Michael_Crouse

I've never hear any noise from my Exped pad but maybe I just fall asleep quickly since it's so comfortable. You should not blow into a down filled pad, yes the down is supposedly treated with some anti microbial stuff but you are adding moisture to down that's in a sealed air tight bag. Exped had instructions on drying out the DAM if it gets wet, it involved a hair dryer on low and flushing warm air through the mattress. My advice? Use the pump bag and don't blow into it.

I had a DAM with an external pump/bag. The pain is when you're in a tent you'll have to sit at one end of the bag to pump it up, so unless you have a long tent it can be awkward. Supposedly they inflate quicker with the external bag but I think my new DAM with the internal pump will be nicer. btw. the old one had a leak and it was replaced for free, Exped is a great company that stands by their products. I have one of their tents too and the attention to detail is amazing.

Here's the auction now that they've gone out of business. It's probably your last chance to get a new Impex kayak. http://maynardsliquidations.com Now if only some of us had the money to buy the molds.

They sell it at Lowes and Home Depot so I think I'll pick some up and try it out. If it does bond to a flat surface it will be great but I have my doubts.

http://www.fiberfix.com Anyone tried this stuff? Worried about trying to remove it afterwards but for $10 it might be worth adding to the emergency repair kit.

Those cheap blue foam camping pads are great because you can cut them up and use them to pad a splint or make a neck brace. They're also cheap, never underestimate cheap gear that you don't care about especially when your lending it to a cold, wet, salty person!

Bivy and sleeping bag are good for an unexpected over night, you'll want a sleeping pad too. I wouldn't want to put an injured or unreliable person in a bivy. I want to be able to monitor them. We learned to burrito wrap people so we could still look at them, check vitals, etc... If you're thinking about just warming yourself up on shore a cag, or poncho with a coat and a fleece hat a gloves should work. I think the only combo of gear that might work for both purposes is an Exped duo bivy and a dream walker sleeping bag. A long coat, poncho, a cheap blue tarp and some para cord would work too, just more complicated to pitch the tarp compared to crawling into a bivy. I have a large and small bothy, I like the small one for hiking or X country skiing, the large heavy one goes in the kayak. I had a group of 7 or 8 paddlers in my emergency shelter, it was amazing how quickly they warmed up. If I didn't own it the trip would have been called off instead of shortened.

Dan and Francine live in Montreal, but I don't know if they're paddling much anymore. Very nice people, extremely friendly and good paddlers too. We paddled the Saguenay years ago. we were on the upper fjord and you won't see any whales there, hell we only saw a few other boats. If you time your day wrong the currents/wind can be really bad and the bailout points are non existent, it is a Fjord after all. I remember eating lunch in shallow water sitting on the back deck of the kayak. The mouth is where you'll see all the whales, there are ample hotels and a few campgrounds there. How long do you have and do you plan on camping out of the kayaks or are you staying at campgrounds and/or B&B's?

I have something like this, it was cheaper though, a lot cheaper, maybe $60 http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=1496374&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50714&subdeptNum=50715&classNum=50716#.Us3BL5GLTRo

Even if I had that much I still wouldn't do that with it. Of course I'm in no danger of having to make those decisions.

You can dehydrate sour cream or plain Greek yogurt for the burritos, but it doesn't rehydrate well so just mix it in and it will taste fine. I've found a lot of dehydrated things work that way. We tried a tofu lasagna once, it never really rehydrated well. I think we called it gravel lasagna. Be sure to get multiple trays and use one for fruits and sweet things, use another for tomato sauce, onions, etc.... The tomato sauce tray will be tinted red so you won't have to label them. Some grocery stores like whole foods sell dehydrated blueberries, onions, etc.... Even if you don't buy them look around for some ideas. You might find yourself shopping the "still good" discounted veggie rack, dried mushrooms are a lot cheaper if you dry them yourself. A favorite of mine is a lot of fruit with some sugar and water in a pot, then cook drop biscuits on top of it.

Get a good tarp and keep the tarp or your tent accessible so that you don't have to unpack all your gear in the rain to get to your shelter. Make sure your boat will be balanced (trimmed) when all those water jugs are empty. Mark your first aid kit, you know it's in an orange dry bag but nobody else does. Sometimes larger gear can save space, i.e: a larger cook set that can fit your stove inside it. Bring an extra dry bag for your tent fly so you can pack it wet (if you have to) and not get everything else wet.

"used sparingly" is the key phrase Their are new VHF radios, GPS, etc... that have rechargeable batteries via USB. I think this will be a good thing in the long run, sort of like making sure all your flashlights use AA batteries. Doug- I have the Mophie case, it's great for a long day at work or a conference but for a long trip for some reason I have it in my head to be disconnected, at least from power lines. Ed - I bought a cheap charger without a regulator, the battery pack is now dead from over charging. Also the thread at WCP has some nice pics of the Joos in a case on the back deck. Maybe a battery pack will be the short term solution.

I wanted to start a new thread on this, to quote Warren "Over time you will want to explore options for how to expand your battery power for longer kayak camping trip. I have solutions for that issue as well. But, let's take it one step at a time." Here's a thread from West Coast Paddler, yea I guess I borrowed their title http://www.westcoastpaddler.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5526&start=0 Here's a new device that just came out http://powertrekk.com/ Of course their are also ample "power packs" you can buy, but without a way to recharge them on the trail they don't seem like a great option although they might be the cheapest way to go. Right now I'm leaning towards the Joos and the waterproof bag but other suggestions and observations are welcome, after all that's why I'm posting this!

THe 40 deg big agnes bag should be good, a light quilt can be nice for summer camping too. MEC has a quilt on clearance right now that looks pretty nice. Sadly MEC stopped making a light weight liner that had a sleeping pad sleeve, it was a" travel product" but I think it would have been perfect for you.

Looks like a mid-tour, which is a slightly heavier Camano with a black shaft, the Camanos had blue shafts. Of course this is only accurate if the paddle is several years old. Edit: I don't think the mid tour had glass blades, so this might be a Camano.

The paddle was made by Lendal and called a seamaster. It's was designed to be a spare for P&H boats and the reviews were always less than favorable. If you want one to look nice on the back deck go ahead and buy one but you might want to try it before you depend on it as a spare. Here's a pic http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/8033/dsc003012zp.jpg

Neocorp (search online) sells cord and bungies, this is what Joel stocked.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned plumbers putty.

A sheet bend is used for two different sized ropes, sort of a square knot with a twist. It's used for connecting two pieces of rope. A bowline is very different, you can tie a bowline with one hand and it is used for hauling people up cliffs. If I'm hanging on a cliff and you throw me a rope I'm going to tie a bowline with one hand, if you tell me to tie a sheet bend I'm going to ask for a different rescuer!

I'm assuming you're for going for a 3 season tent. The ideal tent is like the perfect boat, it doesn't exist. It should be light, strong, hold you and all your gear, let you wait out a storm comfortably, have a big vestibule, and have a small footprint so you can pitch it anywhere! Having said all that any of the major brands should be fine, MSR, Nemo, Big Agnes, North Face, Exped, Hilleberg, etc... As far as size goes a 1.5 person tent would be perfect, I have an old Kelty that is perfect for one and "extremely cozy" for two. I would suggest that you bring some gear into the store and actually demo the tent, see how you fit in it with a water bottle, extra clothes, some rain gear, etc... Also if you get a nice tarp a small tent is a lot more tolerable.

Grommits tend to tear out, loops usually have a larger contact area and are more durable. Also I find it's easier to tie off to a loop and with a loop you can stake the edges of the tarp down and have it a few inches off the ground so you still get air flow and the tarp isn't touching the ground. You can also attach a biner to a loop. Short answer, they're stronger and more flexible.

I have a Moss catenary tarp and a 10x14 sil nylon tarp that campmor sold. I usually bring the sil tarp because its bigger and packs smaller. To me the catenary tarp limits pitching options, it is much better in high winds, so that's the trade off. Cookes custom sewing usually gets good recommendations. I'm assuming you're using the tarp as a cook/camp shelter, not to sleep under? Oh yea, loops not grommets, always loops.

I think I have the same rack on the corolla that Brian has. He's right it's solid and much better than those other two brands that people have. My car topping method is 1) grab rack and shake it so vehicle moves, now I know it's solidly attached 2) grab kayak and shake it so vehicle moves, yup it's solid 3) drive This bow line thing is getting a bit ridiculous, when I put a 22ft extension ladder on my truck I use two straps, same as every construction truck that is on the road. Anyone have a flame proof suit I can borrow? :-)

More tales.... bumping into more people I know at old quarry then I ever did in mass someone recognizing my truck and leaving a bottle of wine for me (again at old quarry) Screwing up a camping reservation, calling to check on sites, then getting to one of the harbor islands to find out the ferry had broken down and it was the two of us and a couple of guys in a sailboat on the entire island. Seeing someone on a guided trip almost walk off a cliff, note to guides the privy does not have to be in that scenic of a location.