Goldilocks and the 8 chairs

Yes, you read that right. We've had eight different chairs come along with us on various trips. To be fair though, the first two were ones I had and were never meant to be taken on a backcountry camping trip. I had them for regular car camping when my son was young. On our first trip (September 2013) we didn't buy much gear. I can't believe L.T. carried both of these as well as a bag of firewood and 6 litres of water over all the portages! And I think one of these chairs bent during our trip. I'm not sure if it was me or him, but that chair was ready for the garbage after that.

Chairs #1 and #2

L.T. has always maintained that a comfortable place to sit is very important in camp. It is a creature comfort that adds great value to the whole trip. I'm well beyond the age of sitting on the ground, so I agree with him and we've always tried to have someplace comfortable to sit while tripping.

In early 2014 I bought L.T. the Larry chair (from MEC, yes that's its real name) for his June birthday and picked myself up a tripod chair at the Boy Scout Store. L.T. warned me that my chair would not be comfortable. Hey, I paid $15 for it, it was going to be GREAT! Nope. It was horrible. After a short time of sitting on it, it cuts off the circulation in the back of your upper legs and becomes a painful place to be.

Chair #3: Larry taking a break on Cedar Lake

Larry is extremely sturdy, he can even lean back on it with those great legs (the chair's, not his).

Chair #4: right next to Larry

I found a different chair at Le Baron. It was half the price of the Helinox chairs at MEC and looked exactly the same. It's a Rockwater Design, the Nano Ultra-Lite Chair.

Chair #5: my Nano

This chair has done me well. I do like it. It's just a little unstable and the legs can sink into the ground quite deep. I've fallen out of it and broken the pump on my fuel bottle (also visible in the picture above). **To be fair, it was dusk on an island campsite on Catfish Lake where grey mice were throwing themselves against our screened bug tent and they startled me.** I lost one of the feet for the back of the chair, which made it sink even faster into the dirt. But I found the two baskets that came with my trekking poles and they fit on perfectly. This helps with some of the sinking. Also, as you'll see in the picture below, I've put a racquetball ball onto the front leg. An internet idea was to use tennis balls, but this is smaller. It's also to help the legs not to sink in.

L.T. decided to buy himself a new chair that is lighter than Larry. He loves Larry to no end. But Larry is a heavy fellow.

Chair #6

He took this one out for the first time in 2016 and he didn't really like it. It's too flimsy. It's supposed to be a leaner, the angle is more reclined. He found it unstable and just not the right angle. He couldn't get comfortable in it.

And he insisted on buying me a new Helinox chair for my birthday in 2016. I would have never splurged on this myself. It's a bit larger and heavier than my Nano, but I love the stability and the height of this chair. 

Chair #7: my new one next to my Nano

The two chairs packed

I find that my hips and legs get stiff when I'm constantly sitting with my knees higher than my hips. The canoe seat is like that and my Nano the same. This chair solves that problem.

And last, but not least, but hopefully the final one, chair #8. For Christmas I bought L.T. a new Helinox chair. I chose a red one. He's having a bit of a sinking problem with it here on our first trip with it. But he likes it so far.

Chair #8: Last but not least

And I picked this up for him at MEC after our Radiant Lake excursion:

It will go under his chair, each of the legs fit into the corners, the strap will come up and attach to the middle bar, holding it in place. And it will prevent sinking. That dark spot in the picture behind his red chair? That's where the back leg had sunk quite deeply into the dirt. As a bonus, the ground sheet will provide a spot to put stuff off the dirt. Nothing tall, but someplace dry at least.

Then there was the trip where he forgot to bring a chair....

Latest update: there's a new Larry in town and he's much lighter!

New Kit for 2017 - my stuff

It's almost disappointing to go shopping for new gear, there's not much that we really honestly need. However want and need are two different things and gift giving adds another dimension as well. Most purchases are improvements over something I already have.

Here are some new things I'll be taking with me this year.

A new paddle! LT has treated me by insisting he buy me a nicer paddle that the one I bought a couple of years ago. This new one is gorgeous. The staff at Trailhead Paddle Shack explained all the features and I was sold. It's very lightweight as well (always a big decision factor). The handle is hollow and the blade has a fiberglass coating. 

Winston testing it out far away from water

Here is the link to the paddle: http://greyowlpaddles.com/project/northern-light/

While we were there I picked up a clothesline. It's not needed for short trips, but for the longer ones, it will come in handy.

I got a new Leatherman multi-use tool. I bought one for LT for Christmas a few years ago and he gave me his old one. But I pester him enough for his because it has a teeny pair of very sharp scissors. So he bought me the same model.

For my birthday I got an amazing new chair. I've been happy with the chair I had already. However this new one sits much higher. I find that sitting in my usual chair or sitting in the canoe, my butt is lower than my knees and after a while it's really hard to stand and move about I'm so stiff. Hopefully this will ease that.

Chair all put together

In 2015 I won a prize from Algonquin Outfitters in a blog contest. Late in the season last fall we drove to Hunstville to get a different view of the park and to visit the store to claim my $100 prize. I selected a new air mattress. This model is mummy-shaped, which is fine as I'll be using it in my hammock. It is lightweight and compresses into something which is probably 1/4 the size of my current air mattress. It's the Thermarest ProLite and weighs 17 ounces.

For Christmas LT picked up a new Thermos for us both. I actually started using mine for my lunches at work. I heat up my lunch at home in a microwave-safe glass container and put it in the pre-heated Thermos to avoid the microwave line-up at the office. It's got a handy folded up spoon that sits inside the top. This will be perfect when having lunch on the move in the park.

My new lunch buddy

The manly size

I bought a new spoon to be used mostly for stirring the pot when cooking. This spoon is available in a regular length or in this longer length. I often find when I'm cooking that I drop my utensil into the mix - a very messy problem. Hopefully this spoon will help.

Pictured with a teaspoon and tablespoon for perspective

At the Outdoor show I picked up a new pillow. It's unique in that it's an inflated pillow but is stretchy, not rock hard, when fully inflated.

Winston always has to approve all camping purchases

It packs pretty tiny. It weighs 85 grams (3 ounces). It was a bit pricey ($30), but comfort when sleeping is worth every penny.

This cute light! Santa gave it to me (wink, wink).

It has a magnetic loop and can dim down to a setting you're happy with. It takes three AAA batteries.

Comparison pictures

Here are my two chairs and my new Thermarest put back into its stuff sack (a minor miracle after having it out all winter and inflated for storage). The one-liter Nalgene bottle is for perspective.

And finally, the two chairs back in their bags. The new chair is larger and heavier, but the increased comfort it will provide is worth the increase.

The new pillow, clothesline and lamp are also in that picture.

Well, I have a lot more new gear than I realized!