the market. That’s a lightweight, smallish portage pack for light and fast solo trips utilizing single portages. A trip like my Following the Winchell Expedition trip. I’ve tried all kinds of different packs for this style of trip, and so far my favorite is the Explorer, but it’s just a bit too big. I’ve also tried using a lightweight hiking backpack, but those don’t work because they end up…
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Best Deck Bag for Kayaking
The best deck bag for kayaking is no deck bag. Seriously, don’t buy one. They all are a terrible idea. Instead get an underdeck bag. See below for why you don’t want a deck bag, and for a recommendation if — and only if — you ignore everything in this article and decided you need a deck bag. The best underdeck bag for kayaking is the North Water Underdeck Bag (read our review: North Water Underdeck Bag Review). The primary reason is that they make your deck higher, which interferes with paddling. This is especially true on kayaks with high decks already. While I think that you should have a…
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Gift Ideas for Paddlers
With the holiday season upon us, here are a few gift ideas for paddlers. For this year’s gift guide, either I used and loved the gear or I have it in my hands awaiting promising review. These items also tend to be items that I’d love to have, but probably wouldn’t buy for myself. In other words, great gifts for the canoeist, kayaker or paddleboarder in your life or maybe just something to reward yourself with at the end of a couple of difficult years. Regardless, these are great gifts for you to consider. You may also want to head over the Garage Grown Gear, a small online retailer specializing…
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Nitecore UT27 Headlamp Review
Nitecore’s latest headlamp, the Nitecore UT27 Headlamp, offers a lot that paddlers will get excited about. I got my hands on a pre-release copy of the headlamp and this review will focus on my initial impressions. The Nitecore UT27 features a waterproof (IP66) and lightweight body with the total weight of 2.61 ounces (74g) including the headlamp, headband, and battery pack. The battery pack has a built-in USB-C charging port, and the headlamp accepts both the rechargeable battery or three AAA batteries. Like many modern headlamps, the UT27 has both a spotlight and a floodlight for different situations. The spotlight uses a 3,000K bulb for a slightly yellow or warmish…
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Siskiwit Bay Skin-on-Frame Drawings Updated
Recently, I got good feedback from a builder of the Siskiwit Bay SOF. I decided to dive into the kayak plans again and do a quick update. I don’t know how many of these have been built, but over 950 of the drawings have been downloaded. It’s mostly the free version that people grab, but the free kayak plans version doesn’t offer all the nice things that the drawing package offers. The drawing package now comes with three different placements for the station that goes behind the seat and two different placement for the station forward the paddler’s feet. This will allow builders to vary where the seat goes and…
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Following Winchell Expedition Trailer
In the spring of 2021, I followed the 1879 canoe route of Minnesota State Geologist Newton Horace Winchell. Winchell was surveying the north shore of Lake Superior and inland waterways near Grand Marais and Lutsen, MN. He started in Grand Marais and followed the Iron Trail Canoe Route from the harbor to the border with Canada. Then he followed the Voyager Route along the border and eventually descended to Lake Superior following the Knife Lake to the Poplar River Mouth Ojibwe canoe route. My route followed his as closely as I could. Where there were missing portages, I either used modern infrastructure, such as roads or the Superior Hiking Trail,…
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7 Canoe Camping Tips
Efficient canoe camping comes with experience and seat time. By using these seven tips for canoe camping, you will have a solid head start. Packing and Portaging Use a portage pack (if you don’t own, then rent) instead of daypack or backpacking pack. Portage packs fit into the spacing between the thwarts and a yoke in a canoe. In a tandem you can put up to two in front of the yoke and up to two behind. Cooke Custom Sewing’s Pioneer Packs work perfectly for tandem trips. Line your portage packs with compactor or contractor bags. Twist the top of the lining bag closed and double it over. Then wrap…
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Meal Planning: Stop Your Crackers from Crumbling
If you’re a fan of Wasa Crispbread or crackers for your meals on a paddling trip, you’ve probably had crumbly crisps by the end of the package. This simply trick helps stop your crackers from crumbling when camping. On a camping trip, as you eat crackers from your Wasa Crispbread crackers package, the crackers start to sit more loosely in the package. That looseness allows them to move around too much. The movement causes them to start cracking, especially when under pressure in your food bag. When held tightly together, like in a new package, they maintain a structure that helps stop them from cracking. They key trick and the…
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2021 Paddling Recap
Looking back at the spring and summer and early fall of 2021, leaves me wanting for more paddling. While I did do a few trips, including a big one, the Boundary Waters and surrounding areas were closed for much of the summer. Wildfires in the BWCAW closed the wilderness while I had time off and had planned on doing a lot of canoe camping with my kid. We’re hoping to get one more paddling trip in, but it’s looking like snow might come. Here’s a quick recap of my paddling in 2021. The year started off with a trip I’m calling Following Winchell. In 1879, Minnesota State Geologist Newton Horace…
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New Siskiwit SOF Kayak Hits the Water
Tibor Berki from Sweden, the person behind RUGD clothing, completed an unique build of a Siskiwit SOF kayak. He used fiberglass-reinforced foam for the frames, added sealed bulkheads, used an ocean cockpit instead of a whitewater-style cockpit, and he added hatches. His builder’s log is detailed and fun to read. His build ended up at 13kg (28.6 pounds) with all the extras. He is debating on adding a skeg. In his building log, he mentions that he had problems with the dye he used, but I think it looks fantastic! I don’t own a SOF kayak anymore, but now I want one again because his looks so good. Check out…
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Fenix E12 Flashlight Review
The Fenix E12 V2.0 AA Flashlight for Everyday Carry is a flashlight designed to fit in your pocket and be forgotten until you need it. Because it weighs less than 1 ounce without the battery, it made me wonder if it would be a good replacement for a headlamp. So, let’s dig deep into a Fenix E12 Flashlight for Everyday Carry Review. As with my other Fenix reviews, I received this flashlight in exchange for an honest review (see Fenix PD36R Flashlight Review and Fenix HM65R Headlamp Review). While I love headlamps, there are downsides. One of the downsides has to do with people who use headlamps but aren’t familiar…
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Tracking Lions, Myth, and Wilderness in Samburu by Jon Turk Book Review
Long-time friend of PaddlingLight, Jon Turk has a new book coming out. Called Tracking Lions, Myth, and Wilderness in Samburu, the book explores humanity’s evolutionary need to tell stories and how that need fails us now. As with Turk’s other books, he wraps the scientific and philosophical ideas in the book within an adventure narrative. In this case, the adventure narrative is a journey to the mountains and plains of the Samburu. “We don’t need to listen to stories someone tells us or stories we tell ourselves. We don’t need to follow mass movements. There are too many pitfalls along that pathway. Presence in the NOW is sufficient. Presence in…
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DIY Lightweight First Aid Kit – How to make one
I typically find pre-made first aid kits lacking in some way. To get around that, I usually make my own lightweight first aid kit based on the sport, my training as a Wilderness First Responder and in Wilderness First Aid, and over 16 years of experience guiding trips. If you don’t have that training or experience, it might be a bit harder (and you should take a Wilderness First Aid course). But, you can still figure one out. As an example, I recently put a new one together to stash in my bike pack. I’ve have a day kit that I usually switch from pack to pack, but I have…
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What do you use for bears?
Before they closed the entire Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness due to fires, the US Forest Service issued a bear advisory. With the extreme drought and limited food, bears were coming into camps. There was concern that bears were searching for low-hanging fruit, so to speak. The USFS issued the advice that the preferred method of food storage was a bear-resistant container, but included advice on how to bear bag, and the preferred methods to use in Superior National Forest. That got me thinking about how much I hate bear bagging and bear-resistant containers. If the BWCAW reopens this fall, I’d like to try a container. Single Tree and Pulley…
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Best Waterproof Map Case for Paddling
Wet paper maps equal a bad day when paddling. That means if you use paper maps for canoeing or kayaking that you should use a map case. Map cases also protect waterproof maps from blowing away or sticking together when they dry together. Instead of an article that lists every single waterproof map case that you could use for paddling, like all the affiliate marketing sites do, we’re going to tell you the BEST waterproof map case for paddling. This is part of Best Series articles (as an example see: Best Pump for Kayaking) in which we tell you what the best currently available piece of gear is. Best Waterproof…
