solotripper wrote on Mar 7^th, 2018 at 11:30am:


I think you got it.  He is a dot on the water near the center of the picture.  On one of the pictures taken while Ben was at that location that I zoomed in on him and them put on my computer and cropped and lighten the photo it is identifiable as Ben.

These are waterproof boxes from a company called Early winters.  There are a few camping items I still use on every trip I've taken since the mid/early 80's when I started. I also use a little soft sided cooler from them for my lunch and also to hold fish filets. 

Does anyone else still use equipment from their youth long ago?  I still have a very cool brass candle lantern with a leather pouch from Early winters but since headlamps came along I haven't used it.

BTW, that smaller can is something that is always on my person while tripping.  It holds my personal stuff like DL, credit card, permit, car keys, cash etc. and slips nicely into a zippered thigh pocket on my tripping pants.  I frequently reach down and feel for it on portages just to know it is still there. There's something about losing all that stuff while out in the wild that scares me. 

I bought several of those roller close aluminum boxes way back when.  If memory serves me correctly they were advertised as "Japanese Lunch Boxes" and were in the $3 to $4 range.  There was even a story attached on how the wives in big urban areas would prep the meals in the mornings after the husbands had gone to the office and there was a delivery service that would pick them up from the homes/apartments and deliver them just in time.  Mine still get used on every trip to carry a few stubby cigars and stick matches.

It worries me that I remember this level of minutiae and at times cannot remember what I did an hour ago.

I liked Early Winters and still have a sleeping bag from them and some other small items.

As to still having well aged gear, I have all of it except for some that were given to, or liberated by, crew members.

One of the most interesting and dangerous was my Baby Enders Stove.

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Pump it a few times, prime the pan with a dollop of white gas, light it and get ready to dropand roll if things don't go well.  Still have it and fire it up occasionally to remind me how good gear is now.

Another fun item was an REI collapsible candle lantern.  The older style that had the flat candle that would pool quite a lot of melted wax in the pan and then dump it on your head in the tent if you bumped it.

Standard Apologies for my rambling.

Regards,

MossBack

TomT wrote on Mar 18^th, 2018 at 12:48pm:


I'll pat my key pocket early in trips as I walk to or from my tent or canoe. It's not where I stash my keys - my mind simply assumes these things are or should be locked and I have the only key for miles and miles. When I realize why they are not there it's always good for a mile wide smile.

Daytrippin' on McDougal Lake.  This is a neat little spit of an island in the middle of the southern basin.  The campsite here is small but perfect for one tent or a couple of hangers.  Good fishing right from shore.  I didn't camp but had lunch. A little piece of paradise.