Topics

1

Classifieds / Snowshoes For Sale

« on: January 13, 2013, 11:54:53 am »

Well it's time to clear out some snowshoes so I have the following for sale.  All snowshoes are brand new with tags on them and feature full grain rawhide...top of the line!

Shipping to Canada or U.S.A. only. I ship Canada Post Expedited with tracking number and fully insured.  I will flat rate shipping costs at $20.

Faber Bearpaw 16 x 30 - $150

Faber Sport - tight lacing (teardrop) - 16 x 48 - $150

Faber Ojibwa 12 x 60 - $160

Faber Alaskan 12 x 60 - $ 160

Faber A3 Work Harness - full grain leather - $ 50 each

I can accept Visa, MasterCard, Paypal.  Please drop me a PM or send me an email at solotrip@gmail.com or call 807-728-0803

Thanks,

Harlan

2

General Winter Camping Discussion / testing

« on: June 18, 2012, 07:40:55 pm »

testing 123

3

Classifieds / For Sale - 2 Pairs of Faber 16x30 Bearpaw - Brand New!

« on: March 18, 2012, 11:24:28 am »

Spring is here so these have to go.  I have 2 pairs of Faber Bearpaws , 16x30, brand new with tags on them. These were manufactured in january of this year.

Clearance price - $120.00 + shipping.

Please send me an email or PM if interested.

Harlan

4

Classifieds / Traditional Snowshoes For Sale

« on: January 18, 2012, 08:04:05 am »

Mid season sale on traditional snowshoes.  I have 8 pairs for sale in all.  All are brand new with labels still on and fresh from the Faber factory.  Shipping within Canada is $25.00 via expresspost and includes tracking.  PM me, email me or call 807-727-1969 and ask for Harlan

Faber Bearpaw - 16 x 30 - $ 142.00

Faber Sport - 16 x 48, tight lacing - $ 147.00

Faber Ojibwa - 12 x 60 - $ 148.00

A3 Work Binding - $ 44.00

5

Other Homemade Gear / Home Tanning a Beaver Pelt - Part 2

« on: January 08, 2012, 11:15:26 pm »

Part 2 of my home tanning project....

Tanning A Beaver Pelt - Part 2

6

Other Homemade Gear / Home Tanning a Beaver Pelt - Part 1

« on: January 01, 2012, 03:37:55 pm »

I had posted a few weeks ago that I secured some fresh Beaver pelts from a local trapper in town and was looking to try my hand at tanning them at home.  Some here had asked that I document the process....today I began my project!

To begin, I purchased a commercially available home tanning product from Trans Canada Trapline Inc, also known as Fur Harvesters Auction out of North Bay, Ontario.

Very impressed with their quick delivery and price on the product.  I paid $13 / bottle and purchased 2.  They arrived within 5 days!

Here is what the product looks like.



It comes with specific direction on doing this at home, so I simply gathered the needed supplies and went right to it.



Step 1:

My Beaver had been on the drying hoop for a few weeks so it was fairly brittle.  I needed to soften up the pelt before beginning so I filled a large Rubbermaid tub with water and placed me Beaver inside.



Using a stick, I worked the water through until it was fairly supple, but didn't leave it too long as per the directions.  Total time, 20 minutes.

Step 2:

Then, I readied a box of table salt and some cord. 



Step 3:

I removed my pelt from the water and wrang it out by folding it onto itself skin to skin.....  This took a bit of time as I wanted to get as much water out as possible.  Total time, 10 minutes



Step 4:

Laid the pelt skin down and began sprinkling with a generous amount of table sale.



Step 5:

Work the salt in really good.  I ended up adding a lot more salt than I initially thought was needed.  Total time, 10 minutes



Step 6:

Once worked in, the pelt was folded over on itself skin to skin and then rolled up nice and tight.  Cord was tied around the entire pelt so everything is nice and tight.





Now we wait 24 hours, then repeat the salting process over again, scraping off the old salt and reapplying for another 24 hours.

That's it for now....I'll post the next steps in a few days once the salting process is complete!

Harlan

7

Snowshoeing Discussion / Boxing Week Sale On Faber Traditonal Snowshoes & Bindings

« on: December 23, 2011, 10:58:16 am »

Hi Folks,

In the Christmas spirit so here's a special deal for all WinterTrekking.com members!

Red Lake Outfitters is authorizing a Boxing Week Sale on all Faber Traditional Snowshoe models and bindings.  All models are in stock and ready to ship. All shoes are full grain rawhide!   Here's what's available.....

Snowshoes
Bearpaw - 12 x 30 - $144.99
Bearpaw - 16 x 30 - $ 149.99

Ojibwa - 11 x 48 - $ 154.99
Ojibwa - 12 x 60 - $164.99

Huron / Sport - 12 x 42 - $134.99
Huron / Sport - 16 x 48 - $149.99

Bindings:
A3 Work Binding - $46.99
A2 Work Binding - $ 43.99

To place an order please PM or email me or call 807-728-0803  Visa, Mastercard or Paypal accepted.  Sale will run until December 31....

Shipping charges are flat rate

Canada - $20.00
United States : $26.00

All items ship next day after order received.

Merry Christmas!

Harlan

8

Other Homemade Gear / Tanning a Beaver Pelt For Mitts

« on: December 20, 2011, 07:42:55 pm »

I'm looking for some help here and hope the depth of this forums members can steer me in the right direction....

I was able to secure 2 fresh Beaver Pelts from a local trapper today in the hopes of eventually making some mitts and who knows what else?

One medium and one large pelt showed up at my shop today, hot off the drying rack. They will of course need to be tanned before I work with them and thus my need for help.

Does anyone know a good process for tanning a Beaver at home? They are also quite greasy at the moment so i'm sure i'll have to deal with that as well.  I'd like to work on this myself and not send it away to Winnipeg to the professionals.

Here's what they look like tonight....hopefully in a month they will be mitts!

9

Fire and Woodstoves / False Bottom Project - 20 Minutes On a Sunday Morning

« on: December 11, 2011, 06:18:15 pm »

With some talk lately of the use of sand / false bottom in the bottom of portable woodstoves, I got the motivation to get off my butt and grab some materials for making the false bottom for my new Large Model Snowtrekker stove by Kni-Co.

I don't have access to the best of materials locally, but was able to source some 28 gauge Galvanized Steel (10 x 4 sheet), from a supplier, which I figured would work well for this small project.

Only -6 this morning so I figured today was the day. 

Materials Needed:

Sheet of Galvanized Steel (I used 28 gauge)
Metal Shears
Mill File
Measuring Tape
Marker or Chalk
Pliers
Gloves

As per HOOP's suggestion of it being easier to work with 2 smaller pieces rather than 1 large one, I measured out the length and width of the inner stove, then split it down the middle (although I added another 1/2" of material as I'll be bending the steel back).

Once I had the material cut I grabbed my pliers and began working the edges over.  Now I'm no metal worker so I'm sure there's an easier and more accurate way to do this but i just had at 'er!  Took about 10 minutes to complete the folding over of all edges on both pieces....again I'm no expert and didn't even use a vice. I simply held it in my hands (wear gloves) and worked on it. 

Once all edges were bent I grabbed my file and went to work on all sharp edges....woke up the neighbours too! 

Soon I was all done and ready to cure the Galvanized steel with it's first burn.

Again, I probably butchered this but it all worked out well.  Both pieces have fit into the stove nicely and are now ready for my first trip in  a Snowtrekker 10 x 13 Shortwall!

You folks figure this will work well?

Steel and materials









Fits nicely!





First Burn....oh how good that feels!

10

Trip Reports / Caveman TV...Another Video Staring At Fire

« on: November 20, 2011, 07:07:31 pm »

Not much content here, but at least it's winter, it's fire and I'm wearing wool!

Winter Camping Opportunities - Boreal Forest

11

News & Events / Anyone experiencing issues logging in?

« on: November 08, 2011, 09:21:06 pm »

Anyone out there experiencing issues while trying to login to the forums?

12

Other Homemade Gear / MOVED: Pot stove

« on: November 02, 2011, 08:18:46 am »

This topic has been moved to Fire and Woodstoves.

http://www.wintertrekking.com/community/index.php?topic=1380.0

13

Trip Reports / Video - More Campsite Exploring...

« on: February 06, 2011, 08:56:49 pm »

Another stellar day in the bush.  Headed out at the crack of dawn, -21 degrees and windy.  I'm too tired to write much of a report, but i headed to a potential campsite location, got a fire going and explored a little.  Here's some video and pictures from today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSSstas-qec

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMM8Ivp2hwc

14

Trip Reports / Yawn...Another Day of Campsite Hunting.....

« on: February 05, 2011, 05:37:54 pm »

Yesterdays trip had me pumped for more exploring so.....up early to do it all over again.  I picked a closer location this time, only a 10 minute drive from the house.  Time to continue in my hunt for summer camping locations on Red Lake. 

Only minutes from my vehicle I encountered my first real slush of the year...this stuff was nasty and it only got worse!  Luckily I was wearing my Sorel Glaciers and not my Steger Mukluks.  If I had been wearing my Stegers this trip would have been over right there and then. 

I managed some photos and a short video of the slush and what it's like to work through it.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qdnc_CJwYI

The slush was an problem for most of the day, but i did find some better sections of ice to travel on. 

I headed for a point on a large island.  It looked fairly flat and I figured it to be a good bet for a campsite.



Yup, this should do fine this summer. Lots of standing dead spruce nearby, and the flattest section of the site have immature jack Pine and spuce growing....should be easy to brush it out!



Northwest view from the site



Then I noticed something odd.  Looks like someone's been here before......branches have been cut from this spruce a long awhile ago.





It pleases me that someone has been here before.  There are so few people using these resources.  I can only wonder what I'll find under the snow?  Perhaps some fire rocks?

Back out on the ice and heading for another island.



It was a small island, and there is no camping possibilities.  Still, the view down the lake was spectacular. 



The clouds were lifting and it was warming up. What a perfect day to be on the "water"

Looking west from the Island



And Northeast



Almost walked right into this....instead, the dog got a soaker. I should have been paying better attention.  Beware of slush!





Then I spotted something you don't see everyday.  Anyone see it? 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blIoqflR4oU

Yup, a spider.  What's he doing out in the middle of the lake?  Here's a little video of the spider..just after I finished the vid, my dog ate the spider 

My pup leading the way



One last look back



Another day of exploring in the books.  Hmm, I wonder where I'll go tomorrow?

15

Trip Reports / Deep Snow& Fire. More Exploring in the Boreal

« on: February 05, 2011, 10:10:41 am »

Friday i headed out to a new spot with a friend.  It was her first time ever on snowshoes, and I wanted to pick a spot that wasn't to difficult to navigate, but still introduced her to the joys of winter in the Boreal.  I decided on a lake 40 minutes from town.

This is also a lake I had not yet been to, and one that holds promise for summer paddling options so I wanted to explore as much as I could.

We had more snow on Friday morning, and it began to snow heavily on the way to the lake. Temps have warmed up considerably and this heavy, wet snow and warm conditions were not ideal.

This was just a day trip, no sled, just a backpack.  It was a hard slog through 2 feet of heavy snow and the warm temps had us sweating in no time. 

Taking a break



Most of the shore around the lake is older growth Jack Pine and Spruce. Here's a typical stand.  It's all starting to come down and provided ample firewood for us.



Looks like this island burned awhile back, although a few resisted.



Looking out on the lake.  Deep, heavy, slushy snow.....



We walked around to this point and settled in for a few hours of relaxing.



Looking out over the lake



Fire was up and running in no time and we begun to dry off.  Water is on and a brew should be ready soon.





BTW, that a Coleman Exponent Stainless Pot in the picture.  Note the bail handle and swing out handles!  A perfect pot and the set can be had for a bargain.  I highly recommend these pots.

Great view of the lake from this spot.



Laying dormant and waiting for fire....



It was a great intro trip for my friend.  A solid 8 hours in the bush, a little bit of slogging, a little bit of relaxing.  Most important though, is allowing someone to experience something new. 

One last look down the lake then it's back to town.