A Word in the Woods

(What I carry is nowhere near as nice as this, but the concept is essentially the same. These are from J.a.G Woodworking)

I’d like to talk about one decision I’ve made when it comes to kitchen on a canoe trip. There’s a part of me that wants to go as ultra-light as possible, knife and a flint striker and some rope, and improvise from there, but there’s another, more obsessive side that wants to bring every gadget possible. Somewhere in the middle is the ideal camping kit. That ideal pack obviously is different for each individual, and indeed, changes for me on a constant basis.

One peice of kit that has started coming with me on any canoe trip longer than three days is my version of a wanigan. Bill Casselman’s “Canadian Word of the Day” site describes it better than I could.

A wanigan is essentially a box for food, kitchen kit, and possibly tools that would otherwise be difficult to pack or too fragile to stuff into a roughly-treated pack.

It’s a traditional bit of kit, which, in the spirit of the Duluth-style canoe pack, is as simple as it is refined. Like the Duluth pack, the wanigan is a large, single-area storage solution. It requires that you keep your individual food and tools well-organized.

With a proper utensil roll or bag, you are left with a solid pantry that will protect your fragile foods – eggs, bread, etc.

The fact that it can serve as a table, cutting surface, and utensile-rest appeals to the multiple-use side of me. Sometimes, you make it to a campsite that ends up being wet, and it’s very nice to unpack and organize your meals on a clean, flat, comfortable surface.

The wanigan I have started using is just an old tupperware tub that I had hanging around, and by chance, it fits perfectly into a 68L roll-top drybag from Sea-to-Summit. I can’t say enough about this combo. I’ll eventually try a watertight one, but I like the fact that during use, the wanigan can allow moisture to escape, keeping the inside humidity low.

The bag also is large enough for extras, such as the pot and toiletries, all of which get hauled into the trees at the end of the day.

That’s right, because I’m just using a plastic box, even the wanigan goes up there, along with any pots that were used for more than boiling water. Some may call it overkill, but I’ve yet to confront anything larger than a chipmunk at my sites in the backcountry, and I’d like to keep it that way. This likely wouldn’t be possible to do with a traditional wooden wanigan, but I’d like to see if I can find a good compromise for weight and utility.

If anybody has any experiences of their own with wanigans, I’d love to hear from you, and please feel free to share here on the comments.

Tags: Canoe, food, kitchen, tips, wanagan, wanigan, wannigan
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I’ve decided to take a step back and look at this site. I haven’t updated throughout the winter, and although I camp year-round, sometimes there can be big pauses between trips. So to move things along during the slow times, I will be writing reviews of various gear that I’ve tested and used. Further to that, I’m going to actually take the time to design a new site, with a good section for organizing the reviews, and perhaps a gallery. It will give me a chance to test out some new technology as well, and I’m looking forward to that.

So begins the lengthy re-design process.

Tags: Gear, Reviews, site design
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So, lots of new things going on… I’ve got a new job and a new phone and probably a lot less time this year to go camping, but I’ll get a chance to check out the iPhone in the woods.

It has a gps, but I’m not sure how good it will be, since it relies heavily on being connected to the net. I don’t know if there’s any way yet to add local topographic maps for use offline.

One thing it will allow me to do is compose updates from remote areas. I know that I could just transcribe written notes, but let’s face it – if I were going to do that, I would have done it already.

One thing I’m looking forward to is trying out some solar cell chargers, since I like the idea of sustainable power. I don’t like throwing away batteries, but I also don’t trust rechargables enough to not bring alkaline spares.

A good solar system that would cover charging headlamp batteries, walkie-talkies, cell phones and cameras would be ideal.

Oh, and this is my first post using the iPhone!

Tags: gadgets, Gear, iphone, solar
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I was inspired by my last camping partner’s prolific use of the fishing rod, and have decided to try catching my breakfast, lunch or dinner, and cooking it over the coals. I normally like things that need slow cooking to get into the coals, like potatoes, corn, and more recently, prime rib, but this time, I think I may try to do something with planking, à la BBQ cedar planked Tilapia. Lucky for me, I think at some point, I’ll be dragging the gastronomical obsessive from the previous link into the woods with me, so I’ll leave him to do the heavy lifting. I’ll hopefully be able to bring home the fish, if not the bacon.

Tags: cooking, fishing, food, menu
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In about a week and a half, I’ll be headed out to a bit of crown land with a friend of mine. It’s going to be an interesting experience, since I’m not used to letting someone else plan a route for me. I’ll be going in essentially blind, but that’s fine. I’m going with a standup guy, and we’ve both got good heads on our shoulders.

I like to make sure that every time I head out into the bush, I learn something. If I don’t, then all it means is that I wasn’t paying attention. For each trip, I also like to try and give myself some goals. They’re nothing crazy – sometimes they’re restrictions I place on myself, like not bringing a tent, or using a flint striker to start all my fires, sometimes they’re just an attempt to focus, like trying to keep my stuff together when portaging.

This time, navigation is key, so I’m going to set my sights on the orienteering skills I remember learning in junior high, about two decades ago.

Wish me luck. (more…)

Tags: general, learning
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A friend of mine lent me his GPS handheld unit while he’s away, and I’m going to try it out for the next few days. I’ve been thinking about purchasing a GPS unit for a while, and I have an upcoming trip that would be a good testbed for it. It’s a cute little unit called the Garmin Geko, and looks nice and simple to use. Unfortunately, I’ve been in the subway and the office all day, so I can’t seem to get it to work yet. From what I’ve seen, it’s probably because I haven’t done something right yet. I’ll get around to reading the manual eventually.

I’ll take it for a spin around town, but I suspect that I’ll end up getting something with a map, perhaps something like the eTrex. Still simple, but with an 8MB memory. I may fall for an impulse buy if I find something on sale.

One of the things I don’t like is that these things still use serial connections. Nothing I have in the way of computers has a serial port any more, and that just means a proprietary cable – I can’t just hook it up to any old computer.

I’ll do a bit of a walk and try and figure out how it works, and let you know how things go… If I can get it to work.

Tags: garmin, Gear, gps, navigation
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