If you could reach into the future and snatch some of their imagined technology, what would you fetch to make your wilderness canoeing better? I'll start:

A ten-pound canoe that collapses and fits into a backpack.

A BugBeGone 3000, which shoos all flying insects and ticks within a 50-yard radius.

The Fillet-O-Matic packable fish processor. From the stringer to the pan in seconds!

the one-pound atomic food processer thar uses ambient light for energy and turns pine needles and ash into whatever food you might desire. A smaller version fixes cocktails and cold beer, or cold milk if you prefer.

Love the question, MM. Mind if I take a slightly different approach? I would say something even more attention-consuming than radio, TV, internet, smartphones...etc. That way more people would use them from home while I'm in the BWCA with more solitude. :)

I'm curious about future photography technology as I enjoy the post-trip memories and sharing with family who couldn't go with me or reaching out to my children who are starting to leave home. I imagine someday I'll hope my great-grandkids will want to share their experiences with me when I'm no longer able to go. That would be nice, I think, unless the technology is so addicting they never get out into the wilderness.

"I'm curious about future photography technology as I enjoy the post-trip memories and sharing with family who couldn't go with me or reaching out to my children who are starting to leave home. I imagine someday I'll hope my great-grandkids will want to share their experiences with me when I'm no longer able to go. That would be nice...."

Heck, yeah.

"I would say something even more attention-consuming than radio, TV, internet, smartphones...etc. That way more people would use them from home while I'm in the BWCA with more solitude. :)"

Clever! And sneaky.

the food was all pills.. think how light your pack would be!

Tents, sleeping pads and sleeping bags that are self-folding and put themselves into their stuff sacks.

How about a force field that protects you from rain, snow, ultraviolet light, as well as bugs!! Hooba - Dooba!!

A fusion powered device similar to an iPad with a Google Earth function that could show in real time:
All campsites in area and whether they are occupied or not.
The location and description of all large mammals and fish and their movements.

Round the clock health monitoring.
For wilderness areas where mechanical devices are allowed a robot similar to The Jetson’s Rosey to cook and filter water.

A Teleporter that could remove you and all your gear to a place of your choice to experience the unknown and old time adventurer.

A collapsing, lightweight mini-range with both burners and an oven. Pizza and cookies in the deep woods!

Automatic root remover and tent pad leveler. Pocket "Butthead" tarp setter upper. Seriously, have you seen pictures of his tarp set ups !? They are perfect! I'm beginning to think may not be human.

A clip-on anti-gravity gizmo that attaches to my gear. We could all single portage.

Contrarian that I am, I just want the technology to push a button and go back to a trip of simple times with few others around, almost unlimited energy, Marlboro reds around the fire, brandy in a wine skin, a beautiful paddling partner instead of the hairy old guys who will still travel with me now, and the welcome mysteries of a seemingly endless life of rivers and lakes ahead. No complaints about the life that was and is, but, if we're fantasizing ....

KawnipiKid: "Contrarian that I am, I just want the technology to push a button and go back to a trip of simple times with few others around, almost unlimited energy, Marlboro reds around the fire, brandy in a wine skin, a beautiful paddling partner instead of the hairy old guys who will still travel with me now, and the welcome mysteries of a seemingly endless life of rivers and lakes ahead. No complaints about the life that was and is, but, if we're fantasizing ...."

^Love this.^

Pocket sized, self inflating, leveling and hovering bed. So you can sleep even better than at home.

I would take the Jetson's maid, Rosie. She could collect, saw, and chop firewood for me. I could use her in the bow on windy days, too. Nothing romantic, however.

Dave

RetiredDave: "I would take the Jetson's maid, Rosie. She could collect, saw, and chop firewood for me. I could use her in the bow on windy days, too. Nothing romantic, however.


Dave"

She was a gem. Great sarcastic sense of humor as well.

Great thread, missmolly. There’s a million different paths that could be explored with this question. Plenty of great responses so far. I apologize if this idea has been mentioned and I missed it… For me, I struggle greatly with clothes - both in daily life and in canoe country. So I’d love to have an all-in-one outfit that a) adapts to my body temperature needs and b) somehow never needs to be washed (so that I only need this one outfit for the duration of any and all camping trips). This outfit would cover me head-to-toes.

MidwestMan: "Great thread, missmolly. There’s a million different paths that could be explored with this question. Plenty of great responses so far. I apologize if this idea has been mentioned and I missed it… For me, I struggle greatly with clothes - both in daily life and in canoe country. So I’d love to have an all-in-one outfit that a) adapts to my body temperature needs and b) somehow never needs to be washed (so that I only need this one outfit for the duration of any and all camping trips). This outfit would cover me head-to-toes."

Ooh, that's a good one, Mr. Man (May I call you "Midwest"?)! I want the All-Weather Onesie 3000 too!

The stretchy wicking fabrics with odor reducing tech do a pretty good job. They keep me warm enough on 38 degree mornings and aren't too warm when the Sun raises the temp into the 60s. Style-wise, they are utterly not me, for they're shiny and I'm not, but I'll gladly shine to be warm when it's cool and comfy when it's warm.

I posed the same question at a fishing website. The guys over there liked it too and their wish lists were quite different than the ones here. I was expecting more overlap, but am glad that that didn't happen.

Lol, yes to either Mr. Man or Midwest. Although, I think I’m a little bit Southwest and West, too. Maybe even Northeast and East, just haven’t spent too much time over that way, yet. The only flaw with the All-Weather Onesie is its aesthetics. It doesn’t look good in my imagination. But its benefits outweigh the horrendous style statement.

A bear resistant 60L barrel which fits into a CCS quad pack exactly like a 60L harmony blue barrel.

A tablet that would show an aerial view of all fish in the lake and designate the species using color coding..... yes of course some may say that would "take the fun out of it" but I'd argue it simply takes (some of) the skill out of it, catching tons of fish is pretty fun!

I don't know about the Jetson's but if I could get ahold of Peabody and Shermin's Wayback machine every time I come across a trashed campsite I could go back in time to when they were just unloading their canoe at the EP and chop the crap out of it with my axe....

I want a Groundhog Day like scenario, where time starts over just before I book a permit on the way traveling to the BW and I get to do a whole new trip again just after the last one ends.
Fashion conscious, I wear my most beat up duds in the bush, who the heck cares about that…

"...Peabody and Shermin's Wayback...."

15 extra credit points for anyone who mentions Mr. Peabody and Sherman!

scat: "I want a Groundhog Day like scenario, where time starts over just before I book a permit on the way traveling to the BW and I get to do a whole new trip again just after the last one ends.
Fashion conscious, I wear my most beat up duds in the bush, who the heck cares about that…"

I think anyone who spends any significant amount of time in the woods isn’t too fashion-conscious. They may joke about it… I don’t know, maybe I’m mistaken and some folks do take fashion into consideration…

missmolly: ""...Peabody and Shermin's Wayback...."


15 extra credit points for anyone who mentions Mr. Peabody and Sherman!"

Underdog was my favorite cartoon as a kid. Ill take his x-ray vision to help see fish! Beats brining electronics.

I was going to call my boy Sherman Mr. Peabody... but I thought if I ever asked him " do you wanna go for a pee buddy?" he'd get confused, so I called him Sherman.

How about a device that blocks all electronics over a large area? To keep the wild, wild. We've had bush planes for a long time now without any major advancement, something like teleportation would undoubtedly ruin the best, hardest-to-get-to places in this world. The imposing threat of cell towers around the BWCA is already close to ruining family vacations with teenagers. So my vote would be for something like that, kind of an anti-technology. 'Designated wilderness areas' should stay just the way they were, regardless of technological advancement.

yeah yeah make sure it doesn't block 911 calls...

I would want and animal translator device. what are the mosquitoes saying, or the crazy loons yelling at their mate, how about the wolves howling. It would be interesting to understand their calls.

And it does vegetation as well.

Bo: "I would want and animal translator device. what are the mosquitoes saying, or the crazy loons yelling at their mate, how about the wolves howling. It would be interesting to understand their calls."

^Love this.^