Where did your TB bag go lately

[FrozenJ]

I took my SE in a dry bag to try out my folding kayak this weekend. Note: I did not take any photos of the SE while I was on the water for fear of a mishap!

Looks like a nice outing. Love your kayak. We have an inflatable one.

[NWhikergal]

@NWhikergal, what is a folding kayak? I do not think I had seen one. Of course, I can google, but first-hand info is reliable. How much does it weigh and how small does it fold for transport. I drive a mini cooper, no overhead racks. At my height, I need a ladder to wash the top of my car.

@Walker, while there may be more than one manufacturer, I purchased an Oru brand folding kayak (made in CA!) when it was on sale at REI recently. It is made of polypropylene and it folds origami style into a large suitcase type form and has a shoulder strap so that you can easily carry it for a short distance if needed. Even though it is a 12 foot kayak, it only weighs 26 lbs, and when folded it measures 32" by 13" by 28". Since I don't have the space to store a full sized kayak, and I would have difficulty lifting a 50 pound regular kayak onto the roof of my car, this was a great alternative since it easily fits into the back seat of my car. I am guessing that if you put your rear seats down it could fit in the boot/back seat area of your Mini, but you would want to measure to be sure.

This past weekend was my first venture out with it, and I was amazed with how maneuverable and agile it seemed, though I will admit that I am just a recreational kayaker. While the website states that you can put it together in 5 minutes, my first time took quite a bit longer than that, as the creases were a bit stiff. Now that I have put it together several times, I can do it in about 15 minutes, though I imagine I will get faster with practice.

I definitely recommend that you watch one of the Youtube videos for assembling an Oru kayak or go to their website, as it is pretty neat to see. Ok, here is a video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvUcrNP4BTI
The funny part is that I had several people stop to watch me and ask questions each time that I assembled or disassembled it this weekend, so expect that people will be interested.

@Ilkyway, yes that it my SE next to the folded up kayak.

@ncb4, I just had my iPhone with me in a waterproof Lifeproof case tucked into a pocket in my life jacket. I do also have a waterproof Pentax camera with a carabiner strap that I might take and clip to my jacket if I were to go out again, just for ease of use.

@FrozenJ, I thought really hard about an inflatable kayak as well, but when the Oru went on sale, I decided to go for it, since I have been looking at them for the last couple of years, but I couldn't justify paying full price.

ETA some photos. Please excuse the super messy photo of my practice kayak set-up indoors. The other photo is of the kayak in the back seat of the car, though I could have pushed the kayak further towards the other side of car as there was plenty of room.

[Walker]

@NWhikergal, thanks for taking the time. I must look into this. I have not kayaked - it is on my bucket list.

[Walker]

@ncb4, I bought this olympus tough tg3 and the case next to it several months ago. I take it with me on the dragon boat. My other camera will not survive a spray of salt water. I have not dropped the Olympus tg3 in water yet (cross fingers), but it has been splashed and sat in an inch or so of salt water on the floor of the dragon boat. So far, good.

However, the photos I take with it are somewhat soft. I should take it out with me on non-dragon boat activity to play with its settings.

[bb93fo57]

Welcome to Cincy!


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Thanks, Gumby!

Had a great time in OTR (and ate too much Graeter's ice cream, of course).

[Gumby]

@NWhikergal, thanks for taking the time. I must look into this. I have not kayaked - it is on my bucket list.

Ditto what Walker said. Many thanks for this. I've been looking for a kayak that I can easily carry and haul. This looks perfect!


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[Gumby]

Thanks, Gumby!

Had a great time in OTR (and ate too much Graeter's ice cream, of course).

Glad to hear you had a good time. And there's no such thing as too much Graeter's. Trust me on this! :-)

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[binje]

Definitely, no such thing as too much Graeter's.

Our pair of A45s just handily weathered the German train drivers strike (standing room only from Freiburg to München but at least the bags were easy to manage), a flight delay that had us racing through US customs and the Atlanta airport and making it to our connecting flight with 10 minutes to spare (yay, no checked bags) and a whole host of less stressful travel experiences. No bag pictures, but here's a view of the Heilig Geist Spital (Holy Ghost Hospital) in Nürnberg by way of apology.

[Perseffect]

Just been glamping in sunny Swanage (The Jurassic Coast, on the South Coast of the UK) with a few bits and pieces, Aeronaut, PCSB, PCBP, Synpase 19, shop bags etc. Amazingly sunny for May in the UK.

I've posted a mini review here:

http://forums.tombihn.com/photos-videos-and-reviews/9740-glamping-tom-bihn.html

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[Walker]

@binje, in another life long time ago, I spent 1 full day exploring Freiburg. Your post dredged up good memories. Thanks!

[bchaplin]

Enjoying Brazil a lot. For those following the saga, all my suitcases made it, with their contents.

My primary bags for carryon were the A30 and the Pilot. The ones I find myself using most often while I'm here are the UV travel tray (for my knitting), the packing cube shoulder bag (not pictured, for hikes), and my little Dakine bag as a day-to-day purse for essentials. I also took a Daylight backpack, but so far have preferred shoulder bags. I might press it into service for a hike, or for the flight home, but either way it packs well and doesn't take up much space.




Here is a little monkey we saw on our hikes up to the Christ statue, around Corcovado. Here they call it "Macaco prego". There was a troupe of them, very agile and swinging on vines around the trees.



And some freshly squeezed cashew juice. Mmmmm. Snack bars here are at an entirely different level of quality than the ones in the U.S.



Finally, at the top of the mountain:

[Pokilani]

Darn, I can't see the monkeys. Or the snack. But, nice views on the mountain! And glad your bag made it safely. Hope your family is making good use of that aluminum foil.

[Ilkyway]

bchaplin these ore wonderful pictures! And your Dakine PLO fits perfect into your personal Tom Bihn lineup! What a gouges display! Have lots of nice impressions and experiences and if even possible feed us some more pictures ;-)

Ilkyway

ETA: like Pokilani I am missing two pictures here. EETTAA now they are there... misterios...

[bchaplin]

Sorry the monkey pic got lost! I will add it in a new post later.

[binje]

@binje, in another life long time ago, I spent 1 full day exploring Freiburg. Your post dredged up good memories. Thanks!

Other than the time we spent with my husband's aunt, Freiburg was my favorite part of the trip (I was possibly influenced by a bread vendor who had the most wonderful seed-studded croissanty things). I'd like to go back for more time - maybe a language course? Then I could possibly communicate with my husband's delightful aunt (who got us hooked on Nespresso, darn her).