Rafts good and bad.

[dwilson]

Tim thanks for your time and input. Yes the Buffalo will be the home river. Like there is something better. I hope it is not a load carry barge in my future. I poked alot of fun at Eric and Richard about how much crap they haul for an overnight. My wife wants to do all the river in one setting and I thought this would be a good way to do it. With the right water level. I have a looking for on the for sale section.

[Tim Eubanks]

Danny
Check out mountainbuzz.com's classified listings, raft/accessories. Lots of stuff out there

[Richard]

I poked alot of fun at Eric and Richard about how much crap they haul for an overnight.

Its all about comfort . . . :myday"

[Eric Esche]

I grant that I do like comfort, but a lot of what I carry is for group safety/comfort as well as my own safety/comfort. A canoe can carry almost as much stuff as a raft can if you know how to do it. I think that most folks will grant that I do not get stuck at low water any more than everyone else, even when tandem.

I carry coal tongs when we are going to have a group campfire. Burnt fingers are no fun to have to treat, even if you have lots of cold water to soak the burn in. I try to make a point that they are for group use so no one will get burned.

I frequently carry a few sets of dry clothes and gore-tex in a blue barrel when we are going to have newbies and grandkids along who do not know how or remember to dress for winter on or in the river. They have been used more than once.

I carry various things along for starting a fire. While the folks who stood around a quickly made fire while changing into dry clothes never got close to hypothermia, I got thanked for doing the impossible with wet wood and was told that it did make a difference in their mental outlooks and their memory of the trip.

I have been known to carry a spare minus 20F sleeping bag as well as the mylar emergency bags. And the folks who needed to borrow them were much warmer than they would have been in a wet bag in the 20's.

And the folks who used the Zodi hot water heater for showers and cooking clean up did not complain much either. While it has not been used for anyone with hypothermia yet, it could be.

Do not hear many complaints either from having a cooler with cold drinks in it when hot, and have been told that the cold fluids were a lifesaver more than once in hot weather. I carry thermoses of hot drinks in winter, as well as stoves to make more.

I almost always carry a first aid kit. While it doesn't get used much beyond the bandaids, splinter removal kit, Benedryl, pepto bismol, ace bandages, aspirin/tylenol, adhesive tape, and the disinfectant stage, it does have more stuff for more serious injuries, and it gets used enough that I have to restock it every few months.

And I tend to carry some rescue gear and parts of a Z-drag kit on group trips, if not the whole thing, which I do have. And it does get used.

Eric Esche, who appreciates those who help carry gear up the hill at take outs.

[Deuce]

Now Eric, I carefully read through all of that and didn't see any mention of a Dutch oven and cobbler or cake ingredients. For shame.

[dwilson]

Eric if there is a golden canoe award for packing you are the hands down king cat daddy bull of the woods winner. If I tried to bring all that I'd probaly have to get my CDL triple license. Hope you have been feeling good.

[Eric Esche]

I rarely take a dutch oven anymore, although I do on occasion, but be warned - my skills have gotten rusty with disuse. I used to cook more with it when I was without electricity more often due to ice storms, and did not have a Cabelas propane gas cooker.

Last 4 ice storms, we have cooked for the neighbors and the linemen with our various gas camp stoves. Wish you could have seen the reaction of the power crews from Louisiana for our last ice storm when I brought them insulated trays of hot bowls of my version of red beans and rice at 20F in 30MPH winds using 7 pounds of Italian sausage I had grilled over hickory first and which used 3 pounds of wild rice and many boxes of Zaterains from my emergency supplies in my Big stainless steel pot. They came back for 2nds and thirds and threatened their supervisor if he interupted them. He joined them. What was so funny was hearing them yelling while they were on the poles what they thought they smelled cooking all morning and others on the crew saying that they were hallucinating. We also had French Roast coffee for them and offered them our bathroom in a house heated with gas. We got our power back a day earlier than forecast even with 47 trees across the lines in the block beyond our house. Really nice hard working crew who were a long way from home working long hours in miserable conditions.

When river camping now, I tend to bake things in advance like breads and cookies and take things to reheat that are better the second day like the Red Beans, wild rice, and Italian sausage, or Smokey chicken soup. Haven't heard too many complaints, particularly when I bring whipped cream for the pumpkin bread.

Eric

paddled 8 miles on Beaver lake in 2.5 hours FRIDAY with my weekday group and am going with Mary today at 11:30AM. Hurt the whole way back, but doctor wants me to paddle he says and to feel the pain rather than not feel it and do damage. New meds for nerve pain are helping some.