Our next project is the Guide Shack (code name: x-wing): a two person shelter designed to cover a 16 or 18 foot raft. We took our wing tarp design, cut off the sides and shortened it to 12 feet so it would fit on a variety of boats and be easy to set up. The prototype is being sewn as I write this.

The goal is simplicity. Each end of the tarp will be tied to a raft paddle and then down to a D-ring at the bow and stern of your raft. There will be 2 tie downs on each side that can be strapped to D-rings on the sides of a boat. That’s it! This tarp can easily be set up on land as well by stringing it between 2 solid anchors (trees, rocks, etc).

The guide shack is lighter than regular tents, more durable, it won’t require extra poles or stakes, and is much easier to set up. It will be perfect shelter for the minimalist river guide that needs a solid shelter on a daily basis (i.e. Middle Fork, Rogue, or Grand Canyon guides).

We spent the last three months refining a new, improved throw bag. The idea was to make it more like a climbing chalk bag with a wide opening to allow for more efficient stuffing and throwing. We also wanted to make it safer by removing excess straps that can get tangled in a body limb. The result is beautiful.

It took 12 different prototypes to get it just right (a few are pictured above). We tested a variety of buckles and materials for maximum durability. We also tested many bags to find the right size and shape to make throwing and stuffing easy.

Along the way, we tested the prototypes and added some cool features:

• Strong buckles that resist breaking by crushing
• Durable mesh that allows the rope to dry quickly
• Attachment point for a carabiner which keeps the rope from dangling from bag

The bag was tested for durability. We left it in water for days on end to make sure it would still float. We tested the straps in multiple configurations to pick the best for attaching to rafts and frames.

During testing on the Rio Grande, recent floods left the riverbanks muddy which made it tough to walk on shore close to the river. On day 2, we passed a burro stuck in the mud and up to it’s chest in water. We decided to do something and quickly made a tagline to get behind is back legs and pull him up and out of the water. This was the first real use of our throw bag in a safety situation.

Eventually, we got him out. It took some pulling on ropes and some heroic people to get in the water with him and dig out his feet, but he made it. It’s funny that the first time these throw bags were used in a safety situation were to pull and “ass” out of the river.

Our final prototypes were approved yesterday and we begin production next week! We’ll get pictures of the final product up as soon as we get them.

This summer was my first experience with a jockey box. A friend brought one (and 4 pony kegs) on a Rogue trip and I couldn’t help but wonder “where has this thing been all my life?”

A jockey box is a cooler that transforms warm beer into cold beer. The beer enters the cooler, flows through 50-120 feet of stainless steel tube submberged in ice water, and flows out cold. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) pressurizes the whole system so beer flows at the exact moment you pull the faucet.

After this famous trip, I was talking with my friend Ken (an expert on beer) about the jockey box and he sent me the parts. Here’s the list:

1. Faucet (2) - To regulate the beer flow
2. Facuet Shank Assembly (2) - To attach the faucet to the box
3. Ice Box Shank Assembly (2) - To attach the beer from the keg to the box
4. Stainless Steel Cooling Coil (Right Hand)
5. Stainless Steel Cooling Coil (Left Hand)
6. Keg Coupler (2) - To tap the keg
7. Beer Hose (2) - This gets the beer from the tap to the box
8. Aluminum CO2 Cylinder
9. CO2 Regulator
10. Blue Vinyl Gas Hose - To go from CO2 tank to the coupler
11. Stepless Clamps (6) - for Gas Hose
12. Gas Hose T - To split the CO2 to go from one tank to 2 couplers
13. Faucet and Hex Nut Wrench - You’ll need this to tighten the faucet

We found that the ice water didn’t last long enough for a multi-day river trip like the Rogue. So I bought the best cooler in the world: Yeti Tundra 65 cooler. If you use an expensive cooler like this one, get ready for some nerve-wracking drilling. Your tasks:

1. Place the coils inside the cooler and measure where to drill your holes as accurately as possible. Drill the holes.
2. Cut PVC pipe to fit in these holes. You’ll want the PVC pipe holes because you’ll need to tighten down the shanks and you won’t want to collapse the sides of the cooler.
3. Use silicon to hold the PVC pipe in place and to fill the space between the cooler and the pipe.
4. Place the shanks in the PVC and tighten.

I’ve been using a great wing tarp for years. It’s easy to set up, durable, uses oars as poles, and it’s big. Last Fall I was ready to buy more and couldn’t find any. In fact, I couldn’t find anything even close. After asking NRS and Cascade Outfitters at the America Outdoors trade show the closest thing I could find had six tie down points and used thin poles to hold it up.

Six tie down points is way too many. You can find six tie down points when you’re in a grass field, but along rivers, you’re using rocks, small trees, and even bushes. I wanted a tarp with four bomber tie downs. And I didn’t want to rely on bringing extra poles. The poles are just one more thing to break or loose. I wanted to use oars as the poles because they’re bomber and we always have them.

So I made some calls. Lots of calls. It turns out the tarp I’d been using was sewn by a woman in McCall, Idaho and she stopped making them. Then I guided an Illinois River trip with ARTA and they had the same tarps which they treating like gold because they knew they couldn’t get any more.

After the trip I renewed my search for a good tarp and couldn’t find anything so I decided to get some made. After finding the right material (nylon 420), the rings at the corners, and someone that could sew something that big, we made some.

They are awesome. I found a windsail maker here in Hood River to make the tarps and they used their experience to reinforce the corners and stitch them to handle high winds. But it cost $400 to make the first four which I sold right away. To get the price down I needed to make more so I made ten more of them.

What am I going to do with ten tarps? Sell them. Need a bomber tarp? Learn more about the Outfitter Wing Tarp.