Canoe Tripping Stories And Smart Gear With Andy Baxter

A “bear barrel” that is not bear proof sounds like a problem until you understand what it is really for. We sit down with Andy Baxter, owner of Recreational Barrel Works, and talk through the real-world reasons paddlers rely on barrels for backcountry canoe camping: keeping food dry, keeping smells contained, and cutting down on the critter chaos that can wreck a campsite. Along the way, Andy shares the kind of tripping stories you only earn through distance, weather, and the occasional route that turns into a bushwhack.

We trade memories from Algonquin Park style portaging to a smoother payback paddle down the Key River and out along Georgian Bay. Andy also breaks down what happens on remote fly-in routes north of Red Lake when the “portage” is basically a rumour. The physical effort is one thing, but the bigger challenge is the mental math when your planned kilometres stop being realistic and you have to slow down, stay safe, and adjust without letting frustration take over.

Then we nerd out on paddling gear design in Canada: why Recreational Barrel Works started in 2001, how canoe packs and lightweight waterproof liners solve everyday packing problems, and why a truly waterproof map case needs the right zipper and real testing. If you care about canoe tripping gear, food storage, bear safety habits, and smart solutions built by paddlers who actually use them, you’ll get plenty to take back to your next trip. Subscribe, share the episode with a canoe buddy, and leave a review with your go-to food storage setup.

https://recreationalbarrelworks.com/

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Andy Baxter

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and good day. Welcome to the Super Good Camping Podcast. My name is Pamela.

SPEAKER_02 0:04

I'm Tim.

SPEAKER_00 0:04

And we are from SupergoodCamping.com. We go on a mission to inspire other people to get outside and enjoy camping adventures such as we have as a family. Today's guest is the owner of a paddling gear company that has been around since 2001. He is an intrepid adventurer. Three words that best define intrepid are fearless, adventurous, and daring. As he often canoe trips with Kevin Callan, he absolutely owns these traits. Please welcome from Recreational Barrow Works Andy Baxter. Yay, welcome.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Yay! Good to be here. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Thanks for coming.

Kevin Callan Trips And Payback Paddle

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Yes, Intrepid. That's yes. We've seen The Intrepid. I've read the book about The Intrepid. How's your knee?

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Oh yeah. It's uh it's fine now. It's uh it's been a long time since we went around Algonquin Park, but uh um yeah, I my knees hurt for like uh months after that uh that trip. So but that was a lot of portaging.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Yes. Well, and what was the what was the revenge trip?

SPEAKER_00 1:13

It was a payback trip.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Well, I I I I worked uh the next year I worked up Kevin. I said, Oh, uh, we're we're going somewhere, and uh I hope I hope you'll be okay, you know, and uh and I I've got my heavy, heaviest duty whitewater canoe, you know, the newest one that I could could get, so it can take the punishment, and like the sweat was pouring off them, you know, and and even on the drive up, uh I can't really tell you where we're going. And then uh and then uh oh wait, we're gonna pull in here and get more bear spray, and uh and then and then we uh oh yeah, this person's gonna do a shuttle for us. Uh so hop in and uh and and I didn't have the seats in the back of the van, so I I he had to sit on the floor, you know, for anyway. We finally got where we were going, and it was uh it was the Key River and we paddled down uh the coast of Georgian Bay, so no portaging compared to the I don't know, miles and whatever kilometers we did in uh you know Gonquin Park. And so so we it turned out uh a lot less stressful than he uh I worked him up to be, but that was that was my revenge for for that.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

So well, and you

Bushwhacking Missing Portages Up North

SPEAKER_02 2:40

two did it. I can't believe this, we're immediately going into Kevin Callan stories, but didn't you two do uh like a crazy one way out in the middle of nowhere that that when they where they said portages were you guys were like where is that port? It hasn't been used in 25 years, like that's not a portage.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Yeah, yeah, that was a couple of summers back where um we went to uh opeshkwe or uh um opasquia, which is uh way up north of uh Red Lake, and uh takes a couple hours just to fly in there, and um so yeah, that that was um that was a tough slog because we had to uh find find uh we had to make make portages because they weren't there and uh you know uh bushwhack our way through. And and those those trips are always uh really tough, not necessarily on the physical side of things, but uh the mental um side of things that uh and the frustration that you you should be making you know more progress, and it it shouldn't be this difficult to make uh a distance of 400 meters, you know. And uh but you know, those are those are some of the trips you get into. And uh whether it's with Kevin or my wife and I have done trips like that, and uh um they're not all like that, but uh sometimes you know that's what you get. And if you you know trying to plan ahead, doing as much research as you can to be as prepared as you can. And you know, we took six rolls of uh brand new flagging tape on that that trip, and we used four and a half of those rolls. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

That's a lot, man. Well, cool. I'm glad I mean I'm glad you guys both both came out the other side of it. Yeah, but I mean it sounded it's always amazing to be that that far out in nature, you know, that that distant from the clamoring and the noise and like all the things that we you know have to deal with every day. I don't know that I would have enjoyed anything of that trip. Just just other than the solitude. That would have been awesome, but man, that was that was insane. I mean, cool, but insane. No, I'm a better man than I.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

No, it's it's um like there's it's all relative and um like we we plan to do a lot further distance on that trip, and uh um you know, but you you adjust and you you realize we're not making the distance that we were hoping to, so this trip is not going to cover all the kilometers we we wanted to originally, and that's okay. We're just gonna make our progress and be safe and you know, um, you know, uh enjoy what we are seeing. And there was there was lots of cool stuff to see, so uh especially being in um you know part of Ontario that we hadn't been before.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

So yeah, that's always cool.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

We saw um uh uh it was uh a Fisher, I think, uh um, or um a Martin, I'm sorry, a Martin, but it had a um a really unique um V white V pattern on its chest. Um and I'd never seen that before. You know, at first we were like, is that like a giant uh you know um mink? Um or what is that? Uh anyway, so it was lots of uh lots of neat things um to see in the forest types up there.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

So very cool. Well you

Learning Canoe Tripping With Marion

SPEAKER_02 6:44

talk about tripping with your wife. What were you into tripping before that? And then and then the two of you started tripping together. How did how did how did you get into tripping?

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Yeah, that's a great question because uh I had only done done a couple canoe trips as a kid, but my dad took us uh to Algonquin Park and uh and it it stuck with me. I loved that. And uh and Marion and I met in high school, and um, you know, by the time we were like 19 or 20, I said to her at one point, I I'd like to go do canoe tripping, you know, and she says, I've always wanted to do that. And uh so we actually learned how to canoe trip together. It was, you know, we started with all the crappiest gear or, you know, and stuff that we you know either cobbled together or rented, and you know, watched the canoe almost slide off the the roof, you know, on some of those early journeys. And anyway, we we learned to do it together and and just built that experience uh over time, you know, and went from Algonquin to Killarney, and then you know, uh a little further further afield, and and uh Quiteco, and then Woodland Caribou and then Wabikini and whatnot. So uh um we at the time we were living in Toronto and commuting, uh you know, driving up uh for those vacations, and uh um and we finally said we're spending all our time up north. Why don't we move up north? Is that you know so we ended up uh moving to Nippigan, which is at the top of Lake Superior, and uh and we lived there, I I got a job up there, and uh um we lived and worked there for like eight years. All the kids were born in Thunder Bay, and so it was it was great because we uh we were much closer to all that tripping up there, and uh it was it was great to be there. It was it was almost like I I remember thinking, I don't know if I ever want to move south of the French River, you know. It's uh uh I love the north, and um and then when an opportunity uh in Peterborough came up, I thought, that's a lot south of the French River. But uh anyway, we we ended up coming here. Um and uh it was a great move because uh at that time then the the kids were getting on in school, and they ended up all going to Trent here, and uh and that saved about eight million dollars right there. So uh anyway, that that all worked out for everybody, and um obviously much more opportunity in a larger city like Peterborough, uh, even close to Toronto if you want to do that stuff, uh, compared to Nippigan, which was uh you know a 13-hour drive uh or so from here. So but that's uh that's how we we gradually um you know learned how to trip

Lost Start At Woodland Caribou

SPEAKER_01 10:11

together. I remember our first Marion and I uh when we went to um the wood uh Woodland Caribou, it was uh 1989 was our uh our first trip there. And you know, we contacted a um a fly-in uh outfitter and said, yeah, we want to like start by road here down at the bottom right corner, and we're gonna paddle all the way up to the top left corner, and then you hopefully you can fly us out and uh you know a couple weeks later. Is that okay? And he's like, Yeah, that sounds great, no problem. And um, and so we get there and we uh um we get to his uh out his uh his lodge where he his base basically, and uh and he's like, Oh, okay, well I'll drive you to the put in and uh and then we'll see you in a couple weeks when I come to pick you up. And it's like that's perfect. And uh so he drives us to the put-in in our vehicle and then um you know heads off as we start to paddle out into the lake, and uh and then I'm realizing none of the features of this lake are lining up to um to the where we're supposed to start. And I'm like, you know, I'm like trying to figure it out, and it's like we're we're not on the right lake. And I get out my compass, and I'm like, well, this is not good. The compass isn't even working, you know. It it was it was not even spinning around, it was just stuck in one position, and and then I we could hear some forestry workers, you know, off in the distance, and well, we'll we'll go talk to them, they'll fill us in, we'll get set straight. Went over and talked to them. None of them spoke English, it was all all they all spoke French. And all they were saying was like, yeah, we don't cut uh beyond the the ribbon line, you know. That's uh it's like oh okay, that's good, you know, that's the caribou park, but uh um where that where the heck are we? You know, and we don't know, we just uh stay up uh against the line, no problem. And our foreman will know, okay, where's your foreman? Yeah, he's back at camp, you know. It's like where's camp? That's like uh 20 miles away. Oh and so these guys loaded us into their pickup truck, drove us all the way back to camp, you know, waited for the foreman to come back from his fishing excursion, and finally talked to him. And he said, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You guys just turned in one road too soon, you know. Uh you should have gone one one road up, and then you would have started where you wanted to start. So the next morning, because by then it's night, and uh so Marion and I camped behind this uh forestry, you know, logging camp uh facility, which is all trailers, right? And and um we camp there for the night, get up early in the morning, pile back into uh this uh nice guy George's uh pickup truck. I still remember George. And uh, of course, he's like got you know, just a basic pickup truck, and he's driving these roads where I'm thinking, you need four-wheel drive, and he's like, nah, nah, it's okay. And and and Marion's, you know, sitting in the middle, and I'm there, and the the little the little air fresheners dangling off the rearview mirror, and it's a naked woman, of course, you know, and uh anyway. He George drives us back, you know, calm as anything, takes us to the right spot and and waves us off, and uh we finally got uh underway in the right uh Liano Lake. And uh nowadays it's like signed to the hilt, and you you know, you you wouldn't believe me that anyone ever got lost get it going there, but uh anyway, we had a great trip and uh uh flew out of Artery Lake at the end of that. And uh but Marian's a real trooper for putting up with uh with all the shenanigans we've been through uh at various places.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

So that's one of the the best things. That the worst trips, not necessarily the worst, the most eventful trips are the ones that make the best memories, the best stories.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Yeah, yeah. So uh, but yeah, I mean the rest of that trip, there's um paddling along and you know, hummingbirds stopping and you know, over top of the P the bright PFD, and uh we saw woodland caribou, we saw um uh cow and calf, we saw another small group uh, you know, that uh swam away from the shoreline uh at our campsite. And so it was uh and then the fishing was you know like um so good that you didn't have to really worry about it. If you wanted a fish, you could just you know throw a line in and get a fish. And uh so anyway, that's uh um it was a great trip and and we didn't get uh lost after that. Um you know, after that rough start.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Very cool. Uh okay, so uh well we can talk camping stories all night long.

Why Recreational Barrel Works Started

SPEAKER_02 15:52

We may talk about some more. Uh I'm curious, how did you so you uh have recreational barrel works, which is not just barrels. There's a you got a bunch of stuff. How did you get how did you get started in that? Where did that sort of come from?

SPEAKER_01 16:41

Well, back in 2001, um the the only one who had barrels before that time was Trailhead, and Trailhead um was really hit and miss uh on their supply of barrels. Uh and so it wasn't a regular supply. Um there was some used barrels coming into the market also, and uh used barrels are are just such a roll of the dice because you never know what chemicals or or other things have been in there before. And I thought, well, I um, you know, it and I was at the time helping out uh my friends uh Bill and Ann Oldstrom at trade shows, and um he wanted to sell harnesses, and I said, You're gonna sell more harnesses if you know people can buy the barrel with with uh the harness. And he goes, Yeah, but barrels are a hassle. And I said, Okay, I'll do the I'll do the barrels, bring them to the shows, and you know, sell them there with your harnesses and stuff. So that was the genesis um, you know, years ago. And then over time we've just uh started adding all um all the organizers for the barrels and our own harness and uh and packs and and accessories and waterproof map cases and all sorts of of uh stuff over time now. So uh so yeah, that's um really uh uh a regular supply of new you know not used barrels was the driver for starting recreational barrel works and uh and it just you know grew uh over time. We you know, as as um earlier, I think you mentioned how I'm not on social media and uh and and we don't really advertise um you know and it's all it's mostly been word of mouth and um um and which is is nice because it's like you know it's uh when someone's telling, you know, a fellow paddlers telling you about it, it's uh um that's good. And um uh we I mean we we don't have time for uh social media is is the real truth. Um and but um you know we're we're busy enough uh keeping up with uh uh supplying stores across Canada and in the States, and there's like four four or five stores in Europe now that uh um you know carry recreational barrel works products and uh along with shipping our own from our own online store all over the world. So uh so it's busy. We're probably um too busy, but um that's that's uh not a bad problem to have.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

So it's it's not, and I'm sure your wife is is happy that you're staying more out of trouble because you're busy.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

Yeah. Well, I I um I think we you know we need to work on prioritizing uh organizing our own fun uh you know as well as taking care of business. So uh um but fortunately we've we've um you know done that uh off and on. Um you know, we've got to do it more, but you know, there's there's always room for more fun.

SPEAKER_02 20:35

Totally agree. Uh if you wouldn't mind, just to just I suppose backtrack a little bit for those that are tuning in that don't know what the point what a barrel is

What A Food Barrel Really Does

SPEAKER_02 20:46

for, maybe you could maybe you could share that.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Sure. Yeah, uh a barrel it's um it's uh a high density polyethylene plastic barrel uh with a a wide opening that uh is used to store uh mostly people use it on camping trips for their food. And um the reason for that is it's uh seals airtight, so smells aren't getting out and attracting critters, and um water's not getting in and damaging your food. Um, and that's that's what barrels are are primarily used for. Um they I mean some people call them bear barrels or bear proof, and they're not. A bear can rip your car door open, so you know, given time it it'll get into a barrel. Um, and in fact, all of those bear containers that you see on the market, they're only rated for a half hour to keep a bear out, and you know, and then and then after that they're they're breached also. So uh anyway, it's um the the good thing is is keeping them clean, smells aren't getting out and attracting critters, and most of your problems on a camping trip are mice and squirrels and and uh raccoons, yeah. You know, those uh critters, and um and so um you know the best thing is always to hang your food whether it's in a barrel or not, and um but people who trip um further north where the Trees aren't big enough or they're not there at all. They don't have an option for that. So it's you know, you walk it away from the campsite and take it off the the critter trails and uh and and secure it so it doesn't get knocked into the water and float away by accident. So uh that's uh that's the the advice that we always give to folks.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

So cool. Uh I will say your your doesn't get knocked in the water and float away. That was I I have had have heard a story about a trip. A bunch of people, there was uh a capsizing, and the only gear that they were able to recover was the barrel because it floated. Yeah. Everything else went went down, didn't didn't have enough, had too much weight, much as it was waterproof and sealed, had too much weight, not enough buoyancy.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

So yeah. Well on um on my whitewater solo trips, um every all the gear goes into barrels, and uh I lash one in front of me in in the the canoe, lash the other one behind me, and it becomes flotation for the canoe, and uh, you know, using two barrels like that. So uh it's they're they're not you know they're not great at everything. Like it's um there's always pros and cons to any solution uh that you choose. Um but barrels have been you know widely adopted into the Canadian paddling um world and uh uh at least the canoeing uh side of things. And um and also in um it's funny because in the states they they the uptake on barrels was at least 10 to 15 years behind what it was uh and is here in Canada. So uh so they're still really discovering barrels down uh in paddling in in the US.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

So yeah, there's a bit of a heated discussion continuing to go on about hang or not hang. Uh at least what uh what little bit that I I tune in for. Um tell us some of the other things. I know you've got a like a cooler pack for the barrel, but I know you also have other things like waterproof bags that you know essentially

Packs Liners And Gear Design Fixes

SPEAKER_02 25:02

can line your backpack, things like that. What's tell me some of the other wonderful things that you've uh you've got on your product line.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Well, um yeah, it's uh it's amazing. I was looking at our product line the other day um because we we uh you have to put a unique code on everything, uh a unique barcode, and and we're almost uh to the hundred mark already. And um and so there's barrels in the standard blue color, we've got orange barrels that are new this year. Um we've got red barrels. Uh the red barrels were new last year, and I think we're all sold out of those now. And uh so um anyway, there's um there's our canoe packs. We've got about uh four four different models of canoe packs. We've got uh another couple of canoe packs in our heritage line of canoe packs. We've got um uh which are our uh the heritage line are basically a lower, wider canoe pack, um and um often best suited uh carrying with a tump as as well as shoulder straps, and uh we we created um a uh a wannagan harness. So uh, you know, traditionally wannagans were only ever carried with a uh a tump line, and um and I thought there's gotta be a better way. So uh you know we created uh um uh a flexible harness that goes around the box that a wannagan typically is, um, but there's also a padded back pad that uh you can add on there, and as well as shoulder straps and the traditional tump line. So uh you can you can have it all and make it a comfortable carry, or you can go old school and just use the tump line. It's uh but yeah, that was um uh that was interesting to uh to develop, um, especially because most people make their own wanigan and and it's you never know what size it is. So uh we had to make it our solutions so it's flexible to fit different sizes, even though it'll work on those plastic uh wanigans that uh you can see being sold in some some places. So, yeah, we've got the waterproof liners that you mentioned, Tim. Um those are uh for the inside of the canoe packs, and and they're just giant dry bags, but uh rather than them being in the heavy PVC material, uh they're in a lighter material that uh doesn't add as much weight and uh meant to be used just on the inside of um of the pack. And the pack will take your you know the your beading and your your abuse and the and the liner is actually bigger than the pack, so it'll expand uh to the you know size of your pack uh and not uh put any pressure on the waterproofing seams that are all taped in in the the dry bag liner and and protect its integrity. So which is good. I mean um a lot of people just use you know the rubberized uh um packs that uh have shoulder straps on them, and uh and that that's good. That works great until they get a puncture in them, you know, or typically though the the harness carrying system on those packs isn't as good as you would get on a um on a canoe pack, uh or at least some of the the more structured canoe packs, and uh and so um anyway, a lot of a lot of people who use those end up using our liners inside them anyways, uh either as a fail-safe, or the reality is that after your first night camping, you're trying to stuff your clothes and your sleeping bag and your wet tent and your wet tarp inside, also, and you're going, oh geez, now it's all commingling again. So anyway, that's uh you know, keeping that those things separate inside whatever pack you're using is is help with one of those waterproof liners. And uh we even made a shorter one this year is one of our new products that uh works in our um our heritage line better, so you it's not as tall. And um and uh or if you're only waterproofing half the contents of your pack, you know, that's uh that works in that situation also. So we've got um what what's really fun I it for me is uh you know solving uh a design problem or or filling a little niche of a product that uh and it's not just me that's thinking this stuff up. There's people all over are are saying, you know, I I I wish there was a solution for X, you know, and I'm like, oh yeah, you know, and the whole dialogue starts, and uh next thing you know, it uh hopefully comes to something where, you know, um our whole heritage line started like that. It was uh a traditional paddler who always used canvas packs and um cedar canvas canoes, and he said, My packs are wearing out, and uh I only carry them with the tump line, but I can't get them anymore. And I I I have one of your other packs, and I love how how you know sturdy it is. And can you make my old style packs in this uh the new materials? And I said, maybe, let's see. And uh, and you know, he I was the one who added shoulder straps and back pads and you know some of the uh amenities, but uh it was based on his very simple packs, and uh and now he's using uh you know the the Voyager pack and the courier two-part pack, uh and he's happy uh as uh as anything with those. He sent me photos of them all stacked up on his back, and he's he still just uses the tump line. He he doesn't need the shoulder straps, but uh anyway, that's it's it's really fun to uh to you know I I look at our products as a collaboration of the the paddling community that's uh keeps keeps pouring the ideas in to uh see a you know um product improve uh as much as we can ever get it improved and um uh or new ideas and uh and and that's uh from outfitters or schools or or camps or stores, you know, it it comes from all over. And uh so it's it's I love that creative side of um the business, which uh you know starts as a germ of an idea about oh uh you know what about something like this, and uh it's like yeah that that could work, or you know, you know, it's figuring out how to uh how to do it in a way that makes the most sense and and um would hopefully be embraced by as as many paddlers as possible. So and in fact, the the frustration of using waterproof um map cases, which I don't know

Building A Truly Waterproof Map Case

SPEAKER_01 33:26

how many you've used over time, but they are not waterproof, you know. They might be waterproof the first you know couple go rounds, or until the weather gets cold, or till a grain of sand shows up, or or or until you actually dip them into water and realize, oh, they're not, you know, and uh that that level of frustration is what I had over time, and then that led to uh our waterproof map case, which is the paddler's map case, and uh we use uh a waterproof zipper like you would in a dry suit to uh totally seal the um the the map case, and it is you know it spent uh hours underwater, you know, testing the and um and I'm like this is actually working, you know, and this is fantastic because it's it's truly waterproof. It is um, you know, it's got the features on it that uh I was looking for, which was big enough to hold multiple topographic maps, had D rings on it, so I could connect it to you know where I'm I'm looking at it in the canoe, or then I or I can connect it onto my pack as I'm portaging and uh you know that sort of thing. And and when it when we came out with them, people were like snapping them up, and then the only complaint that uh we ever had was that they were too big. And uh, well, you know, and I'm like, okay, and people would explain, well, we only you put a couple of things in it, smaller items, and um we don't use large topographic maps like you know you originally were targeting. And I said, Okay, I get it. And a lot of the Quebec paddlers would contact me and say, we go to this one website, we get all our maps off of there, we print them out on eight and a half by eleven or eight and a half by fourteen at most. That's all we need in our map case. And I'm like, okay, that's good, you know. So, anyway, this year, one of our new products was a smaller version of that. We call it our medium paddlers map case, and uh and again, you know, it's it's the collaboration of uh of folks who um use the gear that uh you know make a suggestion, and it's like, well, if they're seeing something, you know, it might be just one person who's interested in that, but I bet you there's more than just that one person. Uh and usually that's that's what plays out. We bring a product out and um and it gets uh used and bought and and uh some of them go obviously a lot faster than than the more niche products, but that's okay. It's uh we kind of like being in that niche uh territory where we don't have to turn things over like you know at uh in half uh a year and sell them all out uh you know in the big business style. We're it's just Marion and I, and uh and we're happy to to see those products sell, you know, whether it's quickly or whether it's over time. Uh, and that's that's always been the case. Uh I mean last sometimes we've we've had uh our happy camper um uh edition of of Canoe Pack, and sometimes those have sold out in like two two days, you know, that sort of thing. And uh and then we we changed the model uh a little bigger, a little more expensive, um fancier model uh that we came out with a year ago, and uh and and it it started selling fast, you know, right off the the hop, and then it then it slowed down. It's like, oh, okay, that's uh but the last one of those uh got shipped out uh earlier this month. So um, you know, eventually they all go, whether it's you know, less than a year or three years, whatever, it's it's it's just nice to see uh um the gear all getting new homes and uh and appreciated. So um and and always looking for that that uh you know the feedback to you know how how can we make it better, you know, and and go from there.

SPEAKER_00 38:20

So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 38:22

Anything you want to ask? Just a comment on the the map. I can I can I can understand the waterproof case when some sometimes where people just want a smaller one, but when I saw a weird story, I was at the Toronto show not this year, last year, and Evan LaFive was had had one in his hands, and I looked at it and went, oh, I need to get one of those because I try to. I mean, you're obviously you're navigating in very close close quarters. You're looking at you know all the landmarks that are close to you and stuff, but I'm trying to plan ahead while we're paddling as as you know, wind changes, whatever, to be able to look at that big of a snapshot instead of that big of a snapshot, especially as some of the map makers are making uh I don't know if the right term, smaller scale. It's a more blown-up map. It's uh it's not fifty thousand to one, it's twenty thousand to one, right? Yeah. So you can look at a bigger picture in that big map case, and I went, but nobody bought one for me for Christmas. So I'm really disappointed. Just saying. Father's Day's coming up.

SPEAKER_01 39:40

Oh, no, it's um it is one of the um one of the interesting um, you know, we we clearly hit that um the all the check boxes of many of the paddlers in in that map case for, you know, there's instructors that are, you know, Greenland kayak paddling, and they're like, um, I gotta get 20 of these, you know, for the my class, and you know, there's those folks. There's I think we shipped one to New Zealand the other day, and um, you know, there's um there's lots of lots of great um feedback and um uh and positive response on the map case. So uh um yeah, it's uh it you know I I'm I it's nice when when something works out like that and um and and it's it gets um you know paddlers who've been through other map cases they'll get it and uh and and it's again all of our stuff we don't um we don't price it you know crazy high. It's like it's either a quite affordable uh or right in the in the pack of similar products and uh so um you know we're we're not uh in fact a lot of people have said that to us uh whether they're stores or individuals, like you folks should charge more for this stuff. And it's like look, we're we're not here to gouge people either. We're just we're paddlers making gear that we want to use and you know at affordable prices, and uh and we're happy to s to make it quality and functional, and you know uh that's that's that's our boxes that we like to to check. So cool.

SPEAKER_02 41:53

Well I'm glad you're doing it. It's I we have a we have a 60 liter, 60 liter, 60 gallon. No, 60 liter. Yeah um

Fixing The Too Thick Gasket

SPEAKER_02 42:02

one of the red ones from last year.

SPEAKER_01 42:04

Oh cool.

SPEAKER_02 42:05

Yeah, it's great. That's I loved it. It was awesome. Uh especially when I think originally the gasket was thick. I thought I thought it was just a pansy bedwetter, and that's why I couldn't get it to get the lid on and get it to lock. Like, come on, what am I gonna do with this in the backcountry? And then and then there was an email. It's like, oh, we're gonna send you a new one, it'll fit better. It's it's like, oh, okay, okay, maybe I'm not a pansy bedwater. Maybe I maybe I am, but not in this case.

SPEAKER_01 42:31

No, no, that's um see, that's the other good thing about um, you know, the people that we work with on getting our barrels, creating those different color barrels, or creating the products, they've been really responsive. And uh and it's funny because we did our samples on those barrels, and uh they came in and they all checked out, and then when they did the production run, they put in a thicker gasket than uh, and that's what what ended up being tough to close. And uh, and I ended up, you know, I scratched my head, I did all sorts of tests, and then finally I dug out the the gaskets and measured them compared to um the sample uh that we had, and they were clearly thicker, and uh when you know I I uh sent that information off and uh I said we gotta we gotta fix this, and they they sent a whole new set of gaskets for the whole run. And um the only downside is that I had to install them all or uh the ones that weren't sold yet and and send them out to the customers who'd already bought one. But uh but we got that sorted out, um, and that was uh that was a good lesson learned there.

SPEAKER_02 43:54

So yeah, well that's a great relationship with uh the production partner, I guess. Yeah. Good deal.

SPEAKER_01 44:02

I'm I could talk paddling.

SPEAKER_02 44:04

Um you and me both, but she would leave. We we would just be sitting here having that having that conversation. We wouldn't even bother recording.

How We Like To Canoe Trip

SPEAKER_01 44:12

Well, do you guys normally um do all sorts of uh backcountry and front country camping or um mostly mostly by canoe, uh usually in provincial parks, although we have done some Crown Land.

SPEAKER_02 44:30

Um Pamela is Sort of being reintroduced to backcountry. I did a very bad thing many years ago and way oversubscribed our abilities. Took the uh the entire family, and it was a debacle of a trip. So backed up. Our eldest was continued to be interested in going. The other two were not anymore. So he and I trip. Uh not we haven't never done fly-in, but we we trip all the time. Um Pamela has started to come back out. We did a Massa Saga a couple years back. We did a one out to um Philip Edward Islands last September. We're trying, I'm trying to get us into Fronnack this year, but man, it's proven tough to book. You know, that sort of deal. So wait, we I we don't hike unless you count carrying a canoe as hiking. The rest of the most of the time it's it's you know an eight-day-ish backcountry in a canoe.

SPEAKER_01 45:31

Nice. Well, that's good. I mean, some people think, oh, you you can only unless you're doing what I do, it's you know, it's like, well, no, wait a minute. Everyone has their own uh way of of enjoying the outdoors, and whether that's in a 20-foot camper or you know, in a 20-foot canoe, um, whatever, you know.

SPEAKER_02 45:55

So absolutely agreed.

SPEAKER_01 45:58

Yeah. No, I I remember well carrying our 20-foot canoe um, you know, for years when because we had three children, and uh before they were old enough to help mom paddle their own canoe, we were all five of us plus the gear in uh in one canoe. So that's a full canoe, man. Yeah, yeah. And I mean the only company that made a 20-foot canoe back then was uh Old Town, and uh and they made a a 20-foot uh old town tripper, and that was like um I think it was 105 pounds before you put anything on it. Yeah, so uh anyway. But what us whack jobs will do to to keep going out into the bush, it's uh it's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 46:51

So yeah, no, I totally agree. We went from a man, I want to say it was 92 pounds, 93 pounds, 17 foot Scott fiberglass, to uh I can't even think of who the heck we've got. Whatever. We've got a um a Kavlar one now that's like 42 pounds. What a what a world of difference. Just stunning. And it's it's still pretty bomb proof. Like we've bashed into a bunch of stuff, and yeah, I think I after about four or five years, I had uh I had it re-gel coded just because it was getting pretty scratched up, but it's all good, man. Where can people get a hold of you? Uh uh website, is there a phone number? Oh yeah, email.

SPEAKER_01 47:38

Yeah, so um there's our gears

Where To Find Andy And Closing

SPEAKER_01 47:42

available at uh lots of outdoor stores. Um so ask your local outdoor store if they whatever you're looking for. On our website, www.recreationalbarrelworks.com. Um there is a list of vendors, so you can look up if there's somebody close to you um that carries our stuff, uh, or you can order it right from our website um if that's um a better option for you. Uh and we also have a toll-free number uh 1-866-222-6311. So um the only thing you can't get us on is social media. So but that's uh that's um that's just me and my antisocial nature, I guess it is.

SPEAKER_02 48:38

So so I've noticed every time we see it at the shows, you just you don't want to talk to anybody. He is he is all right, the young lady's gonna do the outro and we'll wrap her up.

SPEAKER_00 48:50

All right, that's it for us for today. Thank you so much to Andy Baxter from Recreational Barrow Works for joining us. Please check them out, recreationalbarrowworks.com. And if you want to check us out, we are on all the so we are on all the social media. We're also on YouTube, and you can reach us anytime at high at supergoodcamping.com. That's i at supergoodcamping.com, and we'll talk to you again soon. Bye.

SPEAKER_02 49:13

Bye.

SPEAKER_00 49:14

Thank you.