First, some terminology: Chine refers to the area where the sidewall of the kayak meets the bottom of the hull. A soft-chine boat exhibits gentle curves, while a hard- or multi-chine boat has abrupt edges.
The early skin kayaks of the Arctic relied on wooden ribs and longitudinal stringers for form. Those stringers were responsible for the single hard-chine, V-shaped hull of the Inuit or Greenland-style kayak and the multiple hard chines of the Aleutian baidarka design. It wasn’t until the advent of fiberglass and plastic that builders designed rounded and shallow-arch hulls without pronounced edges—initially for whitewater slalom.
According to John Lockwood of Pygmy Kayaks in Port Townsend, Washington, hard chines enable a sea kayak to carve crisper turns. When the paddler shifts her weight to tilt the boat, the sharp angles of a hard- or multi-chine hull effectively become a curved keel. Think of what happens when you engage the edge of a parabolic ski or snowboard—it’s essentially the same phenomenon as when a tilted kayak moves through the water.
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Advantages in turning and cruising
Lockwood says that the turning motion is enhanced in a single hard-chine hull; these designs will also turn with less angle of tilt. Lockwood’s calculations demonstrate that if all design variables are made equal, a multi-chine hull has 3.2 percent less wetted surface (and therefore less water resistance) than a hard-chine hull, and so is about 3.2 per cent more efficient at cruising speeds. Any difference in wetted surface between multi-chine and soft-chine hulls is even subtler, however a rounded hull will not offer the same maneuverability on edge.
You always make the best friends during challenging times. TRAK Kayaks is pleased to announce a new partnership with Level Six, a leading Canadian manufacturer of world-class drysuits, safety equipment and other paddling garments.
Being one with water is what TRAK is in service of. Back in 2017, TRAK started a commitment to skills development and progression, so the community can get the most from their experiences paddling. When the pandemic began earlier this year, TRAK started their Sea Kayak Skills Accelerator program. From that a need emerged for immersion gear and drygear apparel.
TRAK scanned the market to curate the best complementary gear they could find. They arrived at none other than Level Six, from Canada’s capital in Ottawa. TRAK discovered that the backstories of TRAK and Level Six have some interesting parallels, rooted in a commitment to the water lifestyle.
To celebrate the new partnership, customers can get a free Level Six drysuit when pre-ordering a TRAK 2.0 for 2021. Simply select your TRAK Immersion Bundle Add-on + Pay in Full to claim your drysuit. Find out more here.
Kiliii Yüyan’s Seawolf Kayak designs aren’t replicas. Instead, he says they’re designed for what modern kayakers do—playing in rough water, photographing wildlife, camping overnight, paddling for weeks and fishing the ocean. Photo: Courtesy Filson // Photography by Ford Yates
More than 4,000 years ago, the earliest kayaks were constructed from driftwood and the skins of marine mammals—and if anyone has a claim to building modernized versions, it’s Kiliii Yüyan.
An American of Chinese and Nanai (Siberian Native) descent, Yüyan grew up on his grandmother’s stories of heroes riding the backs of orcas and fish bigger than canoes. But it wasn’t ancestry alone that led Yüyan to build his first skin-on-frame kayak—it was his appetite.
Since his late teens, Yüyan had been interested in the traditions of hunting and gathering. He started embarking on rewilding expeditions led by British ex-pat Lynx Vilden—a survivalist who has been teaching primitive living skills since 1991—and it was on these trips he learned just how difficult the land could be to live off.
The one exception to the rule? The ocean. He reasoned a kayak would be a stable, strong and portable platform to fish, and would give him access to otherwise inaccessible waters.
“I could have just bought a plastic kayak, but there’s more to the soul of a skin-on-frame,” says the 41-year-old. “It was part of my ancestry, but more than anything, I was driven by my desire to eat.”
That was 17 years ago. Now the owner of Seawolf Kayak, a Seattle-based boat building business, Yüyan has constructed more than 600 kayaks. Every year, alongside instructor Addie Asbridge, he teaches dozens how to build their own skin-on-frame kayaks at nine-day workshops in America, Europe and the United Kingdom.
Kiliii Yüyan’s Seawolf Kayak designs aren’t replicas. Instead, he says they’re designed for what modern kayakers do—playing in rough water, photographing wildlife, camping overnight, paddling for weeks and fishing the ocean. Photo: Courtesy Filson // Photography by Ford Yates
“The building of a boat brings together so many disparate aspects of being close to the land. From gathering the wood to knowing where it comes from, every step is like retracing steps your ancestors have taken: They’ve done the exact same motion before,” he says.
His early designs, he concedes, were “terrible” in comparison to Seawolf Kayak’s current product line-up. Its five models range from the Kelpie, an ultra-narrow “Seabiscuit of kayaks,” to the stable Selkie, designed for multi-day trips. Constructed from cedar frames, bamboo ribs and ballistic nylon, most weigh-in at just 26 pounds. Despite their lineage, his boats aren’t intended to be replicas of those found in Greenland or the Aleutian Islands. Their users are interested in camping and playing in the ocean, not harpooning seals.
It’s arguably his primary passion—photojournalism—that has allowed Yüyan to explore his northern roots fully. An award-winning photographer who specializes in the Arctic regions and Indigenous issues, Yüyan’s images have appeared in Vogue, TIME and Bloomberg Businessweek.
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One 2014 trip to northern Alaska to learn the art of skin-sewing (a process involving stitching seal skins together so they become fully waterproof) from Iñupiat elders resulted in a multi-year photography project. Over the course of three years in Utqiagvik, Yüyan documented the community’s subsistence whaling culture. The resulting photos were published in National Geographic and shown at the British Museum.
More than success, the project gave him a sense of belonging. “I found the thing I was looking for in so many ways; I feel at home there,” he says.
Yet, while northern and Indigenous communities are the common thread in his work, Yüyan has yet to return to his ancestral homeland. He’s been held back by Russia’s notoriously difficult visa processes and a harsh truth: The place mythologized through his grandmother’s stories no longer exists. It’s long been destroyed by decades of colonialism and communism.
Instead, Yüyan is currently starting to work on a skin-on-frame kayak from the Nain culture. It, too, is a project with complications; no drawings of the boats exist and only one modernized model remains in a museum in Khabarovsk, Russia. But like reconnecting with his Indigenous identity, Yüyan is in no hurry. After all, he says, boat building is about evolution, not revolution.
“It will be nice to take my time with it and figure out how it’s going to work,” he says.
This article was first published in Paddling Magazine Issue 62. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions here, or browse the archives here.
Kiliii Yüyan’s Seawolf Kayak designs aren’t replicas. Instead, he says they’re designed for what modern kayakers do—playing in rough water, photographing wildlife, camping overnight, paddling for weeks and fishing the ocean. Photo: Courtesy Filson // Photography by Ford Yates
MORE FUN THAN A BOUNCY CASTLE.| PHOTO: SCOTT MACGREGOR
The inflatable canoes, dinghies and kayaks we grew up with were little more than pool toys. Long-time inflatable kayak manufacturer Sea Eagle will change your assumptions about blow-up boats with the world’s first performance-oriented inflatable travel canoe.
Pack this Sea Eagle canoe with your luggage and take it along anywhere
The Travel Canoe 16—or simply TC16—is a perfect craft for paddlers who don’t have 48 square feet to spare for canoe storage, or for travellers who want to be able to check their canoe on an airplane. When deflated, the TC16 packs to the size of a burly winter sleeping bag, small enough that it might not even be considered oversized baggage. In fact, it’s the only canoe that’s ever been delivered by courier and deposited in the office kitchen.
The TC16 weighs just shy of 60 pounds and is incredibly easy to set up. Literally, just pump and go. Inflation took Canoeroots publisher Scott MacGregor about seven minutes and then we were ready to hit the water. And that was without reading the instructions.
Hitting the waves with the Sea Eagle TC16
Stability and ease of handling
On the water, the TC16 makes for fun and easy cruising. Even without the optional skeg it tracks straight, turns easily thanks to moderate rocker and is quick to get up to top speed.
Its double-walled, drop-stitch hull is rock hard when inflated to the recommended 12 psi, and the PVC-based material had staffers climbing all over it, practicing Capistrano Flips and gunwale-bobbing without worry of bruising limbs on aluminum gunwales and wooden thwarts.
The flat bottom of the TC16 makes it feel stable so long as you remain on the level. With even a little tilt the canoe quickly falls to find its secondary stability on its inflated sides. Once you’re there, the secondary stability is rock solid.
Two factors impressed me most about the TC16. First, after righting the canoe following a capsize there’s almost no water inside the hull. When the canoe does overturn, it floats on the water instead of in the water, meaning you can right it, slither back in and keep on paddling without bailing.
Secondly, the TC16 is durable. We crashed it, bashed it and bounced it, and none of it left a mark. Not even a head-on collision at ramming speed with a car-sized chunk of billion-year-old Precambrian rock. Try that with your hard shell. There’s a limit to the TC16’s durability I’m sure, but we didn’t find it.
In moving water, the hull does bend and flex more than other travel canoes we’ve paddled. While grinding down shallow drops on our local river the canoe almost seemed to bend and slither over rocks—a funny sensation that takes some getting used to.
Our only complaint? The inflatable seats are attached to the floor with Velcro, and the feet-out-front, lean-back style isn’t what we’re used to for aggressive river running. We kept wanting to kneel.
MORE FUN THAN A BOUNCY CASTLE.| PHOTO: SCOTT MACGREGOR
Summing up the Sea Eagle TC16
In addition to the niche markets of urbanites and northern river travellers, Sea Eagle’s Travel Canoe 16 is sure to find a home in the boat houses of families, fishermen and river cruisers looking for a versatile recreational canoe.
The Epic experience started before I even parked my bottom in our demo V7. I began by learning more about this new surfski at Kayak Sport Canada, a friendly shop in Toronto’s trendy Leaside neighborhood that caters to acolytes of performance paddling.
Owned by father-son team Mike and Dav, and lodged in a reclaimed paint factory, the shop’s airy, twilit space is an education in all things speed. Shiny trophies from Mike’s kayak racing career in his native Hungary crowd dusty shelves; a trio of Wenonah fast canoes hide in an alcove; a surfski with an anvil-sized hole through its hull awaits Dav’s meticulous repair, victim of a customer’s recent surfing accident. Race SUPs, paddles and fitness trainers share the space, but it’s the wall of moon-white Epic kayaks and surfskis that lures my eyes up into the rafters, where imported Hungarian racing kayaks hang in the sepulchral dusk. A lively, rusty-coated vizsla strains on his lead to greet us as Dav shows me into the shop. “He’s a Hungarian breed, like us,” jokes the dog’s owner.
Mike began selling sprint boats out of his garage in 1982. Performance paddlers may comprise a small niche of paddlesports, but they’re a dedicated and growing group. The pair moved into their current shop in 2010, Dav tells me, “But we’re already outgrowing the space.”
Most kayakers have felt the irresistible allure of speed—whether on a downwind run or cleaving calm water on a quiet morning—but not every paddler wants to commit to an expensive surfski just to go fast. For fence sitters, the V7 is a welcome game-changer.
“We’ve definitely tapped into a new market. A lot of people have wanted to try a surfski but haven’t wanted to get into a composite boat, or they wanted a lower price point,” says Vince Bechet, Epic’s chief marketing officer. “Sales have been phenomenal, we couldn’t keep up with demand last summer in both North America and Europe.”
The Epic V7 is streamlined and fast, but also affordable
The V7 sports the same flawless finish as Epic’s composite fleet, so it’s little wonder that casual observers and even those who paddle it don’t suspect this ‘ski is molded from durable polyethylene, not premium glass and carbon fibers. Until they pick it up, that is—the V7 weighs 11 pounds more than the heaviest lay-up of its composite sibling, Epic’s 18-foot V8. The trade-off is a very budget-friendly price tag; you can literally get two V7s for the price of one performance lay-up V8.
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Belying its good looks, Dav says the V7 represents Epic’s learning curve with rotomolding plastics. While the boat’s orange bow and stern caps look fighter jet sharp and match Epic’s composite line-up, adding the splashes of color during the rotomolding process is a tedious procedure that greatly increases production time. For 2016, the V7 will lose the trademark color badging, but retain Epic’s signature clean white finish.
On the water, the V7 isn’t quite as speedy on acceleration as an ultralight composite surfski, but recreational paddlers aren’t likely to notice—this is still a very quick boat. It’s heavier weight also makes the V7 more deliberate feeling in wind and waves, good news for touring kayakers crossing over and looking for a less twitchy ‘ski with predictable stability.
Amid the growing cadre of accessible surfskis vying for touring kayakers’ attention—among them Stellar’s S14S, Current Designs’ Ignite and Epic’s brand new V5, a plastic 14-footer just announced at press time—the V7 stays perhaps closest to its roots: unapologetically streamlined, purposefully spartan and Epically fast.
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. | PHOTO: VIRGINIA MARSHALL
Cross Over
With a 21-inch beam, the V7’s stability is closer to that of a nimble touring kayak than a racing ‘ski, making it perfect for effortless cruising and forgiving fitness or sprint paddling.
Cruise Control
Epic’s adjustable, carbon fiber footboard and pedals deliver smooth, precise steering inputs to either a removable under-stern rudder, or an optional SmartTrack kick-up rudder (recommended for shallow and rocky waters, $100).
Cover Up
For 2016, a new hard lid will be added to the rear hatch, protecting the existing waterproof fabric cover from damage. Careful packers with small gear will find adequate space inside for an overnight.
This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak Spring 2016 issue.
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(Neebing, ON, September 15, 2020) – Funding from Destination Northern Ontario has enabled The Path of the Paddle Association to complete an overview map that covers 1,100 km of a canoe/hiking and cycling route. The map is now on sale through its website as well at two local outlets.
The Path of the Paddle operates this 1100 km section of The Great Trail, Canada’s national trail from Fort William Historical Park to Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba, through both the wilds and the communities of Northwestern Ontario. Volunteers keep the trail alive and it was through a large volunteer effort that the map was created.
Board Chair, Clara Butikofer, said that the map will serve as a tool for those planning their trips to the region.
“This map has been created for the purpose of trip planning and route overview. During this time of the pandemic, when everyone is advised to stay safe and stay close to home, there is no better resource available for planning adventures into the wilderness of Northwestern Ontario,” she said.
The map includes symbols for waterfalls, portages, camp sites and points of interest. It is priced at $12.95 and available online at pathofthepaddleassociation.com/shop or in Thunder Bay at Wilderness Supply and Chaltrek Work and Play Outdoors.
Butikofer extended the organization’s thanks to Destination Northern Ontario as the project partner, Steve Chapman of Mapmakers.ca and the Path of the Paddle volunteers.
Destination Northern Ontario is one of 13 not-for-profit regional tourism organizations funded by the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. It is the largest tourism region in geography, the second largest in expenditure and the only region that includes sub-regions.
Destination Northern Ontario coordinates, aligns and invests in sub-regional programs and leads in identified pan-northern management functions; co-ordination of marketing, product development, workforce and industry training, and investment attraction with the ultimate goal to significantly increase tourism revenues in Northern Ontario. Increased visitation and yield are achieved by delivering programs designed to enhance existing tourism products and developing new tourism opportunities for the North. Destination Northern Ontario is funded through the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, Sport and Heritage Industries.
Dozens of popular paddling destinations along National Wildlife Refuge Water Trails are now even more accessible online having been recently added to the National Rivers Project (NRP), an interactive map and online database which helps to identify, explore and plan river trips. The NRP now includes 18 National Wildlife Refuges and features 103 water trails and 50 access points managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Photo: Marcia Pradines
NRP is a project of the River Management Society (RMS), a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to support professionals who study, protect and manage North America’s rivers. RMS partnered with USFWS National Wilderness Coordinator Nancy Roeper and USFWS Chief Cartographer Ron Salz to inventory and add to the NRP various Wildlife Refuges and associated waterbodies, which are listed as water trails and popular paddling destinations.
Roeper hopes that including these rivers, lakes, bays and coastlines in the NRP will allow for equitable access to information for paddlers across a variety of geographies and skill levels.
“This project enables more people to appreciate their National Wildlife Refuges and enjoy wildlife observation and photography, fishing or just relaxing, from a different point of view,” said Roeper. “Thanks to our partner, RMS, information about water trails and a number of popular paddling destinations in the National Wildlife Refuge System are now part of the NRP. Paddling is frequently the best way to see wildlife, and after all, the mission of the Refuge System focuses on conserving the nation’s fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats.”
Exploring a refuge by canoe or kayak combines adventure with physical activity and an unparalleled close-up view of nature. From freshwater tidal marshes, to scenic estuarine habitat, and to cypress swamps and floating peat mats, paddling trails in the Refuge System can provide glimpses of great blue heron rookeries, manatees, roseate spoonbills, muskrats, egrets, sandhill cranes, alligators, warblers, bald eagles, kingfishers, river otters, pond turtles, hawks, carnivorous plants and more.
Photo: Marcia Pradines
The USFWS segments added correlate with the information on the USFWS water trails website. The data were created by studying static and interactive maps on refuge websites, gleaning public GIS data on refuge amenities, researching waterbodies and access points through other websites and publications, and seeking feedback on data from refuge managers.
“We are excited and grateful to have developed this partnership with USFWS, creating and curating spatial data and descriptive information for several water trails on National Wildlife Refuges across the United States,” says James Major, NRP Coordinator. “We thank Jack Henderson, who worked on this project as past GIS and Project Coordinator with RMS. Many of refuges offer access to educational and inspiring waterways and we are proud to have developed this new way to help the public discover them, and to help refuge managers share their location in context of other regional river resources.”
ABOUT THE NATIONAL RIVERS PROJECT The National River Recreation Database (NRRD) is a geospatial portfolio of authoritative information for Wild and Scenic Rivers, water trails, whitewater rivers, access points and campgrounds. The NRRD supports the National Rivers Project website, which provides river recreation and management information for paddlers and resource managers. The NRP has been developed with financial support from federal river-administering agencies (National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and the National Park Foundation. In addition, many state programs, non-profit organizations and individuals have contributed in-kind by contributing and maintaining accurate river data. Explore rivers at www.nationalriversproject.com. Additions and revisions to the database are always welcome! Learn more about RMS and join today by visiting www.river-management.org.
Photo by Marcia Pradines, USFWS: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia is one of the many rivers now accessible on nationalriversproject.com. Here, visitors may spot black bear, cranes, alligators and tortoises!
Supernatural delight, everybody was dancing in the moonlight. | Photo: Kevin Light
I began my photography career in 2012 and four years later met James Manke, the kayaker in this photo. We’ve created some remarkable imagery together, although nothing quite compares to this unique moon shot.
Both of us come from a high-level sporting background. James is a member of the Hurricane Riders, a rough water sea kayaking collective. I won a gold medal for Canada at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing for rowing. A mutual passion for the water encouraged our friendship. He believed in the success of this seemingly crazy photo when I dreamt it up four years ago, inspired by similar lunar silhouettes from other sports.
While experimenting with lunar photography, photographer John Lehmann showed me The Photographers Ephemeris, an app that tracks the time and position of moon rise. Armed with this resource, 738-foot-tall Mount Douglas, just five minutes from my house in Victoria, British Columbia, seemed like a good location to make this silhouette photo come true. Once I was comfortable with how the moon interacted with the mountain, I asked James to help make the shot happen.
It took three years to come together because there are just 13 full moons in a year, so you have only 13 chances to try—a few more if you are willing to launch an attempt with an almost full moon. The date needed to work with my schedule, James’ schedule, and uncontrollable environmental factors, such as cloud cover. I practiced alone a few times, so when James brought his kayak, I was pretty sure we would get the photo.
Supernatural delight, everybody was dancing in the moonlight. | Photo: Kevin Light
This was our second try together. The conditions aligned on May 6, 2020. Moonrise over the ocean horizon was at 7:53 p.m. James got to the top of Mount Douglas 10 minutes early so he would have time to find a safe flat place to stand while it was still light. We used headsets connected to our phones to stay in constant contact and keep our hands free. The moon began to rise at 9 p.m., appearing to James’ right—exactly where I expected it to be.
As soon as the top half of the moon reached James in my viewfinder, I asked him to lift the kayak. I shot multiple frames as the moon rose. Even one foot left or right made a big difference when positioning James and the kayak in the center of the moon. James stood in a powerful stance to keep little details from getting lost. Aspects such as the placement of his arms and legs were important so every component stayed visible. To capture the thinner shape of the Greenland paddle, James held it at an angle to show off the intricate design.
It was only two minutes from the time the moon first touched James to the time it got too high. As quickly as the moment came, I witnessed the moon rise into the night sky like a child letting go of a balloon.
I had my camera set to manual with a shutter speed of 1/250, the ISO at 320 and aperture at f/10. I used a small aperture to ensure the moon and James would be sharp, and the lens was a 600mm f/4. I had the option to shoot wide open at f/4 and lower ISO, but I wanted to make sure the moon and the subject were both crisp. Using a monopod rather than a tripod allowed for a nimble and efficient setup that was easy to adjust in the dark.
The response to the photo has been astounding, especially from the kayaking community. Pictures like this usually have a mountain climber as their subject. This may have been the first time a kayaker has been photographed silhouetted in front of the moon.
Kevin Light is an Olympic gold medalist in Men’s Eight Rowing and a professional sports photographer.
This article was first published in Paddling Magazine Issue 62. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions here, or browse the archives here.
Supernatural delight, everybody was dancing in the moonlight. | Photo: Kevin Light
Forget about your worries and your knife. | Photo: Kaydi Pyette
“Your best defense in bear country is your brain—your knowledge and understanding of bears,” writes Steve Herrero in his 2003 pioneering book, Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance. By keeping a clean camp, watching for bear sign, making noise while in the woods, traveling in a group and carrying bear spray as a last resort, you can help ensure a bear sighting is the highlight of your wilderness trip, not the downfall. Here’s what you need to know about the most popular bear safety items.
Bear Spray
Bear spray is widely recognized as the most effective means of repelling an attacking grizzly or black bear in a close encounter. Biologists and professional guides don’t travel in bear country without it, and neither should you. A study of Alaskan bear encounters found 98 percent of those who used bear spray were uninjured, while the remaining two percent received only minor injuries. Frontiersman’s 325-gram canister fires for eight seconds and expels two-percent capsaicinoids, which cause temporary respiratory distress. On land, keep the spray accessible, not buried in a hatch or pack. Remember: Bear spray is only effective at close range, usually 30 feet or less, and don’t season yourself by being downwind.
Flares and bangers are inexpensive, easy-to-use and effective deterrents before a bear gets too close for comfort, according to the Get Bear Smart Society. Shots fired into the air—not at the bear—explode after 90 to 120 feet, creating a loud boom. They can be fired from pen launchers or pistols. However, if not used correctly, these tools may escalate the situation—if a banger explodes behind the bear, it may cause the bear to advance in fear. It can also be a fire hazard in dry conditions. Tru Flare Pen Launcher Kit includes red signaling flares and orange noise-making bear bangers—it’s a lightweight, budget-friendly option easy to keep close at hand.
Bear canisters are up to the challenge of withstanding being batted around with catcher-mitt-sized paws and are just large enough to avoid the 1000 psi crushing strength of a bear’s jaws. BearVault’s BV500 is 8.5 inches in diameter and has 11.5 liters of capacity, enough to hold a week’s worth of dehydrated food and toiletries for a single person. It weighs just over two pounds. There’s no doubt it’s a bulky little unit—sort of like carrying around a small keg—but it comfortably nestles in a canoe pack with lots of room to spare. Plus, it doubles as a sweet camp seat. Kayakers will prefer the stubbier BV450 version for half the volume and easier packing, or another storage method. Both units are transparent, with wide, easy-access openings and tool-free operation. Canisters are mandatory in a dozen national parks, including Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park. Store on-ground, 100 yards downwind from camp.
Light as a feather but strong as a bear is the promise of Ursack’s tear-proof bags. The “bulletproof” polyethylene fabric of Ursack’s Major XL is the only alternative to bear-proof canisters certified by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. Weighing a half-pound, the Ursack Major XL bear bag is a fraction of the weight of a traditional bear canister for a similar volume. Its 15-liter capacity can hold about a week of dehydrated food for one, or a long weekend of food for two. The Ursack is more packable than a canister and faster to secure than a bear hang. To use, take the bag 100 feet from camp and anchor on a tree with a figure-8 knot. What’s the catch? While the highly tear-resistant weave will prevent a bear from getting your food, Ursack warns it may not prevent puncturing or crushing. The sharp teeth of some small critters could puncture holes. Double-check local regulations as some national parks, including Yosemite, require storing food in a canister.
While a 1982 study based in Glacier National Park suggested the jaunty jingle-jangle of a bear bell will warn bears away, a more recent study by American bear biologist Tom Smith implied the opposite. Either way, bells aren’t particularly noisy, and their tinny tinkle can get lost in the other wilderness sounds. The Get Bear Smart Society recommends alerting bears to your presence by talking loudly and singing. Renowned Canadian bear biologist Stephen Herrero prefers yodeling. You could also try Nickleback.
A marine horn or wildlife deterrent horn can be heard up to a half-mile away with a 120-decibel berrrrp. Unfamiliar sounds—including whistles—may deter an approaching bear at a distance. However, their efficacy is inconclusive. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s deterrence guidelines state, “The use of commercially available air horns and other similar devices…may be effective in deterring bears while causing no lasting or permanent harm to individual animals.” It’s an inexpensive item already in the kit of many coastal explorers and poses none of the risks of bear bangers.
Criticizing the efficacy of bear hangs has become a bit of a trend. Naysayers claim bear hangs don’t work, and they take too long to rig. But it’s not so much that bear hangs don’t work—just that when done poorly, they’re an invite for a local ursine to belly up to a buffet. A bear hang is an effective way to keep your food safe and keep bears from being habituated when done correctly. And it’ll just cost you the price of rope. An effective bear hang suspends the goodie bag 12 feet off the ground, eight feet from the tree trunk and five feet from the suspending tree limb. If paddling above the treeline or in an area dominated by stubby or short-limbed trees, choose another method. Proper food and garbage storage is essential to keeping bears wild and safe—a fed bear is a dead bear.
This article was first published in Paddling Magazine Issue 62. Subscribe to Paddling Magazine’s print and digital editions here, or browse the archives here.
Forget about your worries and your knife. | Photo: Kaydi Pyette
Last month, Mustang Survival announced MTI Adventurewear had been acquired by its California-based parent company, the Wing Group, and the two brands would merge to be a force in the paddlesports market.
After being a trusted leader in marine recreation for more than 50 years, the amalgamation is aimed at enhancing Mustang Survival’s PFD offerings to expand further in the recreational market. Combining Mustang’s technical engineering with the design and development of MTI will provide world-class products, according to Josh Horoshok, VP of Mustang’s recreational category.
“From the Mustang Survival side, we wanted to expand in the recreational paddling space,” he says. To do this, Mustang wants to expand its foam PFD assortment. “PFDs are complex because the approvals needed from the coast guards and Transport Canada take a long time. It’s a long to-market process to design and develop your own foam PFD line. Internally, we had many discussions about purchasing a company with this expertise,” says Horoshok.
[Discover the best PFDs of the year in the online Paddling Buyer’s Guide]
Based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Mustang got a contract with the Canadian government to make PPE hospital gowns during COVID-19, which allowed them to weather the pandemic better than many other companies. “We’d had high-level conversations for the past year, but got down to the brass tracks of looking for a PFD manufacturer to acquire in spring, a couple of months after COVID-19 hit. Once we started discussing with MTI, it was just weeks. It moved fast,” Horoshok adds.
MTI Adventurewear was founded in 1991 and has been owned by Gordon and Lili Colby since 2011. Both will stay on with Mustang Survival.
“Gordon will be doing product design for Mustang from now on,” says MTI’s Lili Colby. “He was running MTI and doing product design, but it was a big task to do both jobs. He had a lot of stuff on the design table he didn’t have enough time for, and now can dedicate himself to designs he’s been working on for years.”
Discussions about the Mustang Survival and MTI Adventurewear merger began in June 2020 and concluded on July 31. | Photo: Courtesy Mustang Survival
Once travel restrictions lift, Gordon and Lili, based in Massachusetts, will have access to Mustang’s testing labs and CAD machines to create prototypes in British Columbia.
“We’re able to support their dreams and vision, and merge resources,” adds Horoshok. “Mustang has wanted to do some high-end guide vests and rescues vests and move into the kayak space, and we haven’t had the expertise. Now with Gordon and Lili, we’re able to accelerate and expand.”
MTI is not distributed in Canada. Work will first begin on harmonizing MTI’s models to be sold north of the border. Those MTI models will sell under the Mustang name. “We’ll continue to sell the MTI brand through to the end of 2021, and there will be no change to their assortment in the U.S. Then we’ll re-evaluate branding and what that means for the future of MTI under Mustang,” says Horoshok.
Details Behind The Purchase of MTI
“Every business owner has an idea of what would be the perfect sell scenario,” says Colby.
The deal started in June with a phone call. “Things were starting to get better after the COVID shutdown. We had figured out how to stage employees in the factory and mask-wearing. Things were starting to open up and we got a call from Jason, the president of Mustang Survival, who is a good friend of Gordon’s.” Gordon and Jason Leggitt are also on the board of directors at the Life Jacket Association.
“On the call, Jason said, ‘I’m calling to see if MTI might be interested in selling.’ Gordon was upstairs in his office, and he called down to me, saying, ‘Honey, you might want to come up here,” says Colby.
“The way Jason laid it out to us made sense from the get-go. Mustang has some amazing premiere products, but they don’t have a lot of foam jackets. That’s the space where MTI is so good. MTI’s designs complete Mustang,” says Colby.
Gordon and Lili Colby purchased MTI Adventurewear in 2011. | Photo: Courtesy Mustang Survival
The first conversation took place at the beginning of June, and by July 31, the company was sold.
“Buying MTI in 2011 was one of my most joyful moments as a business person. Seeing it transition in Mustang Survival is another high for me,” says Colby.
What MTI Dealers and Customers Need To Know
The industry heard about the merger via press release in early August. Since then, Mustang Survival has worked with MTI’s customers and suppliers to develop a smooth transition.
“What I’m doing right now is helping transition 800 MTI dealers to work with Mustang,” says Colby, who will stay on with Mustang in a business development role. “One of the extraordinary things that blew me away is all the MTI dealers are now set up with Mustang. They said, if you’re okay with MTI, then you’re okay with us. They took away the red tape and rolled out the red carpet.”
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“The big shift for dealers is they’re no longer buying from MTI, they’re now buying from Mustang,” confirms Horoshok. “If you were a dealer, we’ve welcomed you into the Mustang family, no paperwork. It’s been very seamless. We’ve accepted all of MTI’s dealers and all will have access to the Mustang Survival brand. It also opened Mustang up to an entirely new segment almost overnight.”
Mustang Survival will handle all customer service from now on, but otherwise, there’s no change in the customer experience, says Horoshok. “You’ll be able to get MTI in your favorite shop, and the MTI site will live on for now.”
According to Colby, most people don’t know what the M in MTI stands for. “When you open up the jacket, it says Marine Technologies International inside. The M in MTI now stands for Mustang. And Mustang is going to take MTI to its next chapter,” she says.
This article originally appeared in Canoeroots Spring 2016 issue.
This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak Spring 2016 issue.
