Thought I would post some comments on a few gadgets that I used on my last trip:

DeLorme PN-60w GPS w/ SPOT: this is the DeLorme GPS receiver that comes paired with a SPOT. The benefit of this is that you can send various messages via the SPOT using the GPSr, including type & send text.

The downside of this combo is that the DeLorme user interface is difficult to learn and use, IMO. I did load up the 1:50k Quetico maps from their map library, and they were nice as they matched the 1:50k maps that I use in the Park. I don't use a GPS for navigation, but it's nice to see the same maps on the display. I did send an "OK" type & send message every night, which worked well with 100% success rate. This feature could make a sat phone obsolete, IMO.

Black Diamond Lantern: kind of heavy as it uses AA batteries, but nice to have in the tent or for after-dark dishwashing, and easier than headlamps. I made my trip notes every night under it.

Night Ize Figure 9: I know the knots, but these caught my eye in REI. Slick little gadget for stringing up tarps and such, very easy to adjust tension as needed. I used these to rig up the Lean 3 one night. Kind of like BDBs in that they're cheap, lightweight and useful.

Golf club tubes: thought I would try to protect my rod tips while the rods were bungeed into the canoe. They may have worked, but I thought they were fairly worthless. Seemed like they should be more rigid to really add value.

CCS Lean 3+: finally spent a night in the Lean 3 and thought it was far better than the tent - more space and better air flow. The only downside that I see is that unless you carry poles, you have to be willing to pass up sites if the tree/ground combo is not favorable. And it if were cold, the tent would be much warmer.

Thanks Ranger for pointing out those Figure 9 rope tightners, they look like a quick and easy solution to running a tarp line.  I'm into my knots but fast and easy is the goal and these look like they might actually be an improvement on a trucker's hitch.  Has that been your experience?  I went into their site and noticed a product they call "Cam Jam" which I might try as a way to tie down my tarp.  Sometimes these clever little gadgets turn out to be more of a pain in the ash than a help but then sometimes they really do what they say they will.

I've used the figure 9 for a couple years now on my tarp, a Crazy Creek sil-nylon (very nice) and find they make tensioning the tarp immensely easy.  They are very easy to move up and down the rope too, if your tie off is closer or farther then the last one and much quicker than moving a trucker's hitch.  When you tension, run the free end over the hook so it hangs straight down - less likely to come undone due to a breeze or gravity.  I also like to add a quick slip know to help prevent that.  Hardest problem - teaching others that are unfamiliar, the right way to use them when they give you a funny look!

Don't you guys use the same (2 or 3 hole type) line tensioners that normally come with tents on your flys? Tiny, light, simple, effective ...? That figure 9 thing looks like an awful complicated solution.

I once ripped my fly by cranking a trucker's hitch too hard. I had another thingy that came with a tent and works on the same principle as the stone and knot trick to replace that tie point but I swear I sat there for a half hour figuring out how the heck to work it. This figure 9 thing looks way more complicated than that. Cool gadgets on that site but I just don't see the need for a lot of them beyond cool gadget status.

I move the tensioners all the way back to the fly before folding/rolling. Before it goes in the bag, the four corners are together and those cords are like 8' long or so. I just wrap them around the bundle like a chalk line on a stick. I know it seems like they should tangle but they really don't unless there are those little velcro type twigs involved.

Do you guys take your lines off and wrap them individually or what?