Any luck with the canoe plus tarp camping shelter?

[Rippy]

Only problem I see with the canoe/tarp setup is that I like a sunset paddle from time to time. I'd have to tear it all down and then set it all back up if the mood struck me.
I guess for me it's a moot point since I have converted to hammock camping due to my back condition. There was a time when I was much younger, that I looked at those type pictures and dreamed of sleeping under a canoe in some remote setting. OM, I like your cot/bug net twist on the set up. I say bring enough gear to be comfy. To me that's what a canoe is for, hauling gear and me. Other wise if I was going ultra light and minimal with the gear, I would go to the dark side and use a Kayak. Dave

 

[Guest]

While I enjoy all these clever tarp setups involving an overturned canoe, ancient and modern, I . . . uh . . . fail to see the practical utility, now that we are in the lightweight tent and tarp age.

I mean, if I have to choose between:

A. Popping up my three pole tent, rolling in, smoking a Cuban, sipping some hibiscus tea, and reading 200 pages of War and Peace.

- versus -

B. Dragging a 70 pound canoe up over a rocky shoreline onto a camp site, taking everything out and flipping it over, staking out a zillion pegs and lines for a tarp, balancing and staking a bunch of paddles and support poles, opening up a cot or stringing up a hammock with more lines, setting up bug tenting with a even more confusing lines and knots and pegs . . . well . . . phew! . . . I'm exhausted just typing about it.

I hate setting up and breaking down camp. To me, it's just a necessary evil that interrupts paddling time. The less time spent on that, and kitchen chore drudgery, the better.

Man, I'm glad you said it because I sure was thinking it. I hate messing with tarps and shelters. The easier the better - and I've never thought a tarp shelter to be as weatherproof as a well designed tent after all that hassle.

I have a small tarp I use to cook and store gear under (and as an emergency rain shelter) but other than that, I use my tent. My tarp takes all of 5 min to setup and you don't have to be all that picky about tree spacing. In fact you can use two hiking poles or paddles to support it if you like.

And I'm in no hurry when I'm out and about, I'd just rather spend the time recreating than fussing with my gear... in fact I used to frequent lean-tos just to avoid such hassles!

 

[memaquay]

I do like my tent too. If I'm going solo without too many ports I take my Eureka Outfitter 6 man. Now that's luxury. What would make it even better is one of those millionaire cots like Oldie has.....hmmmmm....time to sell off something.....

 

[oldie moldy]

Well boys, the way I figure it this would be a summer time setup. Being open like that gives me (subject to really testing it out) plenty of open air and view. On a day when this rig shines my tent becomes a muggy hot stale armpit. Maybe not quite that bad but close.

If, and it certainly could happen, we get caught in a whoop-de-do storm my plan is just to drop the poles and wait it out. I'll probably need to peg down the flapping parts too. But it seems to me that those kind of storms don't last a long time, for all that they are bad right then.

Glenn, you're right there sure is a lot of fiddling and diddling but I do seem to be getting faster and more sure. Probably never get it setup as fast as my tent, but for me it's kind of fun seeing if I can make it work. Just different kinds of people I guess. About the "button", on one end is the prussick knot and on the other is that wooden button that slips in one of the loops; you could just tie the end to the loop and achieve the same thing. I had some small scraps of Baltic birch ply and was trying to come up with some use for them, so I made the buttons. One real advantage is being able to spot the prussick rig in the rope bag amongst all the stuff in there! The truth is Glenn, sometimes I think things out and sometimes I just fiddle.

Rippy, the hard part I'm finding is getting the poles in the right place and the guy lines where they need to be; once that's done you can drop the poles, the whole rig goes slack and you could slip you canoe out from under, paddle and then just slip it back to where it was and then put the poles back up. I'm not evangelizing this camping with a tarp but if the idea interested you, I think your evening paddle is still workable.

I was playing with this setup this morning; changing some of the ways of doing it, and I noticed that there is no way that tarp could be 12 x 12. Put the tape measure on it and it's 14.5 x 14.5 feet. Sorry, don't know where that memory came from.

Best Wishes, Rob

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

About the "button", on one end is the prussick knot and on the other is that wooden button that slips in one of the loops; you could just tie the end to the loop and achieve the same thing.

Gotcha. I use a small aluminum S-biner for the same thing.

Oldie, those CCS poles are very expensive, yet you say they slip. Which of two lengths did you get?

I keep thinking about these Eureka nested poles. Campmor sells the 6' lengths for $21 and the 8' for $27.

 

[oldie moldy]

Glenn, my poles are the ones that span 63-72 inches. I don't know how other folks attach something to the top of the pole to make it work; I made that little aluminum offset bit to go over the peg on top of the pole. The offset was to clear the locking washer; any bump and if you have an extension, that part will zip back in the lower tube. Now under load that washer digs in and holds well but just setting up I find it very easy to get it to release; it may simply be that I'm clumsy and someone else wouldn't have that problem.

I'm not at all sorry I got these poles, everything about them seems first rate. When I need to make an extended pole I'll just use that hose clamp to back up the washer and save my temper.

I've never seen that Eureka pole, I do know that Dan Cooke tests out everything he sells and he is deservedly famous as a fine person to deal with.

The weather guy says that it'll be nice tomorrow, I'm going to play with the canoe and tarp rig, come on over and have a cup of coffee and I'll show you my new fire pan idea!

Best Wishes, Rob

 

[Murat V]

I'm digging your setup Rob. You're right that these setups shine when the weather is just to muggy to be in a tent. I like to smoke cubans too, but inside an enclosed shelter just wouldn't do it for me. Keep up all the fiddling and tinkering and posting pics...really getting some inspiration from your ideas. Thanks for posting about those breakdown cots too. First bit of camping gear my wife has every shown some interest in.

 

[oldie moldy]

Thanks for the kind words, Murat. Something you might mention to your wife; one of the things that keeps me from getting a good night's sleep (along with things poking me) is trying to sleep on an incline. Cradled as you are in a cot in a very open "U" just naturally you shift to the bottom of the "U" there by negating any tilt the ground has. Of course that only goes for the side to side tilt but if I can get my feet going down hill the head to foot tilt doesn't bother me all that much.

I was exploring your wonderful blog; I found those paintings by John Buxton. That one "Dry Moccasins" , the fellow has his flintlock rifle propped up on some bundle. You know you're getting ossified between the ears when presented with such a beautiful painting your first thought is "He'd better look out, a person could get shot that way!" I remember reading a history of the Oregon Trail and the surprising number of self inflicted wounds from firearms. But then, those guns were probably cap-locks and more vulnerable to bumps. Anyways, I sure like your site and all the wonderful things you've provided to anyone with a computer.

Best Wishes, Rob