Overalls

screenshot_046I have a friend named Jay who, up until about a year ago when he moved out West, was on 99% of the camping trips I went on for the past four years. I don't see Jay much anymore, but I did manage to meet up with him this last Christmas when we drove down to Joshua Tree from his new home in San Francisco. Point of the story is this - whenever Jay gets to a campsite, no matter how hot or cold it is outside, he has a ritual that he may or may not be aware of. Dude takes off whatever he's wearing, puts on a pair of beaten khaki Carhartt overalls and proceeds to comment on how comfortable they are and how much he loves them. It's wonderful and I've yet to see him not do this, so I hope he doesn't read this and get self-conscious of it.After the first year of seeing "The Jay" performed so many times, I decided that I too would have to get a pair of overalls to put on while lounging around the campsite. The last thing I wanted to be was a poseur, so I found a pair of conductor overalls from Round House, who have been making their clothes in the United States since for over 100 years. Suppose that's a bonus. (Unfortunately, still a poseur.) I'll tell you what, those things are the most comfortable pair of anything I think I ever owned, so comfortable that I bought another friend a pair to put on with me whenever we went looking for a place to sleep outside. And with "workwear" becoming such a big part of the big-city fashion lexicon, it'd probably be a safe bet to wear them whenever you damn please. Go buy a pair.Round House

We'll Live To Piss On Their Graves

screenshot_045We know we spend too much time here talking about Edward Abbey, but with news about The Monkey Wrench Gang movie, it seems like a good idea to take a look at a video from 1981 of Abbey speaking at the Glen Canyon Dam protest where he and other protesters infamously displayed the "crack" banner. One of the most memorable scenes in The Monkey Wrench Gang involves Seldon Seen Smith on his knees at the dam praying for an earthquake to ruin it."Surely no man made structure in modern American history has been hated so much by so many for so long with such good reason as Glen Canyon Dam." - Ed AbbeyThe video is after the jump...

Mammut Smart

mammutReview by Brendan Oates"I reckon this thing be weird looking." When I first locked in my rope and carabiner with the Mammut Smart, I was slightly baffled by the design.  My climbing partner and I stared at the thing for a moment figuring out the best way to function the lightweight device.  After questioning our cognitive ability, the Smart decided to cooperate with us. The mechanics of the device are similar to the Grigri and Cinch devices, but with those you can choose your belay grip. I belay the traditional, underhand style and the Smart is designed for reverse grip belaying. No questions asked.Keep reading for the rest of the review....Grigri and Cinch belay devices are definitely a nice option when holding your partner's weight while they're resting during a lead climb, but the Mammut Smart cuts cost (it's $29.95) and weight considerably, and though it's not auto locking, it provides an assisted-catch for dealing with hard falls.  Top rope belaying is actually quite comfortable and smooth once you get the hang of the Smart.  Feeding slack while lead belaying is fast and clean. It's suitable for all ropes between 8.5 and 10.5mm.Down sides: not for use on multi pitch climbs; rappelling can only be done with a single line.Mammut HomepageBuy: Mammut Smart on Backcountry.com

The Monkey Wrench Gang: The Movie

Edward Abbey's eco-sabotage classic, The Monkey Wrench Gang, is coming to the silver screen. While the idea of an Abbey book becoming a movie is wonderful, I'm not so into the cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jack Nicholson, Richard Dreyfuss, John Goodman, and Elizabeth Shue.I assume that Goodman will play George Hayduke, a pissed off bearded ex-green beret who measures distances between two places by how many six packs he can drink while driving. Hayduke is out for the blood of those destroying his beloved desert and will for sure be the main character.My other guesses are Dreyfuss as Doc Sarvis (not horrible), Shue as Bonnie Abzug (Abzug is just 28 years old and her age plays an important role in her relationship with Abzug. Shue is 46) and McConaughey as Seldon Seen Smith. Whoever Jack Nicholson is, he'll fuck it up, guarantee it.The director? Catherine Hardwicke, of Twilight fame. Weiiiiiiiiird.Anyone know more than me?Look: The Monkey Wrench gang on Hollywood.com

Joe Seliga

file1816seliga-in-shopIn 1934, when Joe Seliga was 23 years old, his 18 foot Morris Canoe was badly damaged on an early spring fishing trip in the Quetico Superior Wilderness near his home in the then roadless, Ely, MN. Joe repaired the canoe's 21 broken ribs and when word spread about his success, he started a part-time business repairing wood and canvas canoes. In 1938, Joe designed his own form and sold the first canoe he ever built the same day he finished building it. Up until his death in December of 2005, Seliga built 621 canoes (237 of which were sold to the YMCA and church camps which used the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Quetico Provincial Park) and is regarded as one of the best canoe makers to ever live.In Jerry Stelmok's book, The Art of the Canoe with Joe Seliga, Sam Cook's foreword reads in part:

They are tucked away all over the north country. Hung care fully in garages. Resting on beams in boathouses. Stowed away in sheds. Seliga canoes. Elegant, practical canoes crafted by the hands of Joe and Nora Seliga. Seligas, with their gleaming ribs the color of honey. Seligas, with their perfectly upswept bows. Seligas, built for the rigors of travel in the Minnesota-Ontario border country.I do not know how many canoes Joe Seliga has built. That doesn't matter. It was never a numbers thing with Joe. It was a matter of getting the right materials and taking the time to build a boat he was satisfied to put his nameplate on.

Read: Joe Seliga on Canoeing.comTons more great photos: Seliga Enthusiasts Look: Bell Canoes' Seliga TripperMP3: Clip From Solitudes Volume 6 - Night On A Wilderness Lake (Full Album)(thx Bryce)

Family Camping Through 48 States

I just ran across this video on Archive.org:

During five summers from 1957 to 1961, the five-member Barstow family of Wethersfield, Connecticut, set out to visit all 48 of the then United States of America on a series of month-long camping trips.

In 2000, Father Barstow added narration to the footage and put it all on VHS for our viewing bliss. Good lord, what a video and what a family. I haven't finished the whole thing (it's long) but the intro alone is worth your time.Watch the video after the jump...

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

2944963843_be96fc445c_b"Keep this great wonder of nature as it now is. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve it." - Teddy Roosevelt to the people of Arizona after seeing the Grand Canyon for the first timeKen Burns' documentary, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, will not air until late September, but most PBS stations will be airing a 30 minute preview on May 24th. In the meantime, the website for the six episode documentary is up and running. Lots of great video, images, interviews, and all that jazz. We're real real excited for this one.

Steep and Cheap

Y'all, I'm sure you don't need a reminder, but just in case you've been busy, don't forget about Steep and Cheap. It could be one of the best websites around. They have HIGHLY discounted camping and outdoor gear, one item at a time. You can even download an application that sits in the bottom right hand corner of Firefox and tells you what's on sale, how discounted it is, and how much it'll cost you. Ain't nothing wrong with that.(EMS has a 20% off sale that ends tonight too)MP3: Suckers - It Gets Your Body Movin' (Alternate Version) (thx WTD)

Edible Plants - Prospect Park, NY

Cold Splinters went on a tour of Prospect Park this weekend with Wildman Steve Brill, the undisputed king of walking through Central and Prospect Parks while making painfully bad jokes and fake trumpet sounds. Brill also shows you which plants are edible and how to prepare them, knowledge that we regretfully know little about. Despite the nausea that the wild mushroom (Dryad's Saddle) brought on at the end of our three and a half hour adventure, the walk was full of useful information and we came home with bags full of edible plants and a faint idea of how to prepare them. The highlight was the sassafras root, which you can use to make some great root beer flavored tea. Above is a picture of Wildman being interviewed by the Travel Network reporter that was along for the ride.More edible plants after the jump...Field OnionGarlic MustardPokeweedChickweed