Hey John Monfoe,
I'm finally back on the board. Good to see everyone. Long busy sugaring season/spring. Thanks for passing on my howdy in my absense/ months in the woods. Time to hang up the snow shoes and pick up the jack planes. Well,we just splashed 2 boats this weekend. Pictures are in for developing. Everything seems water tight

Hey just a thought about packs and sacks. As I remember it, your boat was built with a destination in mind. The BWCA. Where your headed in the BWCA comes with some real decent portages. One of them is over a pretty good sized and steep hill. Its been a while since I did that portage, but.... I still remember it. Both weight and space are going to be factors. That is magnified by your going solo. BRAVO!!!!

One of the tricks to the BWCA is packing for the portage, and one of the tricks to portage packing is cut the weight down to the bone. One of the big places you can cut weight is packaging, and its even larger impact is on space. John I love pelican boxes. I use them in sea kayaking trips, and on ambulances. As a packer, I also tend to be a splitter not a lumper. SO I never met a carton , contianer or stuff bag I didn't like. I like all kinds of seperate bags, zippers and pockets and cubbies. However, in the BWCA I resist my own splitter temptations for another stuff bag / box carton etc, because collectivly they add to the weight of my packs and require more space.

In the BWCA, the big thing is getting across portages in one pass if you can or if not as few as possible. I find, especially when I solo, the additional packaging takes up space and weight that gets me doing more then one trip. For that reason, in the BWCA particularly on solo trips I drop back to just ziplock bags.

Its a harder call for easily broken electronic gear. GPS camera's, cell phones etc. Ussually I just use 2 z-bags and if its a crushable I'll wrap a rag or a sock or something else I am likely to use around it. Its all a matter of trade offs.

It may sound silly but I don't take a GPS into the BWCA. The landmarks are good and the maps are fantastic. I find I don't need the pinpoint accuracy I need on an open water crossing, SAR activity backpacking etc. Its a nice to have, but for me its about weight. If I do get lost in mid-summer there are lots of other folks around who could spin me back to true if I needed it. I've never had that happen, but I've been on the other end of it a few times. I think a GPS is a matter of comfort in the BWCA. ITs a nice too, but ya have to trade its value for weight and space.

If I were to recommend carrying one piece of electronic gear. I'd say take the cell phone on your solo. If ya get into a trouble help is a the top of a hill and jsut a send button away.

Hope the ideas help you consider your tradeoffs. I've got to get back to swatting black flies.

!RUSS