Confessions of a Gear Whore, Part 1 - the Orvis sling pack

Here is my not-too-secret confession, I love gear - particularly outdoor gear. Whether it's a new fly box, GPS, hunting vest, fly rod or reel, tenkara rod (a whole other blog post there), or backpack..., I love new gear. Not just any kind of outdoor item will do.  It has to be well-made and well-designed stuff.

Jim Boucher helping Kirk land a fish

Several years ago I was fishing the West Branch of the Ausable River in New York with my dad, brothers, and a cousin from Tupper Lake, Jim Boucher. Cousin Jim, unlike the rest of us, is a very good fly fisherman. In fact, since these are his local waters, Jim serves as our local guide on most of our trips. Not only can Jim fish, but he has good gear. Of particular note is his Orvis Safe Passage Sling Pack.

The benefit of the sling pack is that most of the time pack is out of the way, but it is easy and convenient to access it when you need it. Because it is slung over your shoulder, you can slide it around to your front using just one hand to access tippet, flies, or whatever.

Orvis Guide Sling Pack

I liked the idea so much I bought the Safe Passage version after that fishing trip. My mom also got one for my dad. I never thought of going back to a traditional fly fishing vest. The version we bought is quite a bit smaller than the Guide version to the left.

When I decided to get back into birding I was looking for a good pack that would allow me ready access to my gear - camera, guide(s), etc. A regular pack was too inconvenient to take off when wearing binoculars. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that the Guide Sling Pack might be the perfect solution.  It was.  The end. (Hemingway would like those crisp, short sentences, but my posts would be way too short, so I continue.)

The pack has a main section and two other zippered pockets. The main part of the pack opens into a large compartment. This space is large enough for a good-sized camera with plenty of room left to tote your binoculars or lunch. At the far left of the picture is a mesh pouch for water bottle (for those who drink water).

The largest pocket is big enough for the Sibley Eastern U.S. field guide and another, slightly smaller guide. I also keep a small voice recorder in this pocket. Using a voice recorder can be a more convenient and quicker way of keeping track of birds than writing each one down.

I keep my "Rite-in-the-Rain" hard-bound book and pen in the smaller front pocket along with Zeiss lens wipes. The book is a convenient 4.25" x 6.75" and the pages are waterproof. The pen has waterproof ink, won't freeze and can write from any angle. The book and pen are the perfect combination for writing field notes in any kind of weather.

To the left is a picture of all the stuff I typically take with me when I head out the door into the field, minus my binoculars. So far the outfit seems to work very well and I don't see a replacement pack in my future.

An added benefit to this set-up is that I also have a Guide-sized sling pack for fly fishing. I'd argue that this dual purpose makes the whole purchase economical as well. I can see how certain spouses might disagree with this view.

Fly Tying Redux

My first Salmon fly - the pheasant-winged head-knocker

When I started tying flies back in my 20s some people thought they were too large to be practical. Maybe I'd have better luck knocking out a fish than I would have in actually hooking one. Such hurtful words were painful and launched my 20+ years of suffering from fly-tying PTSD. My only form of solace was, of course, my mother.

Once I determined that I was tying-challenged and suffering from PTSD, I did what any American man would do, I went to my mother. Much to Mom's surprise she received a fly-tying kit from me for Christmas. At first she thought it was a bad joke. Soon, however, she had signed up for fly-tying classes and was turning out some really beautiful flies - wet flies, dry flies, all kinds of flies. They actually looked like the pictures in the books.

Unfortunately, after almost two decades of cranking out flies, Mom decided to retire the fly vise. It was a sad day when the Boushies had to once again purchase commercial flies. It did cause me to revisit the status of my PTSD. After years of quiet therapy, I decided I was ready to relaunch my fly tying. Besides, I thought that maybe using a lot of Mom's fly-tying supplies and tools would be good karma.

My reentry into the world of wrapping thread around a naked hook began in early February when I signed up for Orvis's (free) Fly Tying 101. Not only could I revisit the basics, but I would also receive two coupons and walk home with whatever I was able to tie.

The tying class was taught by Dan Davala, Orvis Fishing Manager, and James Kammel, a fly fishing guide and owner of Catcher & the Fly. There were about 6 other tyers and me in the class. Ages were from the early teens (twins brought by their grandfather) to early 50s. The class was about half women.

Dan gives the introduction

Instruction started with the very basics, wrapping thread on the hook and tying off the fly with a whip finish knot. It was interesting and a bit entertaining watching people who have never seen a whip finishing tool trying to tie a whip finish knot. Eventually, most seemed to get it.

After the very basics were mastered, which took the better part of an hour, we moved to tying our fist flies - a woolly bugger. Wrap the threat, tie on the marabou tail, tie on the chenille, tie on soft hackle, wrap chenille, wrap hackle, tie off at head, add head cement...done. Simple enough. I tied two respectable flies and think that I may be on the road to tying PTSD recovery. Only time with tell.

Remember, I said respectable, not good. I still have a few patterns to figure out and may retain Dan's services for a couple private lessons.

Things went well enough for me to spend the balance of an Orvis gift certificate on tying materials. I'll have to show up in NY this year on our fishing trip with flies for my dad and brothers.

Let the tying begin. I don't know that I'll get as good as Mom, but if I can catch some fish with my flies I'll be pleased enough.

Dan helping woman use the whip finishing tool

You're Never Too Old to Learn

I was disappointed in the performance of the plastic clip on the tree strap that came with the Bushnell® HD Trophy Cam. Disappointed in the way it broke in the cold. My solution was to use an old kayak tie-down (left). OK, confession, it wasn't old, but it was available and I could replace it by the time it was warm enough to kayak in Vermont.

It is generally a good idea to question your own cleverness. The new strap was great and it did a phenomenal job. I wondered why Bushnell® was so "thrifty" as to not include such a fantastic strap initially. Unfortunately, man-genius here never got past what a great solution I'd come up with to consider other issues, such as why Bushnell® include a strap that was a little less visible.

After I reattached the camera to a tree, I left to run some errands. When I was driving up the driveway on my way home I spied a bright yellow ribbon around a tree. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we weren't praying for the return of a loved one, or Tony Orlando. I guess you can attach your game camera to a tree using a bright yellow strap if you'd like for the game cam to be stolen. I'm sure the raccoons had a great laugh that night.

I took the camera down and ordered a dark strap from Amazon. Now it is securely attached, easy to adjust, and won't be broken by the Vermont weather.

I chalk it up as an ultimate win, but I had to laugh at myself for overlooking the obvious. Of course, once the obvious was mounted on a tree, it was easier to see.

I was also educated a couple weekends ago. Every Sunday at 8 AM a group meets down at a park in Virginia to bird. I decided to go to the same spot on Saturday to try out a "new" spotting scope I was renting for a couple days. I was slow getting out, but 8 AM seemed too early on the weekend anyway. I decided to hit Huntley Meadows Park first. It was pretty much a bust as far as seeing a variety of birds, but there were a lot of Mallards and Canada Geese. What I learned was how difficult it is to identify ducks when they are all resting with heads tucked under wings. I also learned that, at the right angle, a Mallard drake's head looks purple - not green. I confirmed this observation at the National Zoo the other day on a noon-time walk.







My final observation and lesson learned is that it is really quite difficult to take an iPhone photo through a spotting scope (right). It is hard to line up that small lens with the small scope eyepiece. At least you can see the ducks with their heads hidden. There must be an easier way to line up the iPhone camera and the scope...perhaps a bright yellow strap would work. I have one that I'm not using and is now far too short to tie down a kayak.