The wilderness is my home for a good part of the year, therefore my equipment has to be the finest. I prefer:
Kondos Packs- Made right here in Ely, MN, by a family who uses them. They'll protect your gear, keep it dry, plus they look great! And they're built tough - lasting year after year.
Eureka Timberline Tents- The 'Outfitter' style. I've used this brand and style of tent the first day I portaged into the BWCA wilderness. They're dependable. Jasper Creek provides the 4-person and the 6-person sizes.
Therma-Rest Pads- They take abuse, yet are comfortable and easy to pack and lightweight. They come complete with their own handy stuff sack.
Slumberjack Sleeping Bags- These sleeping bags will keep you warm and comfortable, plus they're durable and Jasper Creek freshly launders them after each and every trip.
Alumacraft, Grumman/Marathon, and Souris River (Kevlar) Canoes- 17 foot, 18.5 foot & 19 foot square sterns. The type of trip you reserve with Jasper Creek will determine the style of canoe you will use in the wilderness. Each canoe model offers different features that can enhance wilderness travel or stability while fishing.
Additional equipment found in my camps include Kondos' kitchen tarps, Stearns life preservers and seat cushions, Grey Owl wooden paddles, Coleman stoves and lanterns. I could continue on to the last item of equipment, but the bottom line is - it's quality equipment that is well cared for, and it works for me so it will work for you!
CAMP QUIZ?-(based on 27 years of a guide's experience)
#1) What's the most important piece of camping equipment that I take in the woods? Considered by many veteran guides of the Northwoods as the "American Express" gear - They won't leave home without it. You can bet it's in my pack!
#2) There's only one reason why a camper should bring a small cruiser axe or hatchet on a BWCA/ Quetico canoe trip. What is it?
#3) What has been the best saw to use in the woods for me?
#4) When we reach our camp destination for the night, and before we unload the packs, I proceed to check out the campsite to see if it is suitable. I go directly to the firepit to see its condition. If I'm in the BWCA, I then hike the trail to the check the latrine. I look up and scan the forest canopy around the camp. I walk the water's edge. What am I checking for?
#5) I've cooked well over a thousand plus meals over a campfire and I still use the same heavy gauge aluminum cookkit that I sarted with in the early 1980's. I bought the set from Bernie Carlson, owner of the long gone Quetico/ Superior Outfitters. This set dates to the late 1950's and they still have a decent shine on them. Why aren't they black and sooty by now?
#6) Early in my guide years, I was hired by a veteran guide as a packer. We took a party three portages further in, to a dead end and secluded lake filled with big smallmouth bass. We were already camped plenty remote, so three more portages put us in to what the guide thought untouched water for the year. We pulled up to a seldom used and over grown campsite located on an island, and he grumbled, "guide wood' as he pointed to the firepit. Sure enough, the tell tale black coals of a recently doused fire and a pile of neatly stacked wood, covered with two flattened pieces of birch bark- guide wood. What does that mean?
#7) Over the years, we've all seen the outdoor gimmicks and gadgets come and go. Some work good for certain people, some for certain tasks. But here in the north country, there is a piece of equipment, a real tool, that hangs from most of the old time guide's belt. What is it?
If you guessed : #1)...the dining fly, or kitchen tarp, or rain fly , then you must know the importance of one during inclement weather.
#2) ...to split campfire wood ONLY! Noone should use an axe or hatchet to 'cut' firewood, that is why there are saws. The hatchet or cruiser axe can be a dangerous piece of equipment & Jasper Creek guides are the only people in camp that are allowed to use them, period!
#3) I use a 15" Stanley Sharktooth. Or similar make. It looks like a scaled down version of a carpenters saw. I've used the Wyoming Saw, the bow saw, the Sierra saw, assorted camp folding saws and none cut like the Stanley.
#4)...the fire pit tells a story. Black coals mean a fire was there recently and properly put out with water. Grey coals could mean a still hot bed of coals or a fire that was left smoldering to slowly burn out. If a firepit still has pine needles on top, it has yet to be used that year. Pines drop their needles late in the autumn. Are the rocks in place surrounding the fire pit or scattered? If removed, are they piled or randomly scattered. If the latter, I guess the recent camper poured dishwater or grease on the firepit rocks and a bear has licked and moved the rocks. Could be trouble? Is the firpit on non combustable ground? The path to the latrine is usually muddy, look for tracks. Is the latrine filled with food scraps? Be warned-Bear trouble! Search the trees for potential 'widow makers' around tent sites. A gusty wind or storm can topple a leaning or diseased tree on a tent. Find where campers would or should hang their food packs. Are there tell tale claw marks on those trees? This lets you know that bears know the routine. Walking the shoreline lets me see where the best kichen/ cooking water will come from and where swimming water should be. Nobody in my camp swims where I get cooking water. Has the last camper thrown fish remains in the water from shore, this means tainted water.
#5) ...rub a thick layer of soap on the outside of each pan. The soap gets black, not the pot. The soap easily washes off. But here's the trick- keep adding a layer of soap to the already black pots when basecamping. You do not need to clean the outside after each use, just the inside. At final wash time, a green scrubber is all that is needed and a good rinse. Keep well away from the lake and dispose washwater 50 yards or more in the woods, preferably on a slope leading away from the water. Do not get soap inside the pots or you'll run out of T.P.- get it?
#6) ...Guide Wood? Veteran campers probably know and all seasoned guides know how to put up good firewood for a cooking fire. We're talking a cooking fire, not a 'pretty fire', to sit around and tell stories. Firewood for cooking is cut to 9 to 12 inches in length. The shorter the better. Long wood allows the fire to burn outside the grate and burns the wrists of the guide. And it is split, remember that 'guide axe, or hatchet'. This is when it is only used. Guides split wood to the thickness of two thumbs or less. That's right- small. And we keep it neatly piled and covered. We have complete control of the heat by placing small pieces of wood where we need it to cook. Keep the fire small, and directly under the pots. When a flame licks up the sides of a pan, you cannot use your hands at all. You loose control of your food cooking, and any good guide wants to produce a perfect campfire meal. The best fire has flames less than 14 inches high, preferably 12 inches or less with a good bed of coals. And you save on firewood use, which by the way consumes alot of a guide's valuable time. Most guides, myself included, do not allow guests to touch the kitchen wood. They can forage their own mixture of firewood to have a 'pretty fire'.
#7) ...I bet you guessed a knife. Nope. Could be one of those multi use tools, you know- the knife that's too small, the thin pliers that have a hook remover on the end, screwdrivers, file, leather punch, a one inch saw- maybe. I have one of those, an original Leatherman, 20 years plus in age. I use it often, BUT the one tool I could not guide without is my set of linemans pliers, some call them side cutters or dykes. I'm on my third pair and my second belt sheath. I describe them as 'fingers without feeling'; I can grab the sizzling skillet of fish and turn it on the fire, lift a boiling pan of dishwater, grab an errant piece of smoldering firewood and put it back under the grate. These pliers untie wet knots, pull stuck tent stakes, remove fish hooks, and the wire cutter is the best monofilament nipper there is. The wide jaws can tighten the nuts on the aluminum canoes. I go nowhere without that set of pliers on my belt. I keep a pocket knife in my pocket, where it belongs and my Leatherman lies in my fishing pack. No sheath knife for me, and the filet knife is in the utensil pouch.
