knafelc wrote on Apr 15^th, 2012 at 12:11am:


I am actually quite sympathetic to your position. I dislike MP3 players and Ipod type noise making devices as well as electronic gaming systems. These devices would have no place on my trips. In my mind they are enemies to be avoided like the plague. One has to free of such things before the serenity of wild places can have a chance to take hold. To be honest, I find it hard to achieve that stillness of soul even in large talkative groups........someone is always drowning out the sound of the wind in the trees, the dragonfly as it makes a hard turn in flight and the gentle flip of a small bass.............

Having said that I do not compare a SAT phone as obtrusive at all. Even if one makes the occasional "I'm OK" call it encompasses what perhaps a few minutes tops. Otherwise it stays tucked away. Same with the SPOT. The sending of a message (I'm OK) is not much different than the myriad of other tasks one does about camp and honestly much less than a typical camp chore.

Am I trying to justify my position. Perhaps.....I just see the communication devices as rather unobtrusive for the most part, as in "what's the big deal"? I don't "get it"........that is, the animosity. (Now if it stayed on and crackled all day like a VHF marine radio that would be totally annoying........that I could understand). 

knafelc wrote on Apr 16^th, 2012 at 2:37am:

I get the peace of mind, safety aspect but as a long time solo paddler, that would actually detract from the experience for me. Fear is never boring. My first solo was before the internet, before I even knew they made solo boats. I fully expected to be told "go home idiot" the first time they asked for the alt group leader. To me, a lot of the allure is being self sufficient, being by my self like it once was for some.

Honestly, if I ever really needed to press the help button, I wouldn't be able to or pride and the possibility of embarrassment would prevent me from doing it until it was too late. (Which wouldn't be a bad thing either I guess. They'd know where my corpse was. )

To each his/her own. Cool tools but I don't even have a cell phone or the desire to be that in touch every second of the day. Leave a message at the tone. I'll get back to you when I feel like it.

I'm going to have go back and read this entire thread.  I had something happen recently that is making me think. 

On Monday I presented a program to our local small-town Lions Club.  They asked me to do a program with my photos and talk about our 40 years of canoe-tripping.  I spent a LOT of time preparing this program (way more than a one-hour program for 16 people probably warranted) and it was very well-received.  I wrote up a nice talk and made a Power Point slide show with about 300 photos.  They laughed in the right places of my talk and they oohed and aahed at the photos, especially some of the ones that I particularly like.  That was neat. They were very polite and saved their questions until the end, just as I had requested.  If I do say so myself, it was a good program.   

But when the questions started, I was a bit taken aback.  There were just a couple about gear.  Then the main questions were along this line:  "What was the scariest moment you ever had on a canoe trip?"   "What would you do if you had an emergency?"  "Aren't you afraid to be up there where there is no help?", etc.   They are mainly a senior age group, and they think we are crazy.

Spartan1 and I fielded the questions, but after I got home I realized that I should just have said that we had far more danger each time we make the drive from mid-Michigan to Minnesota in our car with a canoe on top than we probably face on a canoe trip. 

Still. . . .now that I am turning 67 before my next trip, I am thinking that a SPOT seems like a good thing.  Spartan1 had one on his fishing trip with Ramsey last year and I did enjoy seeing that "I'm OK" message in the evening.

When I get time I'll go back and see what y'all had to say.

It's not just older folks who think we're crazy for canoeing in the wilderness, especially solo.  Here in Ohio, I'm amazed how many people of varying age have similar questions and reactions experienced in Spartan2's post.  Isn't it dangerous?  What if something happens?  Aren't you afraid of dangerous or poisonous insects or animals?  What about bad storms?

As for SPOT, I've used one for several trips now.  The only issue that came up early on was the first time I couldn't get the thing to link to a satellite at a secluded campsite.  Usually my wife gets an email each night.  She said she was really worried when the email didn't come until an email came the following night.  We talked some when I returned home.  Since that one time, she now knows a day or two break in the daily emails is probably nothing....but a little worry is still there in the back of her mind. 

Oh, and I guess I have two other things to add.

To ST:  my late mother was also adventuresome, but she was a basket case when I was out on a canoe trip.  She was convinced that something awful would happen to me.  She, however, was perfectly bold to take me, as a teenager, just the two of us to Chicago for several days of shopping and shows and dining in great restaurants--she drove, parked the car, walked all over downtown Chicago, hailed a cab, etc.  And she, a small-town woman who shocked all of her friends with her courage.  I never knew anything to scare that woman.  She told a story about clubbing a rattlesnake to death with a stick on her way home from elementary school (in Wyoming) and I believe it was true.

But yet she was always afraid for me in the canoe country.  I never could figure it out until I had children.

Pine Knot:  I know what you mean.  It hasn't been just the older people.  Most everyone we know has thought we are crazy, and thought that our method of vacationing is "dangerous".  Spartan1 has shared my photo books with his friends for years and I am always greatly amused when they tell me how courageous I am.