2017 Ottawa Outdoor and Adventure Show

Note: this post is from spring 2017

The Outdoor Show was disappointing this year. Not that I begrudge the hunters and fishers their sport. But having them as part of the show this year meant that most of the floor space was taken up with boats with big motors, a whole corner of just fishing rods, another large section of ATV's and even some guns. Really, I can't blame the organizers. Those sportsmen spend a LOT more money than the average backcountry camper.

We got to see Kevin Callan and Becky Mason give their presentations. She talked about the making of her father's famous movie, "Paddle to the Sea". She had one of the carved "Paddles" that was used in the filming.

Image taken from the internet

Kevin talked about his canoeing/drinking trip in Scotland. They paddled down a river that had a bunch of distilling plants nearby. It sounded like a hoot, except for the time of year meant the sun set very early and they even had to run some rapids in the dark. Scary! The link below goes to his videos about the trip.

Click on this link to see his videos about the trip

I bought a pair of wool socks. L.T. finally bought some of the dried meat from the vendor we see every year. I got an inflatable pillow from Eureka! But that's about it.

We walked around each area at least three times. It's surprising that the Algonquin Park outfitters are a no show. You'd think they'd use the event to promote their services.

There was one canoe manufacturer. He had a sweet small canoe that L.T. could use for solo tripping. But he's not ready to commit to storing a second canoe in his backyard just yet. Here are the details anyways. It's a Pilot, 12' long weighing 42 pounds made out of kevlar/carbon with ash trip. It was originally designed to fit on the side of a float plane. It claims to be stable and easy to paddle. Check out a video on the Pilot here. In Ottawa you can get one through Expedition Toys.

Eureka! has a new version of its bug shelter. The new one is a one-piece version. Our is two pieces, the tarp and the net shelter that clips in. I really thought L.T. would be interested in buying the new one, a larger one that what we have already. He could then take it on trips of more than 2 people. He's gone out with 4 before. But on second thought, we really like the way the two-piece version works and if he does want a bigger one, he can get that one eventually. They do make the two-piece version in the 2 sizes.

L.T. splurged on a slice of chocolate peanut fudge for $10. I decided to make him a batch for our first camping trip. No charge.

L.T. eyed up a new saw. There's nothing wrong with his saw. But this one looked lighter and it set up a lot quicker. He didn't buy it though, and he sort of wished he had as we perused the aisles of MEC the next weekend.

And to end on a positive note, here are a few pictures from previous shows:(there was no pool this year either)

2016 Ottawa Outdoor and Adventure Show

The Ottawa Outdoor and Adventure show was held on March 19 and 20, 2016 at the EY Centre near the airport. The baby show was next door at the same time. There were strollers!

Here's the link: http://www.adventureottawa.ca/

We attended on Saturday. There were a few new companies participating this year. Eddie Bauer was there and offered 40% off the clothing they were displaying, a lot was really nice stuff. If they didn't have your size there, they'd take the order and honour the discount.

Eureka! had a bigger display this year. They weren't embedded with the Scouts, but right next to them. They were giving a healthy discount from their MSRP. They even had our bug tent on display.

BIG tent (not bug tent)

LT was tempted by some different air mattresses that we'd never seen before. The prices were really good, but he didn't bite. We're looking for a better solution for the hammock tents we'll both be using this summer.

I stopped by the La Verendrye canoe camping booth to look at their maps. I bought some fudge ($10 a slab!), I tested the salami at D&D Meats, I chatted with a scout leader about "Mike" (their stuffed fisher), I took a free fire starter from Qwik Wick, and I got a discount coupon from World of Maps for a book I had to pick up later that day I had on order. Bonus!

The Canadian Canoe Museum had a nice booth. They are promoting the build of a new museum in Peterborough.

We watched Becky Mason in the pool, she had a lovely blue canoe her husband had refinished for her, she can turn on a dime. 

She's talking about how to choose your paddle size

Around one corner this guy greeted us:

Parks Canada's Mascot

We went to listen to Kevin Callan's talk. They had less than half the number of seats they had last year and there were a lot of people standing, us included.

Wally Schaber was doing his talk beforehand with no microphone or video displays. He had propped up his tablet with his slide show. He's the author we heard on February 13th in Old Chelsea.

Wally's book

By the time Kevin was on, they had figured out the microphone, and he ended up setting his laptop on a table so people could see. They got the video display working for the next speakers after him.

He talked about Algonquin Park

LT wanted to get a couple of autographs on his paddle. He'd prepped the paddle and had left it in the car. After checking with Becky, he went and got the paddle, she was happy to sign it.

Then he asked Kevin, but I didn't get a picture of that. Here are pictures of the paddle with the autographs. He plans on putting a protective layer over the autographs before using the paddle again.

Another paddling season is almost here and this show is the harbinger of that! I can hardly wait. 

2015 Ottawa Outdoor and Adventure Show

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm almost a whole year late with this post. The 2015 Outdoor Show in Ottawa took place in March. But it's February 2016 and there's no chance of launching a canoe anywhere near here for the next 4 months. So I have to talk about something canoe-worthy. I promise that the post for the show for 2016 will be done in a more timely fashion. After all, this blog wasn't in existence last March. Right? Right!

The show was held at the EY Centre near the airport. There's lots of parking at this venue and it's kind of in the middle of nowhere. But they still charge you for parking. Plus the entry fee into the show. Still it's worth it to drool over the canoes, to check out the vendors, and to watch the demos in the pool.

An exhuberant Kevin Callan

This year there was a special display for Bill Mason. His daughter, Becky, is an active participant in the show, giving lots of paddling demos in the pool. One of Bill's favourite canoes was on display. An aluminum Grumman canoe. It weighs about 85 pounds. The canoe was being auctioned off online during the spring. It was set up with a monitor showing Bill's famous movie, Waterwalker. 

As I looked at the display I had to touch his canoe. It brought back a lot of memories for me. I had a friend with one and we did some paddling together. We never did any canoe camping with it. It would have been pretty heavy to portage. I did portage it once, carrying it from the house to the river in Wakefield. Ah, but I was much, much younger then. 

This is also the same canoe that tipped me into the frigid waters in April one year. Touching it certainly gave me chills. Memories are strong.

In the back corner of the salon there were various presentations given by such luminaries as Kevin Callan. He's always entertaining to listen to. He certainly imparts the feeling that if he can do it, you can do it too, with his self-deprecating humour. There was a woman there who had done a major kayaking trip and he called her out of the audience to share some of the things she'd learned on her long journey. She was also giving a presentation later on.

Keen Footwear was one of the vendors and Kevin had a few of their keychains that he tossed into the audience before his talk. LT caught one and gave it to me!

We were still in a position of being canoe-less. I kept nudging LT to look at the canoe displays. It was obvious that he'd been doing some research before the show and he had a pretty good idea about what kind of canoe he'd eventually buy. He didn't see it happening for a couple more years though. Within another month we'd have a brand new canoe in our possession.

I checked out the Boy Scouts' display area. They carry Eureka! products, which we can't get at MEC. I had purchased my air mattress at the show the previous year and was happy with it. This year I was looking for a lightweight chair to replace my Eureka! tripod chair. It was very lightweight and took up almost no space in my backpack. But it's not very comfortable.

Much like Goldilocks, I sat in one chair after another, but did not buy anything. I would end up getting the Rockwater chair at LeBaron's later on in April.

Kevin Callan is an avid user of social media, especially Facebook. People posted some videos of him and Becky at the show on his FB page and LT and I were in the background. Yes, we're minor celebrities now. Very minor. Kevin and Becky were demonstrating how to switch places safely in a canoe. Which was all well and good if you're in a canoe without any other contents. Doing the same thing with all your gear would be a very different matter.

This year the show is being held on March 19th and 20th, 2016. Hope to see you there!

Here's a link to the site that sponsors the show:  http://www.ottawaoutdoors.ca/