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Wild Lands at the Edge of the Boundary Waters At Risk
On June 23, 2025, the USDA announced plans to dismantle the 2001 Roadless Rule, stripping protections from 58.5 million acres of National Forest roadless areas and opening them to road building and logging. For nearly a quarter of a century, the Roadless Rule has protected these ecologically diverse areas from development and extraction, and over 75% of American support the Roadless Rule, but the current administration wants to rescind it to open up these areas to the lumber barons. Because I live on Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota and use the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and surrounding lakes often, I wanted to see what potential impact this could…
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ZPacks Pivot Solo First Look
I recently got a Zpacks Pivot Solo to review, and I’m excited. The Zpacks Pivot Solo is an ultralight, single-wall, solo tent that with poles, eight stakes, and stuff sacks weighs 1 pound 5.5 ounces (611 grams). It’s surprisingly roomy for this style of tent, and that may mean many nights of great sleeping without carrying an additional pound of weight that carrying a freestanding or semi-freestanding tent would bring. Get it here. What is the ZPacks Pivot Solo tent? This single-wall, solo, ultralight shelter packs packs a surprising number of features for the weight. Using a 52-inch main pole and a 32-inch secondary pole, it creates a near vertical…
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Cumulus X-LITE 200 Sleeping Bag First Look Updated
Herein lies the saga of obtaining a Cumulus X-LITE 200 Sleeping Bag. It is a long and tangled tail of international commerce, and the saga will enthrall you with wonder. Back in days of yore, when scribed my 2025 paddling gear update, I penned that I wasn’t going to buy any new gear this year, but I was on the lookout for a 30°F sleeping bag without a hood. I kept my eyes open for a bag that would meet my criteria, and decided that at 30°F, I’d likely just bring my Sea to Summit 15°F Spark. That meant I was looking for a bag for the summer. I used…
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KÜHL Silencr Kargo Shorts Review
I think I may have found my new favorite shorts for canoeing, and they are the KÜHL Silencr Kargo Shorts. Earlier this year, KÜHL sent over a pair for review, and I’ve been using them often since then. If you are looking for the gist of this review, it’s I like them and recommend them. I’m going to dive in below for more details. The Silencr Kargo Shorts are cargo short from KÜHL’s men’s shorts category. They offer a slim fit with low-profile pockets that appear hidden but extend across the entire front of the pants. Each are big enough to hold two smartphones plus extra gear. For an idea…
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Twin Lakes Canoe Route in Northern Minnesota
The Twin Lakes Canoe Route in northern Minnesota offers a short canoe route outside of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness that provides a wilderness-like experience. No permit is required. The route features four portages, five campsites, and no permit is required.
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Wild Rye’s New Water Collection Review
Earlier this year, Wild Rye sent over a few pieces from their new "When Wet" Collection for review. The pieces included the Parker Action Dress, Sawyer Sunshirt, and a Camp Towel. While I'm writing this review, it was my wife that tested out the gear. The impressions section will be her thoughts.
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Rocky Talkie Supports Search and Rescue
I don’t typically write about press releases that I receive, but I feel like this one is important. I recently wrote about what journalists get wrong when reporting on paddling fatalities, but I seldom write about the people who risk their lives to rescue paddlers that get into trouble. Recently Joe Friedrichs, a friend of mine, wrote about paddling accidents, emergencies, and tragedies in the Boundary Waters in his book Last Entry Point: Stories of Danger and Death in the Boundary Waters. In that book, he interviewed some search and rescue people, so it was a fun read to see things from their perspective. I’ve also known people involved in…
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The Dagger Meridian: One of America’s Best Sea Kayaks
In 1996, Dagger introduced their first composite sea kayak using techniques they had developed to build whitewater slalom kayaks. It was one of the first British-style kayaks made commercially in the US for the US market and that placed it squarely in competition with the NDK Romany, which would have been one of the most popular British-made boats sold in North America at the time. It had a big target, and I think it succeeded. The Dagger Meridian is still one of the best designed British-style kayaks of all time, and this is its story as I know it. The research for this article was done for an article that…
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Crescent Lake Canoe Route in Northern Minnesota
One of my favorite day trips outside of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota is the Crescent Lake Canoe Route. The Crescent Lake Canoe Route is referenced on the US Forest Service’s website, but there are no maps currently offered. I’m adding maps in this post. I remember when you could pick up a paper map of the route at the Gunflint office in Grand Marais, but that isn’t available anymore. USFS Map of the Route About 10 years ago, I tried to get a copy of the old map and route guide from the USFS, but they couldn’t find it. Instead they sent me an old…
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What Paddling Gear Am I Using In 2025?
With the paddling season just around the corner, I’m starting to look at what paddling gear I’ll be using for canoe trips this year. I have a couple of goals: As always, I like to travel with as light and as little of gear as I feel makes sense. I do carry camera gear, which won’t be included in my totals. While everything is dialed in, I may be testing a few new pieces of gear to review here. So far, I’ve accepted one piece that was offered (and testing is done), and I’ve requested an item that is brand new this year and looks great. They don’t have a…
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Hands Off the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
On Saturday, Chris Knopf, Executive Director of the Friends of the Boundary Waters, spoke at the Hands Off Rally in St. Paul, Minnesota to deliver an urgent message about the current attack on the Boundary Waters. I’ve written about this before and you can read my brief article about the Threats to the Boundary Waters. The Boundary Waters is one of the most pristine wilderness areas in the world. The water is so clean that many people will dip a cup into the center of a lake and drink directly from it. It’s a million acres of protected wilderness with over 1,100 lakes, 1200 miles of canoe trails, and over…
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He Was an Expert Kayaker: How Reporters Get Paddling Fatalities Wrong
As we move out of winter and into the early paddling season, we’re bound to see reports of deaths of paddlers due to cold water and not wearing life vests. This happens every year. Journalists will often write, “He was an strong, experienced paddler by all accounts,” but if they researched their actual experience they would often find that they weren’t. Instead they would find that they were considered to be experienced by their friends and family, but by any objective measurement they wouldn’t be consider that. This is a common mistake that journalists make when reporting on paddle sports tragedies. It wouldn’t be a problem, except that it builds…
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FLEXTAIL Tiny Helio 600Z Headlamp Review
For the last few months, I’ve been reviewing the FLEXTAIL Tiny Helio 600Z Headlamp, which is a new headlamp from the company that brought you the FLEXTAIL Zero Pump. I liked the Zero Pump, so when Flextail offered me a review sample of the Tiny Helio, I jumped on it. What is it? The FLEXTAIL Tiny Helio Headlamp is a lightweight 2.1-ounce with the battery headlamp. It ships with FLEXTAIL’s 650CHT battery, which offers three hours of runtime at the highest brightness. Users can upgrade the battery to FLEXTAIL’s 900cht battery, which offers four hours of runtime. As of publication, the upgraded battery was $12.99 when bought directly from FLEXTAIL.…
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A New Siskiwit Bay SOF Hits the Water
A new Siskiwit Bay skin-on-frame kayak has hit the water. This one was built by Daryl W.. He built this sea kayak starting in December and had it on the water for saran wrap tests by the start of February. He used undyed white nylon to finish the kayak. For the challenging bottom chines, he used the wet towel, and hot iron method and he reported that it worked well. He wrote me: I used a white pigment from Corey’s, in their urethane on the ballistic nylon. Time will tell what the UV does to the white but New Zealand is the place to test it with our extreme UV.…
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Protect Our Public Lands Workforce
I am, along with many outdoor equipment brands, such as Nemo, and the Outdoor Alliance, concerned by the reduction of workforces at the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. On the Superior National Forest, which is where the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is located and where I live, was already short of staff before the workforce reductions. Now it’s even more short on staff. These reductions put outdoor recreation, our safety, and public lands at risk. You can learn more and take action by joining me and the Outdoor Alliance in asking lawmakers to reinvest in our workforce to manage our public lands.…
