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    101 More Bits of Useful Advice for the Paddler, Hiker and Camper, Vol IV
    101 More Bits of Useful Advice for the Paddler, Hiker and Camper, Vol IV
    101 More Bits of Useful Advice for the Paddler, Hiker and Camper, Vol IV
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    101 More Bits of Useful Advice for the Paddler, Hiker and Camper, Vol IV

    By Richard Johnson

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    About this ebook

    Why Volume Four? The easy answer is because I cannot shut up. A more complex response is that as the years pass, I realize that some of what I talked about is outdated and I’ve found a better way to do this or that. Or I have additional experiences that cause me to rethink my previous thoughts such as Vol I mentioned condom-canteens and in Vol III I revisited that thought with more info, but still no experiences as I still think that the idea is disgusting. Also as time goes on, new experiences provide new thoughts on new topics and I purchase or am gifted new gear and wish to share my thoughts and experiences on the new junk. Plus I cannot shut up.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRichard Johnson
    Release dateMay 9, 2018
    ISBN9780463203590
    101 More Bits of Useful Advice for the Paddler, Hiker and Camper, Vol IV

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      Book preview

      101 More Bits of Useful Advice for the Paddler, Hiker and Camper, Vol IV - Richard Johnson

      101 MORE BITS OF USEFUL ADVICE FOR THE PADDLER, HIKER AND CAMPER

      VOL IV

      By Richard Johnson

      101 MORE BITS OF USEFUL ADVICE FOR THE PADDLER, HIKER AND CAMPER

      Vol IV

      By Richard Johnson

      Published by Richard (Rick) Johnson (Desert Dragon Productions) at Smashwords.

      Copyright March 2016 Richard Johnson

      ISBN 9780463203590

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      INTRODUCTION

      Why Volume Four? The easy answer is because I cannot shut up. A more complex response is that as the years pass, I realize that some of what I talked about is outdated and I’ve found a better way to do this or that. Or I have additional experiences that cause me to rethink my previous thoughts such as Vol I mentioned condom-canteens and in Vol III I revisited that thought with more info, but still no experiences as I still think that the idea is disgusting. Also as time goes on, new experiences provide new thoughts on new topics and I purchase or am gifted new gear and wish to share my thoughts and experiences on the new junk. Plus I cannot shut up.

      Just be happy that I am not doing a series of guidebooks on the places I paddle. OOPS! I wrote the Guidebook to the Lower Colorado River from Hoover Dam to Cottonwood Cove so expect more guidebooks to be written.

      But, until then, enjoy the chapters.

      Speaking of which, I have a philosophy that goes something like this, I can spend 30 pages beating a subject to death and giving you so much info that your brain shuts down, or I can do a few paragraphs or a couple pages that you can easily digest and remember, then later add another chapter to build upon the previous. As the USAF says, give info in small bites. So if I repeat myself, it is mainly as a memory nudge. I am going to tell you what I will teach you, then I will teach you, then I will tell you what I just finished teaching you! It works because the USAF has the best leadership and training schools in the world!

      Back to Contents

      CONTENTS FOR VOLUME FOUR

      Introduction

      Find the Serial Number on your Boat

      Why

      Wood Fires

      Woodburning Stoves

      IP Ratings

      Overpacking Food

      Powdered Eggs

      More on Camping Clothes

      Gear Sales

      Survival Bracelets

      Temperature Chart

      BPA

      Dryer Sheets

      Maps STILL Lie

      More Stupid Things People Carry

      Upper v Lower River

      My Current Bathroom

      My Current Bedroom

      My Current Kitchen

      Key Floats

      Shower Thong

      Folding Mat

      Smaller Para-Cord Works

      Tree Hook Belt

      Lonesome

      Meat Treats

      Make a List

      Time Zones

      Silicon Cookware

      Where was Your Kayak Made?

      Trash Bags again

      Waterproof Maps

      Overnight Kit II

      Games

      Latex Free First Aid

      The Magnetic North Pole

      Carry Perishable items

      More on Poop Tubes

      Make your own Maps

      Cheese Ball Fire Starter

      A Really Light Wind Screen

      The Jetboil Can Cruncher

      Cook Downwind of your Tent

      Don’t Wipe Your Hands on Your Pants

      Vacuum Sealing Tortillas

      What to Look for in a Kayak

      A new Seat Warmer

      Paddling for Fun

      Man Food on the Go

      Packing a ‘Yak, Again

      Men vs Women

      Another Paddle Repair

      Rethinking my Packing Strategy

      A Solar Raft

      Paddling in the Rain

      Skunks

      Alum

      Triple Bag your Food

      Care for your Own Crap!

      Crushed Deck Bags

      A Nearly Perfect Gravity Water Filter

      Color Code your Dry-Bags

      A Double Camping Bed

      Lunch Kits

      Shifting Weight in your Kayak

      Integrated Cooking Systems

      Sink Comparisons

      You Don’t Need to Purchase an Expensive Set of Eating Gear

      What kind of Water Filter should I use?

      Why do People NOT Paddle?

      How does a Water Filter Work?

      Paddling Companions

      Zip Lock or Vac Seal

      Waterproof Matches

      Richards Rules for Kayaking with Women

      No Parking

      One Man Tents

      Really Stupid Things People Do

      Navigation and Camping

      Flameless Oven

      Instructions

      Precipitating Uranium Ore from Turbid Waters of the Green River through Flocculation by the use of Alum

      Emergency Back-up Meals

      Bad Toilets

      Cook Kits

      Hammers

      Leash your Boat

      Night Lights

      What About Cooking?

      A New Paddle Case

      The Monument on Saguaro Lake

      Lunch

      An Improved Fire Pan

      A Boat Car

      Another Home-made Paddle Leash

      MSR Mini-Works

      Which is Best

      Take Your Time

      Don’t Buy Cheap Stoves

      How to Build a First Aid Kit

      The Reactor at Lake Mead

      Other Books by the Author

      Author’s Biography

      Back to Contents

      FIND THE SERIAL NUMBER

      Like any VIN number, the serial number on your boat tells a lot of valuable info about your kayak. To locate your kayak's serial number look at the right (starboard) side on the back (stern) of the boat on the outside of the hull. Most, but not all boats, have a recessed area here. Your serial number will almost always be in this area but some few are hidden inside the stern dry hatch.

      In the recessed area

      Melted into the hull

      The serial number of any paddlecraft consists of 12 alphanumeric digits. 

      Ex. XTC 07A29 A8 08

      The serial number breaks down in this order: 

      The first three letters are the US Coast Guard issued code that denotes the company that made this boat and are unique:

      *DAQ for the old Daggers,

      *MFP for Wenonah,

      *WEM for Confluence, Perception

      *WKY for the old Wilderness Systems

      *XDC is Zodiac inflatable

      *XKA for Ocean Kayak,

      *XTC is Old Town.

      Thus, XTC means an Old Town kayak. But I don’t know how or why they assign these specific letters.

      The next five numbers and letters are the actual serial number created by the maker to identify that particular kayak. 07A29 means something to Old Town and lets them keep track of the boats that they make.

      The next digit is a letter to denote which month the kayak was actually made. A = January, B = February and so on.

      Next is the number that represents the year the boat was actually made. In the above example, A8 means that the kayak was actually manufactured in January of 1998, 2009 or 2018. The specific year code makes sense only when you read the last numbers.

      The final two numbers are the Model Year of that boat. Here 08 means 2008. This that kayak was a 2008 model boat that was made in January of 2008. FYI: Most manufacturers begin the model year in September so a boat with the last-four that says j506 is a 2006 model that was actually made in October of 2005.

      Why is all this important? Two very good reasons. If you buy a used kayak for $800 with a last-four of A901, you are buying a kayak that is 15 years old. Is a boat that old worth that much money? What kind of shape is a 15 year old boat in? The big names such as Wilderness Systems, Old Town and the like will be as good after 20 years as they are the day they came out of the mold. The cheaper entry-level boats may be falling apart after a couple years.

      Second, Coleman used to make their canoes in America, then they outsourced to China where the quality dropped through the floor. If you knew when that happened, the number on that canoe will tell you if it was a good boat made in America or a crap-boat made in China under the Coleman name. Or, if you are a biker, was that used Harley made by H-D or by AMF or by H-D after the employees took the company back. If you are a Biker, you know what that means and why that is important!

      If you can show that the boat you are buying is 15 years old, you have a bargaining point to convince the seller to drop the price a bit. Odile did that, she refused to pay the asking price for a boat that was 9 years old so the seller took a hundred dollars off the asking price.

      Older Old Town kayaks are better made than the newer ones and I’d rather have a 10 year old Old Town than a 1 year old Old Town simply because they really did make them better in the good-old-days!

      I was looking at an Old Town Cayaga-145 that I was considering as a loaner boat for my daughter and asked for the model year. The seller had no idea but when I checked the serial number, I found it to be a 2006 model which was very important because in 2007, Old Town switched from Royalex-3 to Royalex-1 or, they stopped making their kayaks three layers thick (very strong) and made them only one layer thick with the plastic so thin in places that you can see through it. So the 2007 and newer kayaks are very thin and weak and not as well-built as the older ones.

      Back to Contents

      WHY?

      Why do people make their own gear? Why not just buy what you need? I’ve seen a lot of people do that, as if they had disposable income greater than my gross pay. But I/we often make gear and this is what these books are for. So why? Well, there are a number of reasons:

      Poverty! Frankly, when I started paddling, I was a single father with a deadbeat ex-wife who refused to pay a single penny to provide for her children. And as paddling is a very expensive sport, by the time I bought a kayak, PFD and Paddle for me and each kid, I was too broke to buy anything save raman noodles for dinner. So I made what gear I needed until I could save the money to buy it or someone gave it to me. Over the years I have gathered a lot of new and neat gear, much of it gifted, some I saved up to buy. But still, I end up making much of my gear and doing my own modifications to my boats.

      No Stores handy! When you live in the boondocks, the number of stores in your area is limited, so you get what you can from Walmart or the local fish-n-bait supply store. And unless you live in a big city, the paddling gear in any sporting goods store is almost non-existent. Summit Hut, my favorite store in Tucson, sells NO paddling gear at all and since the store was started by a climber and is now owned by a hiker, this is understandable. So when I need paddling gear in Tucson, not even REI or Sportsmans carry anything more than the very basics.

      Too much free time! Frankly, unless you are married, a workaholic or have a steady girl/boy-friend, you have way too much time on your hands during bad weather (rain, snow, relatives come-to-visit). So I have a choice, I can watch TV, play on the computer, catch up on my reading or.. make something. Currently I have two tables I am making as housewarming gifts (for which I have been offered up to and over $500 per and had one stolen at a charity auction)! And while sanding the things, my mind wanders and I realize that I can make a kayak cart from the left-over lumber and the wheels of that baby-buggy someone is tossing onto the trash-pile! So I save $80 on a new cart, waste an hour and I have a cart that I strapped to my stern deck on that multi-day trip down the Colorado. Yes I had to offload it to get to my stove for lunch but at the take-out, when everyone else was hauling gear from water-to-car over multiple trips, I flipped the cart over, lifted my loaded boat onto the thing, strapped it down and pulled my boat and gear to the car in one easy trip!

      Depression! Ok, I admit it! Since my breakdown over my divorce, I have been too depressed to do much of anything. So my therapist suggested that I need to accomplish ‘something’. I started out building tables (warning, put the booze down before playing with the power-tools) then moved onto other things. And frankly, when you think that your life is in the pits, having someone rave about that neat table you made from cast-off lumber is a really good feeling and far better than paying $125/hr to some guy with a diploma who is being paid to pretend to like you.

      Bragging Rights! When we are sitting around the campfire after a long paddle, people tend to talk about their gear. Someone will show off their $80 kayak cart and the rest of the group comments that they wish that they could afford one. Then I pull out my scrap-wood special and people ooh and ahh over my handi-work. Plus I now have $80 that I saved to buy more Godiva Chocolate! And when the Arizona PaddleFest rolls around, my tent-talk on making your own gear receives the evil-eye from the REI rep but the entire audience is praising my work and imagination.

      Keeps you alive. When I retired from the USAF a few years ago, the base retired something like 150 of us within a year and my CE unit went from a 200 man-team to 7! Then I’d get e-mails that Sgt so-and-so died. Within 3 years, half of my Squadron was dead (last week in January 2016, I learned that two more have died and yesterday another USAF-buddy died)! People I served with for more than two decades are popping off like flies! Am I next? I HAVE had three heart attacks and been exposed to who-knows-what over three wars! Then I read the accounts. Ron was found dead in his easy chair watching TV with a beer in his hand. Greg died walking into the street during a bout of alzheimers. And so on. I am in better shape than most people my age and many people half my age. Why? Because I keep active! I keep my body active paddling, hiking, martial arts, pushing my luck and chasing women who have daddy issues. And I keep my mind active inventing things and wandering through the stores and asking, can I make that cheap? 99% of the time the answer is ‘yes’ and I keep active designing and building the thing. And frankly, some of what I make is better than anything you can buy in the stores!

      So why buy this book and make your own gear? Reread the above paragraphs and there is your answer.

      Back to Contents

      WOOD FIRES

      Back in the day, my father would take us camping and while he was setting up the heavy canvas tent, he’d assign to me and my sister the job of collecting firewood. If we didn’t collect enough or the wrong wood, he’d feed us a can of cold beans for dinner. It was a good object lesson. Work hard and be rewarded with a warm meal and warm body. Flake off and suffer!

      When we camped on the far shore of Lake Patagonia, I handed Spencer a trenching tool and told him to clean the area of cow-pies and bury them. If he flaked off, he sat in cow-feces. When he complained, I replied that he could bury them or we could burn them in the bonfire! Then, despite his mother’s protest, I refused to feed him until the job was done.

      There are a LOT of people who think that a campfire is the way to go. It is so primeval and romantic to cook over a roaring fire… until you realize that your dinner is burned on the outside and raw on the inside…. Or that you ran out of wood in the dark… or that you started a forest fire and the guys-with-badges are handing you a bill for the cost of putting out the fire you started….. or…

      Mike burning his steaks which are still raw inside

      Here is the thing, cooking over a wood fire isn’t as easy as you think. Smart people cook over coals! Smarter people cook over wood-burning camping stoves. Really smart people bring a canister stove and cook over that.

      Lenny & Hannah cooking over coals.

      This is an aluminum fire-pan Spencer and I made one day from scrap aluminum we got at the recycling place for $10. It is moderately heavy so I only haul it when I am in a canoe but it folds up like this:

      …and being made of aluminum it weighs much less than steel and DOES meet the Forest Service requirements for a portable fire-pit. What you see above sitting IN my fire pan is what Hannah & Lennie hauled. They brought an actual Dutch Oven and charcoal plus a folding wood stove to save weight. Of course they talked Robert into hauling their crap as it wouldn’t fit into the kayaks I loaned them. And I recall watching Hannah feeding twigs into the folding wood stove to keep the fire going as she boiled water while I read a book as my dinner cooked in my JetBoil.

      I have problems with this. Had they not used my fire-pit, their coals and stove would have been on the cold wet sand which would have sucked the heat from the bricks and wood. Or they would have put it on the rocks which would have baked and exploded. Or they would have put it on the dirt and risked starting a forest fire. Or they…. A canister stove is as light or lighter and easier and safer.

      Plus in many places, so many people have gone before that there no longer remains any wood to burn! Live trees do not burn well. And in the desert like Arizona and much of the southwest, all the nutrients are locked up in the branches which are self-pruning. Self-pruning is a fancy way of saying that the trees drop their own leaves and branches so they will decay and make the ground more fertile. Collecting said dead twigs and branches for your stove and fire causes the tree to starve and die. So my problems with wood stoves and campfires can be listed thus:

      *Lack of materials

      *Uneven heating

      *Constant work to feed the fire

      *Danger of forest fire

      *Stripping the desert or forest of valuable resources.

      *Probably a few more things I will add before I send this book in.

      Make your life easier and save a tree by hauling a canister stove, or an alcohol stove, or whatever, but avoid building any form of fire.

      Back to Contents

      WOODBURNING STOVES

      I covered

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