How to get Kevin to stop smiling

I would stop smiling as well...

dr bob

I couldn't agree more with the article. Its why I consistently trip with the same person. HappyCamper puts a lot of great videos on YouTube as well, I highly recommend checking them out if you have time.

Pretty good list!

A solid list! Particularly the complaining 'bout the weather...

Wanting to finish early? That's just plain wrong. I would only consider it if weather was going to become a safety factor.

I had the yelling Moose camper guy except it was a wolf. That rates higher

He has such a singular wit that always makes me chuckle.

Thanks for the chuckle. And I concur that laggards, party animals, and complainers are unwelcome.

We must have similar qualities. Hence, I choose my tripping partners VERY carefully. In fact, I tend to trip with the same folks for decades. No surprises.

I have to agree about tripping with the same bunch over decades. We have a great bunch and have camped and canoed all over the place thru the years. We may not always be able to get everyone together at the same time but having that group together is huge plus as we're all getting older.

If only he would have included in his list people fishing for extended periods right in front of his campsite, or "saving" a site by dropping packs on it and heading elsewhere to continue scouting, then we could really have an interesting conversation. :)

bhouse46: "Thanks for the chuckle. And I concur that laggards, party animals, and complainers are unwelcome. "

I get a very uncertain feeling when going with newbies. You just never know how they will respond. I've been lucky so far but still don't have established tripping partners.

I think for people like me its best to partner up or do partial trips with people from these canoe boards. I don't think there's many complainers here.

Is comparing gear really an issue? I do a lot of research into getting my gear and am quite proud of it, even if it is nothing special. Is comparing gear and talking about why I chose mine a bad thing? I hate it when I inadvertently bother my tripping partner, so I would be embarrassed if this was something I was really guilty of.

The only other thing I might add to the list is getting down or jealous of someone's fish. I don't want to worry about someone being moody because they didn't catch any. Kids do get more leeway here though.

A1t2o: "Is comparing gear really an issue? I do a lot of research into getting my gear and am quite proud of it, even if it is nothing special. Is comparing gear and talking about why I chose mine a bad thing? I hate it when I inadvertently bother my tripping partner, so I would be embarrassed if this was something I was really guilty of.


The only other thing I might add to the list is getting down or jealous of someone's fish. I don't want to worry about someone being moody because they didn't catch any. Kids do get more leeway here though."

To talk about gear is fine. When the talk of gear becomes obsessive and overpowers talk of where we are, what we are up to, life, the universe, and the stars...that's when I take issue with it.

Got a new piece of gear and want to talk about it for 5 minutes? Cool! Bore me with talk of thread counts, stitches per inch, benefits of x-brand seam sealer over y-brand...now I'm annoyed!

bposteve: "

A1t2o: "Is comparing gear really an issue? I do a lot of research into getting my gear and am quite proud of it, even if it is nothing special. Is comparing gear and talking about why I chose mine a bad thing? I hate it when I inadvertently bother my tripping partner, so I would be embarrassed if this was something I was really guilty of.



The only other thing I might add to the list is getting down or jealous of someone's fish. I don't want to worry about someone being moody because they didn't catch any. Kids do get more leeway here though."

To talk about gear is fine. When the talk of gear becomes obsessive and overpowers talk of where we are, what we are up to, life, the universe, and the stars...that's when I take issue with it.


Got a new piece of gear and want to talk about it for 5 minutes? Cool! Bore me with talk of thread counts, stitches per inch, benefits of x-brand seam sealer over y-brand...now I'm annoyed!"

Last year three of use took a 8 day fishing camping trip on a river in Va. As the weekend lot close the number of campsites started to fill up. As the sun was setting friday night a group of three came by are large site and asked if we minded sharing and if they could set up on the other side. As it was late we agreed to share.
They were great campers other then deciding they had to school "the old guys" on the newer "better camping gear" instead of the "old out dated stuff we were using". After about a hour of this when one of them started teling my friend that he needed to upgrade his 12ft Grumman Sportsman canoe to "anything else" he had enough and told them to " sit down, shut up or haul ass"

Yeah, there's a difference between truly comparing gear performance and value - something I always enjoy, and making someone feel bad for the gear they choose or have to use OR not being able to see the true performance of your shiny new stuff because it cost so much it MUST be better!