The official RU-vid channel for Kevin Callan's the Happy Camper website. A series of videos full of informative, funny and sometimes ridiculous camping / outdoor tips, tricks and how to's.
I listen to distant trills in the night, I believe I had identified the species. A least concern but still elusive species. However, none have recorded the calls from a distance. The calls, they soften.
So good Kevin... I have been thinking of buying my own canoe for sometime now but haven't yet pulled the trigger... This information really helps me a lot. Once I have done few solo trips this year, I guess I will get a solo canoe next year. My wife is always scared of letting me go alone on trips :) LOL
@@TheHappyCamper We have a crow nest next to our house and all spring the young crows have been trying to caw, they are getting better at it. At first they wouldn't stop, all day long unless I walked near the nest.
I find myself keeping the paddle in the water more and more, old age and lazy I suppose but its is a fantastic stroke to move a canoe. not lifting the paddle but just slicing in back in the water, working on my left side too.
Thank you great Info...I have a Bob's Special 15 Nova Craft that I love for solo non white water..its perfect for me and what i do solo....but I don't like it at all for tandem unless both people are kneeling...actually looking for a new tandem ...how would it compare solo to the others u mention here...for me it's been great
Yes, I have a 15 ft Bob Special as well and use it for solo, not tandem. I didn't include it because a buddy was borrowing for the week. Darn. It's too tippy with two people.
Ya..1 person and a dog is fine. Way too tippy for 2 people. But solo...good in the wind..it tacks well .I've even stood up and poled it up shallow creeks..or stood up and paddled it thru flooded out rivers. .really good for tidal rivers, marshes, winding rivers, going up river in slow current...and very nice and smooth going down river...haven't done beyond level 1 whitewater with it yet.. and don't really plan to...but tripping with it in places like the Adirondacks...or New England rivers...love it. But I wouldn't even consider it a tandem...it's really a solo. Thank you for everything you've done for canoeists everywhere!
Thank you for such an informative video! Is there any chance you'll ever review and check out boats from the other top canoe makers such as Swift and H20? Or is this one of those exclusive sponsorship deals where you aren't allowed to?
Good question. This is not a sponsored video. I do promote Nova Craft regularly. I love their prospector design and they are good paddling friends of mine. I should have added other models in this video. For prospectors I also like the Souris River design. I like Swift canoes but not their prospector. It's too shallow. I don't know much about H20 but they look like good solo designs. I loved my old Dagger, Scott and Voyageur back in the day. Northstar looks similar to my old Dagger.
I use both a traditional paddle and a double blade. I painted the double blade with “never Wet” a Rustoleum product that prevents water from sticking to the blade and I get NO drips in the boat. I paddle a Winona 14.5 Vagabond. I don’t do trips, but love to bird watch from the boat and explore backwaters.
Fun and informative. Thanks Kevin. I have a question about paddling the 16 FT. Solo. Why do you paddle from the bow instead of just using the stern? On my canoe there's a thwart right behind the seat so I couldn't do this anyway. Maybe I missheard ? Thanks! 😊
Pretty standard to solo a tandem canoe from the front seat facing backwards - better for balance as you're closer to the center of the canoe. If there's a thwart behind the bow seat and you will routinely solo, a good option is to build out a kneeling thwart and add it at a good spot to paddle on your knees facing whichever direction is most convenient for placement and leaves you just behind center...
I've been wanting to get back into tripping after about 25 years away from it. All my backpacking and bikepacking are solo...I appreciate the insight. Thanks for sharing your Dash!!! - Davey.
Some nice boats there for sure . I just mentioned to a friend in his 50ès he ought start solo tripping . He said too boring . I said exactly. Will build character . Too much of a yuppie ( and chicken sh*t too )
Thanks for the video, Kevin. One thing I heard in this and maybe one of your others is that you refer to "aramid" as a different brand name. I believe "aramid" is the generic term (aromatic polyamide, per Wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramid), and Kevlar is the DuPont version. Looks like Novacraft is currently using Twaron branded aramid from the Teijin Aramid company of the Netherlands. The Novacraft P16 in fiberglass with a foam core was my first "proper" canoe (30+ canoes ago). Not my personal favourite, but I enjoyed many years in that boat.
Awesome. How do you think that pack would serve for both winter camping on foot also. I wouldn’t mind having a canoe pack that would do both. We’re talking 10 miles or less. Nothing crazy. Since it has support that a canoe pack historically wouldn’t have had, im thinking I could get away with it.
Great review. Even better, you two are a hoot together. Puts a smile on my face every time a see a video with you two together. Hope we cross paths in the back country sometime....I will even provide the whiskey. Take care.
A perfect video to watch after a tough buggy trip in the bush! I made it back to Red Lake and left on a trip the day I got back. It was a transportation nightmare. You two are awesome to watch and put on smile on my face. Thanks again for the well wishes in getting back up to bug central...... Blackfly girl
Your visit to an unfamiliar location that I am very familiar with brought me a lot of joy. From driving the long Sault parkway to watching a ship at the Iroquois locks. Lots of hometown pride from this happy camper fan!
This is my neck of the woods. You drove past my seasonal site at McLarens. I'm across from the small waterfront sites near the dock on a very large lot. It's unserviced so we use solar.
Some assistance with units and pronunciation. Power is measured in watts, W. It indicates the rate at which energy is delivered. 'Power x time' indicates the amount of energy the device can store. So the energy stored in the device is measured in watt hours not "watts per hour" as Kevin kept stating. The rate at which the power bank or a battery could be charged might be measured in watts per hour but this measurement is usually simply indicated by stating the amount of time required to reach some percentage of the total charge (energy) a device can store. The energy we pay for on our electricity bills is billed and measured in kilowatthours, kWh. Photovoltaic, pronounced 'photovoltayic' means simply using light to generate potential difference in energy or 'voltage'. Probably nobody wanted any high school physics commentary on SI units..... but doing your homework makes for a clearer presentation.
You 2 are champs.i couldn't have had a restful day listening to that. Now I could have watched them all day but camping? I prefer quiet and nature. Think you need another campsite to rest and relax from this one
