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Campfire [ COMMUNITY ] RE: HOW MANY CANOES DO YOU CURRENTLY OWN?
NO ONE OWNS A CANOE, THEY ARE FREE SPIRITS!” From a comment posted on Canoeroots’ Facebook page by SAM MARTIN
Family Camping BASECAMP | LITTLE EXPLORERS | BETCHA DIDN’T KNOW | GETAWAY | BUBBLE STREET Taut Line Hitch GEAR | EXPERT TIP | FOOD | CAMPCRAFT | TECHNIQUE | CANOE TREE Know How [ IN THE PACK ] OPTIMIZING LIVING SPACE IN THE BIG AGNE S Gore Pass 3
www.bigagnes.com • $340 US
The Gore Pass 3 offers incredible livabil- ity in a tent we wouldn’t mind getting stuck in for a rain or wind bound day. Its four corner fly vents combined with mesh walls and ceiling offer
superior ventilation and work well at limiting condensation build up. Its vertical walls give plenty of room for a comfortable game of cards or sharing a sheltered
meal. Both doors have equally large vestibules with plenty of room to stand up a pack and are configured to give you the option for a tarp style shelter. The Gore Pass 3 is both wide and long enough to sleep three full-sized adults and is airy enough to keep them breathing freely even days after their last encounter with soap and a shower.
T HE NOR T H FA C E Minibus 23
www.thenortheface.com • $450 CDN; $360 US
Of the tents we tested, the Minibus was the easiest to set up with its color coated poles and webbing pitch system. It’s more than big enough for two with all mesh walls providing ample ventilation. The two huge vestibules offer ample storage space for two Interior side wall mesh pockets each have innovative zippered access points allowing campers to fetch items inside or outside the tent without opening one of its two doors. The full fly offers excellent coverage and protection from cold and wet. With its five pole crossings and a unique, low profile ven- tilation system that will not flap in the wind, this tent promises to provide comfort even in the most adverse elements.
peoples’ gear.
MAXIMUM HEADROOM
BACKCOUNTRY WITH THREE ROOMY TENTS LEARN FROM THE PROS «»
WWW.CANOEROOTSMAG.COM
CAPACITY POLES DOORS
VESTIBULES WEIGHT AREA
HEIGHT
HOLLER 3 2 2 2
6 lbs 9 oz 47 sq. feet 45”
MSR
Holler
www.cascadedesigns.com/msr $400 US/CDN
This is the lightest tent we tested. It also has the most floor space—room for three full-sized sleeping pads and then some. With a door at the head and the foot, midnight calls from nature don’t require the middle sleeper wake up tent- mates to make their exit. Two sizeable vestibules allow for plenty of storage, though taller items may touch the fly. Inside, however, there’s no shortage of headroom giving three campers the abil- ity to sit comfortably and move around easily. There is a built in gear loft—ceiling pockets to store fragile items overhead to ensure they won’t get crushed. Like all the tents tested here, the Holler has a fully coated and taped fly and bathtub floor to keep you dry.
[ LITTLE EXPLORERS ] Why Knot! FOUR ROPE TRICKS KIDS CAN PULL OFF WITHOUT A HITCH
Tying your shoes is one thing, but how about some knots that help around camp? Once you’ve mastered these you’ll be able to tie up your canoe, set up your tarp like a pro and stop your draw string from getting lost in your waistband. Have some fun around the campfire practicing these handy knots.
A TAUT LINE HITCH lets you adjust the tension on a rope, making it great for setting up tarps and tightening tent fly lines. Practice tying the hitch around a stick.
—Michael Mechan 20 SUMMER 2011
• Start by passing one end of your rope around the stick and crossing it over the long part of your rope. Make sure to leave a long tail.
• Next, bring the tail of the rope up through the loop from behind.
• Bring the tail of the rope up through the loop a second time, from the same direction.
• Now, bring the end down alongside the long part of your rope and cross it underneath, creating a new loop.
• Bring the tail around the long part of your rope and pass it down through your new loop.
ON THE IPAD AND DIGITAL EDITIONS THIS ISSUE
Check out the iTunes store or
www.canoerootsmag.com/0009 and catch this bonus content:
• A Rapid Media TV tour of the roomy expedition tents reviewed in this issue (In The Pack, page 20).
• More mouth-watering recipes for the backcountry (“Bread Ready,” page 23).
• A photo gallery from the Dumoine River (page 38).
6 SUMMER/FALL 2011
• Pull your hitch tight. The knot should slide easily up and down the rope until it’s under
30 EARLY SUMMER 2011
tension, when it should grip the rope and stay tight.
A SQUARE KNOT or reef knot can be used to tie two lines together.
• Make an X by crossing the end of the left-hand rope over the end of the right-hand rope.
• Bring the left-hand end down behind the right-hand end, and back overtop again.
• Repeat the process, making another X with the new right-hand end overtop of the new left-hand end.
• Bring the right-hand end behind the left- hand end and back overtop.
• Pull both ends to tighten.
A BOWLINE is a secure knot that creates a loop in the end of your rope. It’s perfect for tethering a rope to your canoe and your canoe to a dock or tree.
• Make a loop near one end of your rope.
• Take the short end, or tail, of your rope and feed it up through the loop.
• Next, take the tail and wrap it around the long end of your rope.
• Feed the tail back down through the loop.
• Tighten the knot by pulling the ends and the loop.
Figure Eight Bowline
A FIGURE EIGHT KNOT is used as a stopper- knot. Tie one on the end of your drawstring to stop it from getting lost. It’s also the basis behind many more complicated knots used in boating and rock climbing.
• Cross one end of your rope over the long part of your rope, creating a loop.
• Then, pass the tail under the long part of your rope.
• Feed the tail back through the original loop you created.
• Pull your eight tight.
UP FOR A CHALLENGE? Try tying a figure eight behind your back, a one-handed bowline or a square knot with your eyes closed. Grab a friend and have a tie-off to see who can tie a taught line hitch the fastest. —Kathleen Wilker
Square Knot
MINIBUS GORE PASS 3 2 4 2 2
3 3 2 2
6 lbs 12oz 35 sq. feet 42.5
7lbs 4oz
44 sq. feet 42”
wrong direction.” Jon asked, “How is this knot going to hold when you slide it?” Others dis- agreed. Nick wrote, “That is how I have been taught and I have never seen it done different- ly.” And from Keith, “You do have it right, in my opinion.” Michael Mechan, the editor respon- sible for setting up the images, admits, “It does look like I got the final step backwards. I’m left- handed, I wasn’t a Boy Scout and I always use a trucker’s hitch when setting up my tarps.”
SOAP DISHED
Just how eco-friendly are camp suds? We asked this question in the last Expert Tip (Early Summer 2011,
www.canoerootsmag. com/0011) and presented a selection of camp soaps and their household counterparts. Gra- ham Jordan of Owen Sound, Ontario, wrote to vouch for his preferred scrub. “Glycerin soap is described as being an all-vegetable product, no detergents, no deodorants, no dyes, no perfumes, no preservatives and bio- degradable. I buy my supply inexpensively at a bulk store. I have used it for years, in part as a safe soap and also, being perfume-free, it does not attract insects like mosquitoes.” Great tip, Graham, so long as the ingredients check out. The primary quality of glycerin soap is its clarity, which is a result of the manufacturing process rather than the absence of any poten- tially hazardous ingredients. If washing up is attracting the wrong kind of attention, Susan Beatty recommended on Facebook, “Rub yourself down with fabric softener sheets… blackflies don’t like them.” Imagine a trip with- out static cling.
WEAR, TEAR, CARE AND REPAIR
A recent episode of Rapid Media TV explained the benefits of aftermarket skid plates for prolonging
hull FIT TO BE TIED
In the previous issue of Canoeroots we shared some handy knots for campers (Little Explor- ers, Early Summer 2011,
www.canoerootsmag. com/0010). Don Leeger wrote us to say, “The article features what you are calling a taut line hitch. But if you ask any Scout, they will tell you it is improperly tied. I searched the Internet and could not find a knot tied the way you did it.” So, we asked for your input to help identify the mystery knot. Thomas Fliss posted on Ca-
noerootsmag.com, “The last half hitch is incor- rect as I understand it. In the first of the three pictures, the working end of the rope passes under the standing end of the rope in the
life (
www.canoerootsmag.
com/0012). As with most other trip tricks, dif- ferent paddlers have different approaches to repair and maintenance. On Canoerootsmag. com, Wayne St. Louis posted, “I’m sure it’s a fine product. However, it looks simply aw- ful, and I have to assume that an amateur did not complete this work. I love my canoe, but I cannot do that to it.” When we asked on Face- book what you include in your trip repair kit, Peter Mind suggested, “Ten meters of strong waterproof gaffer tape, quick-dry universal rubberized glue and plenty of plasty patches.” Durango Kiid recommended, “Extra seat bolts and tools, bailing wire and an extra float bag.” Matt Forster kept it simple: “A roll of duct tape and a bailing bucket.”
PHOTOS: VIRGINIA MARSHALL
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