I was walking through an REI store, and I noticed that they offer a plethora of different camping cups. They caught my eye, because when I’m traveling lightweight, I tend to just carry along lightweight platypus bottles, but I like to drink a cup of hot chocolate spiked with a little Baileys Irish Cream and in the morning, I like to start the day with Java Juice. I hate using my platys for this type of drink, because the bottles end up tasting like whatever you put in it, so I considered buying a lightweight titanium camping cup.

I just couldn’t stomach the titanium options, because they were so expensive–they ranged in price from $25 to whopping $40. They ranged in weight from 2.4 ounces to the 1.9 ounce MSR Titan Mug. Although I liked the weight, the price was just too high.

I was about to walk away when I ran across the REI Polypropylene Cup. This lightweight camp cup weighs 2.5 ounces and costs $1.95. At only 0.1 ounce heavier than the heaviest titanium mug and only 0.6 ounce heavier than the lightest, this mug is a bargain.

Then I remembered that I already have a cup similar to REI’s plastic cup, so it must be close to the same weight. I went home and put my GSI Camping Cup on the scale and found it weighed only 1.7 ounces. It’s a full 0.2 ounce under the 1.9 ounce lightweight MSR Titan Mug and a $38 less. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Sometimes the lightest and best isn’t the most high-tech and expensive.

Know any items where the less expensive version trumps the high-tech high-end version?

“There is no bad weather, only the wrong gear.” -Minnesota Proverb

Winter shorelines feature ice formations, ice caves, and the air is crystal clear which allows you to see for miles. On a blue-sky winter day, I feel there’s no other place I’d rather be than on the water paddling. With the proper gear and precautions, winter needn’t be a reason to stay off the water. Luckily, for me I live on the north shore of Lake Superior, and its shores remain ice-free for most of the winter. Some winters, we have only a few weeks of ice, and during some, we have months of ice. If you have open water, as long as the air temperature remains above 15 degrees Fahrenheit, kayaking remains pleasant with the right gear–below 15°F water freezes so quickly on your kayak and gear freezes that it isn’t as fun.

Dressing for Water Temperature

To properly dress for winter kayaking, you must account for heat loss through conduction, convection, evaporation, and radiant heat. The old kayaking adage that you must dress for immersion becomes even more important. Not only is the air cold, but the water is cold, and through convection the cold air and water–which works 25 times faster than air–seeks to draw the heat out of your body. The water’s surface contacts the hull of your boat and through-the-hull conduction robs your body heat by drawing it away. Because you’re exercising and in and near water, evaporation from water and sweat cools you down. And your body always radiates heat.

In addition to the four forms of heat loss, you must manage the risk of becoming immersed in cold winter water. On Lake Superior, according to the NOAA Great Lakes Coastal Forecasting System surface temperatures in January ranges from 34°F to 38°F. If you fall into that cold of water without protection, you have somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes of time to reënter your kayak, while your body retreats into shell/core compensation, before you lose strength and dexterity. You may also suffer from cold shock, which is a hyperventilation-like and gasp reaction, typically lasting one to three minutes. During cold shock, you could inhale water and drown.

Consider the following clothing items mandatory for winter paddling:

• A drysuit, like my favorite Kokatat’s Gore-Tex Meridian, and plenty of insulation will keep you warm while paddling and gain you extra time if you become immersed into the water. The insulation under the drysuit forms dead pockets of air, which helps prevent convection. Despite the drysuit’s breathability, it helps trap radiant heat emitted from you and reduces evaporative heat loss.
• A lifevest keeps you afloat and helps keep your mouth above water if you suffer from cold shock. It also helps you save energy by relieving the need to tread water. A trick related to keeping your mouth above water is shouting “capsized swimmer” the second you come up from a swim. This forces water away from your mouth and prevents you from inhaling water.
• A neoprene hood, like NRS’s Mystery Storm Hood or a diver’s hood, helps prevent cold shock during immersion, limits convection, evaporation, and radiant heat loss. On days were the risk of immersion is low, a stocking cap should be considered.
• Neoprene gloves or mittens, like NRS’s Reactor Gloves or Toaster Mittens, protect your hands from the cold and keep them functioning.
• Warm socks and neoprene boots, like Kokatat’s Nomad Paddling Boots, keep your toes toasty while in the kayak and when getting out near shore.
• For comfort, consider adding heel pads and a seat pad to help fight through-the-hull conduction.
• Also bring: Extra clothing, equipment, a bothy, a thermos of hot water, first aid, emergency kit, a way to start a fire and anything else needed for an emergency, like a ditch kit.

Items to Monitor While Winter Kayaking

Besides watching for the normal things you would when kayaking in the other seasons, like the wind, weather, and waves, while winter kayaking you should watch items for ice build-up.

• Deck ice builds up quickly from splashes and drips from your paddle. So anything you keep on deck, like a bilge pump and paddle float will quickly and solidly freeze to your kayak. As your deck bungee cords freeze, they lose elasticity and become useless–a good reason to consider traditional Greenland decklines and sliders.
• Your sprayskirt and grab handle may become encased in ice and freeze to the kayak making them hard or impossible to remove. A grab handle frozen to the deck may make it impossible to perform a wet exit if needed. Continually check these items and break the ice off of them to keep them flexible and working.
• Pack ice moves with the current and wind. This can block access to open water and block access to shore. Although, not impossible to move through, it makes it difficult, to say the least, to get your kayak where you want it.
• The shoreline will be icy. Prepare to slip. Sometimes the shoreline becomes covered with high shelves of ice that make it hard or impossible to land a kayak, scramble over the ice, and come ashore.
• Hypothermia. Know the signs, mental status change and shivers, and watch for them in yourself and in your paddling partners.

Skills and Risk

Because of the cold, winter paddling is risky. If you go, you should have the skills to handle the conditions you expect, you should bring a friend, dress properly, be ready for the worst, and have a reliable roll in case the worst happens. Consider winter paddling only on days that are well within your and your partner’s skill levels. Always approach winter paddling with a conservative risk management plan, because there is little room for error when the water is cold and the air is cold. It’s easy to die out there.

New Report on Winter Paddling

Fox 21 News out of Duluth, MN did a piece on winter kayaking. Watch it here.

Picture of Winter Paddling

APPARENT HORIZON: Where the sky appears to meet the Earth. (See also sea horizon.) Because of perspective effects, different observers generally have different apparent horizons. Because of refraction, even the sea horizon usually lies above the geometric horizon.

-From the Atmospheric Optics Glossary.

Knowing the distance to the horizon is handy when estimating how long it will take you to travel to a distant point. To accurately estimate to distance, understand that the apparent horizon changes based on the height of your eyes; the higher your eyes, the further you can see. That’s why it seems you can see forever when standing atop a mountain.

Estimating the Distance to the Apparent Horizon

First, determine the height of your eyes above the ground. This will vary depending on whether your standing, sitting, or if you’re high on a cliff above the water. Once you know the height of your eyes enter it into R. Langton Cole’s  formula from his 1913 article “Distance of the visible horizon,” which appeared in Nature:

distance to horizon (miles) = √ 7h(feet)/4 

This formula gives you the rough distance (Imperial) of the apparent horizon accounting for normal refraction. This is the distance to where the sky appears to meet the Earth. If mirages are apparent, the distance to the apparent horizon may differ.

Because of the atmosphere, these calculations are estimates, so we can simplify to a more commonly used formula. This second formula is slightly easier to remember:

distance to horizon (miles) = sqrt [1.5h]

For paddlers living in advanced nations using the metric system, the formula is:

distance to horizon (kilometers) = sqrt [13h]

The Imperial formula uses feet for height (h), and the metric formula uses meters for height (h). Note: The abbreviation “sqrt” stands for square root.

Examples using the first horizon formula:

• Sitting in a kayak: The distance to the horizon for someone sitting in a kayak is approximately 2.1 miles. When you’re sitting in a kayak your eyes are about 2.5 feet above the surface of the sea–this is why waves appears so big when you’re in your kayak. 7 x 2.5 = 17.5 and 17.5 / 4 = 4.375 and sqrt of 4.375 = 2.09165.
• Sitting in a canoe: The distance to the horizon for someone sitting in a canoe is approximately 2.3 miles. Because your eyes are higher in a canoe–about three feet–you see further away to the horizon.
• Standing on shore (standing in a canoe): The distance to the horizon for someone standing is approximately 3.1 miles. I’m 5’10″ tall and my eyes are about 68″ above my feet. When I’m on the beach and my feet are just touching the water, I can see about 3.1 miles.

Using Horizon Estimates on the Water

Quoting from Douglas Adams, “the practical upshot of all this is that” when you’re paddling and can just see on the horizon the point where the land meets the water, you know you’re seeing the apparent horizon. This means that you’re within 2.1 miles for a kayak or 2.3 miles for a canoe away. This is very handy when making long crossings. Or for knowing how far away the beach is.

Estimating Distance to Distant Objects

You can use this formula to estimate the distance to distant objects, too. Figure out the distance to the apparent horizon for the distant object and add that distance to your apparent horizon. When you can just see the top of the distant object, you are that distance away. The formula, using the second apparent horizon formula, looks like this:

distance between objects (miles) = sqrt [1.5h(distant object)] + sqrt [1.5h(your apparent horizon)]

Examples for Distance to Distant Objects:

• Grand Marais, MN lighthouse from a kayak: From the NOAA charts, we know that the Grand Marais, MN lighthouse focal plane is 48 feet above datum. The apparent horizon from the light is about 8.5 miles. When in a kayak, our apparent horizon is 2.1 miles. We add 8.5 to 2.1 and get 10.6 miles. When we can see the light, we know we’re about 10.6 miles away. This puts us near Cascade State Park or the 121 surf break. Chance are unless it’s a crystal clear day, we won’t be able to make out the lighthouse, but we may be able to see the flashing light.
• Carlton Peak from a kayak: Another northshore Lake Superior landmark is Carlton Peak. It stands out as a lone peak and rises to 1,526 feet, but it only rises 925 feet above Lake Superior. When atop the peak, your apparent horizon is about 37.2 (sqrt [925 * 1.5]) miles away. Add that to 2.1 and you should be about to see the peak just pop over the horizon at about 39.3 miles away.
• BWCA pine shoreline from a canoe: Mature pine trees range in height from 80 to 110 feet tall. So from the top, you could see about 11 miles to the horizon. In a canoe, you would see them appear above the water about 14 miles away.

Canoeist and kayakers should start off the new year and a new decade by resolving to read a few books. In the past I’ve done round-up reviews of boat building books and paddling books, but it’s about time for a new round-up. These 10 stand out as the paddling books you should read in 2010.

Kayaking Books

Sea Kayak Rescue, 2nd: The Definitive Guide to Modern Reentry and Recovery Techniques (How to Paddle Series): First published in 2001 and updated in 2007, this guide presents the most up-to-date rescue, reentry, and recovery techniques for sea kayakers. The book is well-written, easy-to-understand, and laid out in a progression that instructors could easily follow when teaching sea kayak rescue. Photographs accompany each description, which helps you visualize the rescues. If you’re a sea kayaking guide or instructor, you should own this book. If you’re an avid sea kayaker venturing more that 20 feet away from shore or on open water, you should definately check it out.

Sea Kayaker’s Pocket Guide: This book is one of the better reference books for sea kayaking that I’ve seen. Almost every topic is covered in a quick and easy-to-understand way. It falls short in the paddle stroke areas, but covers everything else, like weather, packing, repair (including drysuit gasket field repair), and navigation perfectly. Some great tips that I got out of it include rounding the edges of duct tape used for repairs will prevent the tape from snagging and peeling off, and marking the location of your skeg’s jam loop on the kayak’s seam will help your partner to quickly find it and unjam your skeg. Something to have sitting around for a quick reference when needed.

Canoeing Books

Canoe Trip: North to Athabasca: I loved David Curran’s Canoe Trip: Alone in the Maine Wilderness, and he follows up that book with this one. The previous book focused on solo trips in the Maine wilderness and what he learned, how he failed, and what he enjoyed. He takes those themes into an adventure into the Canadian wilderness, and this time he brings a partner.

The Canoe: A Living Tradition: A history of canoes, a tome of everything canoe, the perfect canoe book. It’s hard to describe this coffee table book about canoes, other than to say, if you canoe, and you see this book, you should buy it.

Boat Building Books

Canoe and Kayak Building the Light and Easy Way: How to Build Tough, Super-Safe Boats in Kevlar, Carbon, or Fiberglass: Not only does this book include the plans for one of the ugliest canoes in existence, it also contains information on a unique way to build one-off chined fiberglass boats. I can see this building method used to quickly produce fiberglass Greenland-style kayaks, and if I was building another semi-replica of Ken Taylor’s 1959 Illorsuit kayak, I’d be temped to build it with this method.

Umiak: An Illustrated Guide: I feel a little bad linking to this book, because the lowest price for a used book in 2010 was around $200 on Amazon. I bought it on a whim at a kayak store’s going-out-of-business sale for $5! This book covers some of the history of the Umiak, a skin-on-frame rowboat, as a craft of exploration and as a work-boat. It then launches into how to build one. The book makes me want to build one.

Camping

Lightweight Backpacking and Camping: A Field Guide to Wilderness Equipment, Technique, and Style (Backpacking Light): A book of distilled wisdom from the web-pages of Backpacking Light Magazine. Paddlers will find the sections on Protection from the Elements, Eating, Drinking, and Hygiene, and First Aid enlightening. The Lightweight Solution section includes chapters on Superultralight travel, which is traveling with less than five pounds of gear, and Advanced Tarp Camping, which covers using a tarp as your only shelter. A few sections, like the Risk Management chapter, are disappointing, but overall, this is worth reading for the wealth of knowledge, experience and difference of opinions offered within.

Photography

National Geographic: The Ultimate Field Guide to Landscape Photography (National Geographic Photography Field Guides): I like this book, because it teaches the basics of landscape photography. For a paddler looking to learn how to capture the landscapes seen on a paddling trip, this book teaches you everything that you need to know. The guide itself is small in format, so it’s easy to carry along on a trip to keep you focused on capturing pictures. The digital section is rather small, so I’d ignore it, but the rest is pure gold.

David duChemin’s Craft and Vision ebooks: These inexpensive ($5) ebooks cover a range of photography subjects. The two I like the most are Drawing The Eye and Chasing the Look. Drawing the Eye introduces the concept of visual weight, which is a topic that is rarely covered elsewhere. Chasing the Look includes 10 simple concepts–some I teach in my photography classes–to use to improve your photography. I’ve seen these techniques work for the students in my photography classes. I’m interested in the new Growing The VisionMonger, so if you buy it, let me know how it is.

Just Because You Should Try It

Haiku: A Poet’s Guide: Haiku is a simple poetry form that is hard to master. It’s based on nature and almost anyone can learn it. Lee Gurga’s guide is one of the best on the market. It covers the basics of the craft. For paddlers, haiku offers you a way to increase your enjoyment of nature, and it will spice up your journal. You should just try it.

Nessmuking welcomes a new advertiser: Sanborn Canoe Company. Sanborn Canoe Co. is based in Minnesota and makes lightweight gear tested and proven in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, our home waters. Here’s a little more about Sanborn Canoe Co.:

Sanborn Canoe Co. is a lightweight wooden canoe paddle and cedar strip canoe company located in Winona, Minnesota. We like to make things light, durable and easy to use. You can buy them right here from our site, we ship almost all over the world, or find one of our amazing dealers.

It was started early in 2009 by Todd Randall, John, Zak & Greg Fellman, Mark & Michael Boysen and Kevin Kriesel to have a degree of say in the equipment we would use in our numerous backcountry canoe trips. Canoeing and camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Northern Minnesota is at the heart of our group, and for some of us it goes back in our families to the early days of the last century. And most of us have been on canoe trips since we were babies.

Beginning as a fun hobby, that more than occasionally turned into watching the ballgame rather than working, quickly grew to encompass more things we are interested in. Mostly things that will make our own backcountry trips easier. We’ve developed light-weight canoe paddles and we’re working on crafting our canoes to be durable yet light enough to comfortably carry over portages. If we wouldn’t use it we wouldn’t make it.

After taking a couple of our paddles and canoes on trips to the BWCA we were encouraged by how they handled and decided that other people would like ot use them as well. And since we liked working together we decided to turn it into a business.We’re growing and expanding, adding great dealers and new products.

We’re just a bunch of guys who like to hang out together and make stuff out of wood.

We’d like to thank Sanborn Canoe Company for choosing to advertise on Nessmuking.com and we encourage you to check them out at their website here.

More Info

• Sanborn Canoe Company Website
• Sanborn Canoe Company on Facebook
• Sanborn Canoe Company of Twitter
• Sanborn Canoe Company on Blogger