​Genesis of gear idea moments

[Guest]

I can remember the exact eureka moment when some gear ideas struck. I even serendipitously have a friend’s photo of the exact moment that the blue barrel folding tabletop idea occurred. Stuff on the ground, stuff in my lap, stuff squinched atop the barrel lid . . . . .that scowl is my look of “There must be a better way” contemplation.



Oddly enough the same photographer was standing alongside when it occurred to me that a high back wind extension on a camp chair would be handy. We had walked out onto a brutally windswept point, and stood there watching three friends overshoot our intended campsite by some 5 extra miles down bay.

Well, she remained standing. I walked back to camp and got a chair. And didn’t like the cold wind pummeling me in the back of the head and neck. She may have photos of me then and there, shivering in my inadequate chair.

Eureka, the wind protective chair. With insulated seat pad augmentation for cold weather (defunct chair fabric high rise back, two old Eureka tent poles, two bungee cords, scrap of sleeping pad foam). I wouldn’t wind or winter camp without a breeze cowling for my head and foam seat pad for my arse.





Provided I am smart enough to turn the back of the chair to the wind I’m good, and around a fire I usually want to be upwind of the smoke anyway. Nice for positional shade in the desert too. Except at noonday.



Yes, I’m wearing a UV “lap blanket” over my pale whiteboy legs in the desert. I do recall having shaded my legs with a spare tee shirt or pack towel and thinking there must be a better way. I do remember the first time I used that lightweight UV lap blanket; in the canoe, short pants legs getting red on a hot & cloudless day when the water was still cold. It was at least 10 degrees cooler under that simple throw, and my legs weren’t bright pink at the end of the day.

Anyone else have a memorable eureka gear moment?

 

[Iskweo]

There must be a better way. WTF...why didn't they make this with.......

I like the camp chair idea I am still struggling with seating issues. I mostly end up sitting on my PFD on the ground.

My Eureka moment...first use of hip waders.

Christy

 

[Odyssey]

My Eureka moments have mostly been small episodes with frustration, and closer to testing fails to arrive at successes others have already realized and written about.
eg#1- Standing in the morning rain assessing how to pack up and travel having only one small tarp to huddle under... ping !! goes the light bulb as I grasp the notion of more and /or larger tarps. A few dollars and a few ounces for so much more dry comfort.
eg#2- Crawling over the rolling hills of packs and skinning shins on gunnels as I listen to the gentle grind of hull on shallow rocks, thinking I might just do this and keep my feet dry...ping again!! finally getting why people wet foot it hassle and scratch free, saving both canoe and shins.
eg#3- Feeling incompetent and frazzled as my camp bungee cords threaten to slingshot all who dare enter the corded zone into oblivion...ping once more !! Swap out elastic for rope and learn a few knots; hey presto! a whole new easier world opens up.
eg#4- Getting dunked at a take out in the rain feeling chilled and thinking I'd just warm up on the portage...ping!! recognizing and responding to what my body is telling me rather than ignoring it; it's not always about comfort, it can be about safety too. Stopping to quickly replace the cold soggy with the warm dry, and only then pressing on.

 

[yellowcanoe]

eureka moment.. Watching yet another bit of silverware disappear into the swamp as it passes through the gap in the chickee boards.. Why not bring a 5x5 piece of packcloth to put the kitchen on?
And it solves the cooking in the sand problem And when not in use for kitchen serves as lap blanket
Its orange... It costs a buck for the fabric. Even I can make rolled edges on a sewing machine

 

[riverstrider]

A surplus of those bungie-ball deeliebob things that came with a new canopy resulted in a whole slew of Eureka moments. They are now used to:

1) secure my folding saw to a thwart;
2) provide multiple tie-down points by inserting them and securing them to slotted gunnels;
3) provide quick way to secure paddles, pfd, hats, tent poles, and all sorts of other loose items to the canoe for a non-carting portage. If it weren't for these things, the Mud Pond Carry may have been a 3-trip carry instead of a 2-trip carry.
4) quick and easy tie down points for tarps etc. on small saplings;
5) easy way to tie a few water bottles together so they don't become scattered hell to breakfast all over the canoe.
6) I'd still be using these to secure a canoe pole to the side if I hadn't found a quicker and better way to do it.

I once tried to use one elastic-style to shoot a pal across the campfire from me once, and it sure would have taught him a lesson if the plastic ball hadn't taken out my fingernail first. Wow! I should have thought that one through a bit more.

-rs