Cordage Tip

 I just wanted to share the little tip/trick for stowing cordage. Probably more to the point, how to stow a ridgeline with a couple loops for prusik knots.

Many people just stow cordage in a pouch bag inside our packs or shelter kits. Generally in hanks of varying sizes like this. Possibly a carabiner or two. I also use d-clamps.

In the image above the longer hank is the ridgeline, with the two loose pieces for use as prusik knots or other tie on loops. All this in a small pouch is nice and neat, but I have to either sift through the pouch or dump it out to get my ridgeline and strands to tie out a loop or two. An easier way is to tie the strands into loops, and then you can attach them to the ridgeline along with the carabiners like in the picture below.

Now, when I want to get my ridgeline out to set up it's all lashed together so I'm not digging around or dumping.

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Maybe you don't use or want to use the the carabiners?

I'd still pre-tie my loops. Then I'd simply lay them on the ridgeline before I wrapped/lashed it.

The nice thing about using the method above is it's no frills and won't catch on anything else in the pouch or pack. There's also another plus to this: You can color code things. Example, the general rule of thumb for a ridgeline is 25 feet in length. The one above is only 23', so by having those green loops I can easily tell visually which ridgeline that is. You can also still loop a carabiner into the loops here as well if you chose too.

Kayak Voyage 2

 Loaded the kayak back up and went back over to the lake this morning. It was a lot warmer already and a good bit more breeze. I had time to really do some paddling and even got some fishing in. Also found a temporary way of filming, I slid my mini tripod into the straps on my life vest. It word pretty well, but I think I want to find a better way.

I pushed off and just tooled around for about an hour. Taking notice on how the kayak reacted to certain things. It's more stable than the canoe just padding around. Or at least it feels that way to me. Fishing was different as I was used to sitting on the floor of my canoe so I had to keep my arms lifted a little to sack and reel in. In the kayak I had a little more freedom, like if I were able to sit on the seats in my canoe.

I was using a lightweight bait caster rig. I forgot I had put new line on that rig recently, and went with a lower weight. I had not made adjustments to the brake for the new set up. On my first cast I caught a birds nest. While I was fixing that I had drifted around so that when I was able to reel the line in I was in in a position where the lure camo up and hooked the cord on the front handle. So, while I didn't catch any fish, I did catch my own kayak.

When it started to get a little over populated I called it a day and packed up.

So right now, I like the kayak. It's a different feel and ride than the canoe, but not in a bad way. At this point I'll keep both and sue them for different reasons.

Maiden Kayak Voyage

 The last trip I posted was a canoe trip, and mentioned that I was trying to see if I could find a way to sit on the actual seats without tipping. Back to the floor it was, and I'm fine with that.

We had been thinking of a kayak for stability, more in while trying to fish then just out paddling. We came across a sale that had a Quest Teton 100 at 40% off for a 4th of July sale. That was too good a deal to pass up, and with 10 days to return it if I wasn't satisfied, it just sealed the deal.

This morning I loaded it up, and we went over to the lake. The trip was cut short due to my dog being a pain and a lot of other people were piling in. I did get about 30 on water minutes to get a test run tough. I like it. It feels a little more stable than my old canoe while just paddling around, and I moved around to simulate the movements I'd make if fishing, and it was fine as well. I did feel as though it took a little more effort to actually get it going and keep it moving compared to the canoe, but turning seemed the same.

It's going to be difficult to set my phone for recording, I did have a little problem on that task. I tried to use the small dry well without good results, and setting it on the bottom worked, but it wasn't very stable or steady. I'll figure out something to rig up for that.

I don't think the kayak will be great for camping trips where I'd have to paddle in though. I might be able to use it for a weekend where I could get away with very minimal gear, but I feel the canoe will be better suited for those types of trips then this particular kayak.

 

Anyway, so that's it, really. As I said, the trip was cut short, so I didn't get a lot of pictures or video.

 

 

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