Canoeing

Lightweight Packrafts:

Some new packrafts and paddles will make it easier to cross rivers and lakes. These two (suitable for flat water/Grade 1 rapids) weigh less than a kilo: Alpacka ‘ghost’: https://alpackarafts.com/product/ghost/ @ 1.5 lb & $595 and Klymit LiteWater Dinghy: http://www.klymit.com/index.php/litewater-dinghy-lwd.html now 35 oz & $199. Note also this ultralight paddle: http://www.packrafting-store.de/Paddle/Special-paddle/Supai-Olo::472.html @ 365 grams! Many […]

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Pitching the Poncho: Warning: This may save your life:

  Some folks did not find my instructions quite clear enough about this (here: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/sambar-deer-stalking-102/). These pictures may help. You can pitch a 5’ x 7’ nylon poncho as quite a good dry shelter (with a fire out the front). Tie the centre of one of the 7’ sides to a tree (or stick) about

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The Last Rebels

If this is true http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-19/last-rebels-25-things-we-did-kids-would-get-someone-arrested-today (and I suspect it IS) there is much to be done (removing countless Nanny State regulations is only one of them). A world where DIY is a novelty or adventure rather than the norm is a world gone mad. Fortunately for them my kids could easily double this list before

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The Ultimate Survival Gun:

My first one of these was my Armalite AR-7 .22 calibre. What a beautiful little gun it is: the way it folded up into its own stock with its 8 shot magazine is just excellent. At 1100 grams (2.5 pounds) and 400 mm (16”) long it is ideal for backpacking. Unfortunately as it is a

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Baker Lake or BUST:

Put THIS on your ‘bucket’ list: http://www.thelon.com/thelon.htm Maybe also check out some of Ray Jardine’s adventures in the Canadian Arctic (eg back, Thelon, Kazan, Coppermine, McKenzie Rivers) here: http://www.rayjardine.com/ Maybe Della and I could someday packraft a section of one of these awesome rivers? Meanwhile there is the Wonnangatta/Mitchell to contemplate for this summer. Quite

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Canoeing Gippsland’s Rivers

I have had some feedback to my posts about the Tanjil River (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tanjil-river/), Latrobe Rivers & etc. Some people phoned to thank me for an enjoyable trip on this section of the Tanjil. They are WINTER canoeists employing sit-on canoes and wet suits to access the much higher river levels usually available in the cooler

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‘Supercharging’ LED torches:

Single AA or AAA LED torches are impressive enough with their 100/150 lumens output on a single 1.5 volt battery but these Cree LEDs on which they run are usually designed to run on 3 or more volts which means you usually can run them with either the AA (14500) or AAA (10440) sized lithium

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Tent Lanterns

I have long used Fenix’s LD01 torch for this purpose, which I now see they have upgraded (the new LD02 model giving approx 20% more light on the brightest setting). It has three settings: 8, 25 and 100 ANSI lumens. The reflector is Loktited on and needs some careful work to unscrew it for the

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