View topic - Canoe Poling Film

Check out this poling video: http://www.lifeonterra.com/
Great skills. And I want to know where I can buy an aluminum pole like that!

It is film “317: Up a Creek” on the Terra: Nature of Our World website, currently defaulting to their home page. If they add a new film, go to the archives and find 317: Up a Creek.

Don't worry about the first minute of WW paddling - that's a teaser. The poling guy takes over.

Credit for finding this goes to Floating Toolbox over on the solo tripping website http://solotripping.com/forums/index.php?topic=75.0

And what an awesome website Terra is. Over 300 free downloadable film documentaries! I may never have time to watch TV again!

Thanks for that Hoop! I've only ever seen photos. Looks great. Now I want a pole too. Nice, smooth traditional paddling at the end as well.

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“We can have great disparities of wealth or we can have democracy. But we cannot have both.” - Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

Great piece of film and it sure looked easy
I just had Garret Conovers book out of our local library a couple weeks ago, a good start for anyone interested in poling.
Beyond the Paddle: A Canoeist's Guide to Expedition Skills : Poling, Lining, Portaging and Maneuvering Through the Ice

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"There are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going"-unknown

Great site! I also enjoyed the series on salmon on the Klamath: "The Last Run." Paddling up rivers is one of my favorite things. I'll have to look for this guy next time I'm out in Vermont.

The videos take a long time to load ... if you click on medium tab this helps.

The permanent link to "Up A Creek" is here:
http://www.lifeonterra.com/episode.php?id=83

Wow, great video!

I promise to use my pole this summer! It came with a used canoe I bought, and we've hardly experimented with the pole (although mine is a "single-bladers" pole, only having one end meant for pushing off the bottom).

We haven't tried the sail rig much either - got any inspiring video for that?

A paddling friend of mine does offer poling courses, I'll check it out!!

Thanks for the link/reminder.

PY.

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Learning to paddle is like learning a language:
It's easy to learn the basics, but will you be understood in a strong wind?

So this means another piece of gear?
And maybe some special standup in the boat footwear?
Now what happens in a tandem situation?
Does the bow keep their paddle and help maneuver?
Or do you both need a pole?
Two people and two weeks worth of gear might not be so easy?
I guess you would want to trim the boat stern heavy?

You could forget about the shuttle logistics. I wonder how far you could travel upstream on a river like the Dumoine?

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Time's but a golden wind that shakes the grass...

Check out the Conover's book mentioned above. All is answered there (plus tons more)...except maybe how long it takes to acquire the skills.

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“We can have great disparities of wealth or we can have democracy. But we cannot have both.” - Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

Really interesting video and great production quality compared to so much on the net.

Now I'm going to have to try that....

Conover's book is great! It really is a "take you to thenext level" tool.

bump ...

Let us not forget the "Rival of Canoe Poling" (by Peter Loy), available on-line. I can think of no better place to practice these techniques than the Skeena watershed and Prince Rupert rivers.

http://www.northword.ca/connections/Past_Issue/fall_02/canoe_poling.html

Article is cited on original post on Terra.

Nice film. Thanks for the link!


The aluminum poles are popular with the ACA slalom polers. They are light and have good spring and stiffness. They are also cold and noisy as hell.
The ones I've seen are made from a 12' piece of 6061 aluminum tubing 1.125" diameter with a .058" wall. They have delrin plugs sealing the ends and stainless bolts sticking an inch or more out of the plugs.

Fred Klingener has a couple of pages on making your own.
The Home Depot closet rod pole.
http://www.brockeng.com/AmusingRaven/pole.htm

and a two piece aluminum pole.
http://ravensjester.smugmug.com/gallery/517955#21319710

Just do it,

Tommy

I guess I'm reviving an old discussion here, but just came across this recently, and it inspired me to get out and try poling. I've read about it and always thought it looked interesting, but hadn't ever really considered trying it out. Then yesterday I was planning on doing a run on the Vedder River, (a river that runs just south of Chilliwack BC) but had no shuttle partner, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity!

It was fantastic fun; but what a workout - I am definitely feeling it today. I went upstream 4 hours and only achieved 5.5 km. At quite a few rapids I was forced to walk the canoe as I could not make progress poling. Some of this was due to the speed of the river, but mostly my lack of skill. I found it tricky to maintain a straight line of travel, but for my first time out I was pleased with how it went. I'll have to get out some of those books mentioned to refine my technique.

It was a busy day on the river with many people fishing and I got many looks & comments; definitely a unique mode of travelling a river!

For a pole I tried out the closet rod idea - worked like a charm, although for future trips I would probably fix the ends up as described by the website Tommy posted...

Anyhoo just wanted to say thanks for the link & the posts that provided the inspiration for me to try something new. I am already looking at my maps of the area for new rivers to try this on!

Cheers,

Dan

Dan
What model of canoe were you using on your poling trip? The reason I ask is that your avatar photo looks like it's in a center-seated solo boat. I've tried standing, and a little bit of poling, in solo boats before, and they were too tippy for any extensive standing.

I have a 16' Ranger by Clipper Canoes; or I should say my family does, and as it's free and available it is what I paddle.

It is a tandem canoe - I just normally paddle it solo kneeling in the centre... As far as tippiness goes I had no problems on that front other than when I misjudged the current/waves or my pole slipped; had a couple near misses where I almost went for a swim.

Cheers,

Dan

I've been thinking of getting myself a pole for quite some time. Having this thread revived rekindled the flame. This has sparked a number of ideas of places to explore that I had ignored because paddling would be too much work, while the poling, albeit also physical, at least looks easier.

Time to get a pole and have some fun!

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David Laaneorg
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"Everyone must believe in something, I believe I'll go canoing." - HDT