By Jim Baird

Before we left the tree line, Ted and I experienced very deep-powder snow in the bush around Great Bear Lake. We were not used to riding snowmobiles in that type of powder and got stuck badly a few times—luckily we knew how to get ourselves free.

How It’s Done: Getting stuck in deep snow happens when you cannot keep the machine level while moving. It’s very important to center your weight and turn by shifting your weight from side to side. You also get stuck when you don’t go fast enough through the powder, which causes your skis to sink in deep and the front of the machine to bottom out. After that happens the snow doesn’t provide enough grip for your track to push your front end through the jam. Your track will just kick all the powder out from underneath it, and your machine just sinks deeper. Reversing is futile at this point as well.
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By Jim Baird

With the trip winding down, Ted and I knew we’d have to make a long push through the night to reach Ulukhaktok in time to spend a few hours with our friend Pat and, more importantly, catch our flight home. Fortunately, the weather was good enough for such an aggressive travel plan, and Ted and I left Rymer Point and headed straight overland, northward for Prince Albert Sound.

We passed many herds of musk oxen, including one that was 17 strong. In the late evening, Ted and I stopped to do some fishing in a spot where we were told the ice was thin and the fishing was good. But the ice was not as thin as we’d hoped, and we drilled through 6 1/2 feet straight into rock and damaged our auger blade. The dull blade made second hole we drilled was quite difficult and required every bit of strength Ted and I had to get through the ice. We fished for a while, but got skunked. Overall, the fishing on the trip wasn’t nearly as good as we’d hoped.

By the time we got back on our snow machines, it was pitch black and the terrain got rougher.... [ Read Full Post ]

by Jay Cassell

     Best known for the classic green vacuum bottles that our fathers and grandfathers used to take on hunting and fishing trips (many still do!) Stanley recently introduced a new Adventure series of bottles, cups, food storage and cooking containers, and coffee mugs.

     Reasonably priced between $10 and $25, the containers retain the venerable green color, yet feature modern improvements.

     One unit that I found particularly useful is the carbonated 32-ounce drink bottle, with a dome construction that the company claims will keep beverages carbonated for up to 8 hours. I tested it by pouring a beer into the bottle; 8 hours later, at the end of the day, I opened it up, heard a gratifying fizz, and happily had a sip of cold beer.

     The insulated outer wrap keeps beverages cold for a little more than three hours, plus it’s dishwater safe. This unit is $20 and will be available in late June.

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By David E. Petzal

by David E. Petzal

One of the areas in which I resisted change the longest was snowshoes. I had a pair of Vermont Tubbs traditional webs made out of ash and varnished rawhide in the “Michigan” pattern, and swore I would never get the new style Tubbs, which are made in China out of aluminum and neoprene. For years we got no snow, so I gave the old webs away, but this winter we got so much snow that I needed snowshoes just to pick up the branches on my lawn, and since I couldn’t find the old style anywhere, I got the new ones (the Venture model). I’m saddened to say the aluminum and neoprene monstrosities work much, much better than the old type. It isn’t even close. Next thing you know I’ll be replacing all my wood-stocked guns with plastic. 
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By Chad Love

I've previously mentioned my eldest son's interest in television survival personalities so when Gerber announced the introduction of its Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife (David Maccar's excellent review is here) I figured it would be a slam-dunk of a birthday present.

It was. My son has been gleefully chopping, cutting, batoning, beating, slicing, hammering, spearing, whittling and carving with the thing for the past two months. And while I prefer a more traditional bushcraft blade, he loves it. When he goes outside it's almost always on his belt or in his pack. And yes, I let my 10-year-old son son run around the woods with a sheath knife.

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By David Maccar

by David Maccar

You may remember a couple months ago we reviewed two items from a new line of survival knives designed by TV host and survivalist Bear Grylls and Gerber Legendary Blades. Now, another of TV’s famous survivalists will release a blade bearing his own signature touches.

Les Stroud, of “Survivorman” fame, has joined forces with the Norwegian knife company, Helle, to create “The Temagami – A knife you can actually use in the wilderness.”

According to a press release from the company, Stroud once found a Helle knife on the forest floor while trekking the Temagami Canadian wilderness. Getting a hint as to where the name came from?

Apparently it was “the best knife Stroud would ever use,” and he did so for several years until the wilderness reclaimed it.

From the release:
Years later, Helle became interested in Stroud as Survivorman, attracted to his philosophies, his values, and way of thinking. Helle approached Stroud to design a new knife – a knife that could be used by true outdoor enthusiasts seeking the real thing: a natural way of life. When Stroud told the story from Temagami and realized the knife he found in the forest was actually a Helle knife, a rare opportunity for partnership was forged.
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