Month: February 2006

A visitor to touringkayaks.com asked whether the Q700 kayak would be a suitable fit for him, given the fact that he has a bad knee. I hedged in my response, asking for more information. In general, though, paddling can be a great activity for those whose knees may limit their ability to participate in sports such as hiking, bicycling, running, etc:

“Once you are seated in the boat with your knees under the deck, it is not necessary to use your knees a great deal. But that also depends on the type of paddling you are doing and the conditions you paddle in. Edging a kayak and rolling both involve using the knees. Paddling in rough conditions is also likely to demand use of the knees to help stabilize the boat. On the other hand, paddling in flatwater places little demand on the knees.

My overall answer is that I think kayaking can be an excellent activity for those with knee problems. I have worked with handicapped paddlers including amputees and have seen them do very well paddling conventional kayaks without any modifications.

A recent discussion on paddling.net has more views on this subject: http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?

One of my resolutions for 2006 it to post here more regularly. I thought I’d start out by posting some links to sites with kayaking desktop wallpaper, but was surprised when my Google search didn’t turn up much to my liking. (Please send links if you know of any. Two links that did turn up: Kayaking desktop wallpaper at Paddling.net and
Kayaking screensavers at Outdoorplay.com

Click to open a 1034 x 768 copy of the image. Then you can right click on the image and either “copy” and “paste” into your own files, or select “set as wallpaper.”

I’ve been reading and thinking about bears (Timothy Treadwell, Among Grizzlies and the film, Grizzly Man). The prospect of travelling and camping in bear country should definitely give one pause. Many point out that guns and bear spray often give false security. An article at Backpackinglight mentions that for some bears, at least, spray can be highly effective in warding them off. The article also mentions concerns that bear problems will only get worse: “California wilderness parks make for good case studies of controversial bear management practices. The storage of food in so-called bear-proof containers (while the hiker is encouraged to sit back 50 yards or more and be patient) trains bears to be persistent and further habituated to the odors of human food.”