Extending the Life of your Ski Skins

Good Morning,

Today is my last blab about ski skins  I thought it would be helpful to share some tips with you about how you can extend the life of your ski skins. None of us like having to continually invest in new ones, so here are a couple of easy things you can do. 

First,  choose a set of ski skins with a good adhesive. Next, make sure they fit the waist of your ski through the tail, really well, (you don't want them to extend past your ski edge). The reason is, is that this is the part of the ski that's going to be doing most of the uphill work. Talk to your ski retailer if you need help and you can even have your retailer trim them to fit.

Cheat Sheets for Ski Skins

Take the time to invest in some cheat sheets. These are sheets to lay against the adhesive side of your skins as you fold them to put them away. This will allow the adhesive to be less stressed because it is not sticking to the fabric and your glue will last longer.

Buy yourself some good glide wax, and use it each time before you ski. Your retailer can recommend a good brand. Finally, for added ski skin longevity, always comb your skins when done skiing. Do this, by starting from the tip of your ski skin to the tail.

I hope this short series has answered some of your questions, and gave you a good overview of what these are and why you would want to have a pair of ski skins. Thanks for reading. I'll see you on the trail-- Campingman

Ski Skins: A Brief History Overview

Good Morning,

Today I want to talk briefly about the history of ski skins and give you an overview of the different kinds to help you make an informed decision before buying any of your own. 

Mohair Ski Skins

Before modern day ski lifts were invented, ski skins were the accepted method of getting to the top of a slope to be able to ski down, or to go cross country to a neighbor's house or whatever. They enabled you to get around faster and easier in the snow, ok? They were originally made from seal "skins", hence the name ski "skins." Luckily for you, (and our seal friends) they are no longer made from seal skins. There are two actual types of material used to make them, and a third, sort of variant of the first two. These two types of material are Mohair and Nylon. There is a third variant as I said, a mix of Mohair and Nylon.

Which is better?

The Nylon ski skin is the least expensive, the most durable and best for climbing. It is though, the slowest for gliding. The Mohair ski skin is the best for downhill skiing and for climbing, as the Mohair reacts much like seal skin. By that, I mean, when the Mohair fabric is swept in one direction, it lies flat (great for skiing) and when the fabric is swept in the opposite direction, it stands up. Thus, providing the resistance for climbing with your skis on. Just slide your ski forward and then back ever so slightly, step down on the ski for the traction, and there you have it. That's how simply they work. The third type, Mohair mix is the least expensive and pretty good for down hill, and average for climbing. But the item of interest?  They tend to be the least durable of the three types of skins. 

Nylon Ski SKins

Let's face, they will all wear out, but give yourself an edge. Lots of companies make these, so take your time and read up on the type or brand you choose, before you buy.

Buy the skin that you feel is best for your skill set and/or needs. Tomorrow I will do a quick wrap up on these puppies! Until then, stay safe, and I will see you on the trail. ~ Campingman

Ski Skins... what are these?

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I know I did, and I am still stuffed. Deep fried turkey ...mmmm, so good! Anyway, before I digress too much, I wanted to introduce a new topic: ski skins. I plan on sharing quite a bit over the next week or so, so today is just an introduction.

What are ski skins? Or what are climbing skins? I'll bet that I have heard those two questions asked hundred's of times over the years, so I thought I would share some of what I know about this (oft times) little known product. I find that once I explain what they are and what they are used for, our circle of back country skiers using ski skins increases exponentially. So, here's a brief overview.

First, why the two names ski skins and climbing skins? Easy answer. They are the same thing, and here's how......skins (strips of material) that are placed over a pair of skis, to allow you to climb up slopes before skiing down? Get it? The next question is: "Why would you want to do that when you can just take the chair lift?" Again, an easy answer.

If all you want to do, is ski down a groomed ski lodge manufactured slope with about forty gazillion other skiers, then a pair of skiing skins are not for you. Simple as that.

However, should you want to explore some of the back country or even do some cross country or wilderness skiing? Then ski skins are a great way to do just that. I suppose I don't have to mention, that normally, there are no lifts in the back country, so there must be alternatives? That's where these Ski skins come in, as they are designed for adventuresome skiing or skiing in places where there are no lifts. Tomorrow I will take that story back a bit to see (briefly) where the idea for these came from. Until then, keep safe and I'll see you on the trail. - Campingman

Dagger Green Boat Kayaks - Get in Shape because it's going to burn!

Good Morning,

Now that I've finished up my series on all the various tents you can consider for your different outings, I wanted to return back to where my blog started: the Dagger Green Boat kayak. In my earlier post I just introduced you to the boat. In this post I want to talk more about what it's like to actually use this kayak and how you can prepare your body.

The Dagger Green Boat is a fabulous first kayak, river kayak or just about any water kayak, with the exception of shallow tight micro creeks. It's an incredibly fast, nimble boat and turns easily. But, like anything, you must learn how to use your skills with this boat. It doesn't matter if you've paddled many a kayak before, the following section applies to you just the same as a novice. A good skill set is learned over time, and long boat Kayaking is no different. The basic thing needed for any kayaking? Be in good shape!

Getting in shape

If you've never kayaked before, and think you want to get into this sport, there are some simple things to do before going out and just buying a kayak. Upper body strength is a must, because you are going to be paddling, sometimes with ease, and sometimes with real spirit. But paddle you will. Want an idea? If you have access to a canoe, or even a small row boat, try to row that boat, or paddle that canoe upstream fro about 30 minutes. If you can't do 30 minutes, try 15. The point being, is that unless you are already in shape (and even if you are) you are going to be using different muscles than you use for most anything else. You will find that your arm and shoulder muscles will be burning after just a few minutes. Grab some books or videos on conditioning for kayaking. Your leg muscles shouldn't be neglected either, as you will be using them to help brace your upper body as you paddle through eddy's, over drops and across white water pools. Condition, condition, condition.

Paddling

The Dagger Green Boat is a mixture of speed, volume and maneuverability. It accelerates quickly, with a bow up scheme, and it's so easy to boof, you're going to love it. You have to change your timing though, to accommodate the extra length of this boat. You still start your paddle in the same spot, but, for the DGB, you have to re-learn the basics and fine tune them. fFr instance, how to carry the stroke further. The reason you carry it further, is to maintain your lift, as you are  waiting for your stern to separate. Once you learn this small habit change, you will blast over holes and through eddy's with ease. Long boats like the Dagger Green Boat Kayak, love to be paddled forward. They are designed for aggressive water handling. That being said, this boat is still easy to turn and you will find it super stable through rapids. It is designed, as I said to steer quickly, turn and/or dig in to get you downstream.

Speed

For a big boat, this boat is fast, and it's knife like design easily cuts through chops and eddy's like a hot knife through butter. I've also heard, that some kayaker's call this boat "lively." But...there is a sector of our kayaking community however, who feel the boat is 'tippy' to coin a phrase.  In researching this, I found that for the most part, these remarks were generally from beginning kayakers, or people who started out kayaking in big, flat, wide, kayaks. (to be fair, of the folks I talked to, about 93% fell into this category, while the remaining 7% were experienced kayaker's, but previous user's of smaller boats.) Mostly, they find themselves moving into 'real kayaks', (to coin another phrase) and find that not all kayaks have wide flat bottoms. Now, that aside, I am here to tell you, this boat is very stable. To clarify, yes, it can become twitchy if you're back paddling and not paying attention, but so do most boats. The rounded bottom however, will take a bit of getting used to. Once learned, you will find you are in the NASCAR racer of kayaks.

 

Advantages

In addition to their inherent speed qualities, long boats are also more forgiving when it comes to down angles The bow of the Dagger Green Boat kayak will actually deflect and resurface before the stern has landed, thus giving you more forward speed as you drop and pull away from the curtain. This kayak is great for white water tripping as well as pool drops. Class III's, IV's or V's? No problem. Your Dagger Green Boat punches holes through them like a missile. The knife like design, leading the way. Your DGB cover's all categories of kayaking with ease, regardless of whether you are going upstream or down, beginner to expert. There is no other kayak that performs as well as the Dagger Green Boat.

Kelty Acadia 2 Person Tent, a 3 Season tent

Good Morning,

OK...we're down to the final entry in this series on tents. Besides the Kelty Gunnison tent for an extra tent or as I use it here, a storage tent, I want to talk about the Kelty Acadia 2 tent. This particular series of tents by Kelty (the Acadia line) come in 2 , 4 and 6 person tents. For today however, we are going to focus on the two person tent only. 

Now, both tents (the Gunnison 1.1 and the Acadia 2)  are considered to be 3 season tents, but that does not mean you cannot use them year round. Once again, let me say: "most any tent can be used all year round, if properly supported and water proofed, externally or internally." With that thought in mind, plan for any eventuality. If you know you are going to be in an area you expect snow or rain, just brace and cover your tent accordingly. Simple preparation for a great trip is all it takes.

Kelty Acadia 2 Person Tent Cover

In the case of this Kelty Acadia tent, the 32 square feet of interior storage space is enormous. It even has interior wall pockets to maximize floor space. Set up of this free standing tent, is a simple three pole, snap design. (clips that attach to the poles.) Once set up, the double door design (both of them very large) allow for quick access to your stored items. How many times have you stored something in a tent and find yourself crawling all over to locate it? Well, with the double door design, you simply go around to the other side and access the rear without crawling all around.  In harsh, wet, or icy weather, take a tube tent to use as ground cover under your tent, always. The floor and tent seams are taped. Walls are non see through mesh, and there are numerous guy out points for staking and support.

 

One advantage of the double vestibule, is that it not only helps keep the interior dry, I find, that they offer a great place to store your firewood to keep it out of the weather. With the double vestibules, you have twice the storage space (23 additional square feet to be exact). The fiberglass tent support poles utilize "wrapped construction" for extra strength, but the brow pole (which holds the rain fly) is made from DAC Hybrid Aluminum. The letters DAC are an abbreviation for "Dongah Aluminum Corporation", a dedicated tent pole manufacturer whose entire purpose is to build stronger, safer and lighter poles for the camping community. 

This line of Kelty tents, although I speak of them as storage tents, also come in handy as lightweight hiking/camping/kayaking tents through the rest of the year.. I am sure that you will find even more uses for these two great tents, yourself.

Thanks for reading, hike safe and I'll see you on the trail-- Campingman

Kelty Gunnison 1.1 Tent - The perfect "extra tent" for gear and more.

Good Morning,

We've spent the last few days on harsh weather tents and their use. One thing I did not cover, is taking along, an extra tent for gear storage when hunting, or camping. As an example, when I take off to go hunting, it's usually for a bout a week at a time. I carry enough food for that week, as well as the ancillary gear necessary to maintain myself when out there. This fact necessitates getting my truck as close to the area as possible, without creating an intrusion on the environment. It also entails, generally making two trips from my truck to my campsite, in order to get everything up there. So, besides a tent for me to sleep in, I carry a small lightweight tent to store, extra dry clothing, canned goods, waterproof materials if needed, etc. I take a tent along, that I also use when kayaking or just hiking for a few days. It serves double duty that way and is used nearly year round.

With that in mind, I like the Kelty Gunnison 1.1 tent. It's light weight (just over 3 lbs.), inexpensive and super easy to set up. It has adequate ventilation for storing things w/o drawing a lot of extra condensation. Why the extra weight and effort of taking a second tent? Simple. Taking a spare tent, allows for maximum room in the sleeping tent, or, even better yet, a place to get out of the weather to cook in and eat. It has a single door and stay dry vestibule. I cannot speak enough about having a small lightweight, extra tent to store your extra gear and firewood. It just makes your sleeping tent so much more comfortable. Besides, when you're kayaking, this makes an excellent overnight tent for those weekend getaways. By no means, do you have to just consider this a single use tent.

This tent is waterproof from the factory and I took it out for the first time without sealing the seams (something you do on most tents). Just a quick weekend trip to do some fishjing in a local lake of ours. You guessed it... ...I was caught in a Texas sized downpour for well over 40 minutes. If you've ever been in a rain storm in the south, you know what I mean. Plus, the wind was blowing to beat all, but this little tent stood up to everything nature threw at me that day and I stayed warm and dry. I am sure it's bathtub floor design, had a little something to do with that. Plus, the seams are all sonically welded at the factory. So, there you have it, a dual purpose tent, (extra storage at base camp or Kayaking/camping/hiking overnighter). You have it all with this little Kelty tent.

That's it again for today, hike safe and I will see you on the trail-- Campingman