Camp

Dex and Jodi might as well now be Professional Campers.  Between the two of them, they've brought river camping to a high art form.  With a few minor exceptions, there isn't anything I'd suggest to improve their camp rig.  They have put years of experience into their "camp scene" and it ROX!  It's about as 100% as good as camping out of inflatable kayaks could ever be.

If you've ever camped on the river before, you know how painful the logistics can sometimes be.  That wasn't the case with Dex & Jodi's camp.  It was casual and comfortable and there was no hassle whatsoever in rigging or set up.  A lot of wisdom and thought has gone into their camp scene and it showed in the lack of effort required to get it functional and take it apart and rig it back on the boats.  I was very impressed and repeatedly told them so.

Their food menu was superbly simple and very adequate.  Dex grilled porkchops on the coals Saturday night and then we had Mexican on Sunday.  Dex grilled some tamales on the coals Sunday night.  What an elegant touch--those were the best tasting tamales I've ever eaten.

Each boat carried one cooler as well as various other components of the camp scene.  One cooler was for cold stuff--one for dry goods and one for pots & pans and your typical kitchen stuff.  One boat carried the stove, one the toilet and the third boat carried "all the other stuff."  Dex and Jodi even each brought big, old style lawn chairs.

The toilet was the most modern river rig available and functioned perfectly.  Their fire pan rig was really sweet, too.  They used remnants of Forest Service fire survival shelters to put under the fire pans.  These heat resistant shields caught all the overflow ash and left the camp as clean as a whistle.  It was Leave No Trace camping at its best.  Dex has been able to acquire a lot of cool camping gear.  One of the best items is a Partner Stove.  It sells for about $250, plus or minus. While that might seem high, the stove will last forever in a harsh environment.  That type of equipment pays for itself in a heartbeat.

The only shortcoming in the camp scene was the hand wash setup.  That needs some improvement. 

Here's what I would suggest:

Get the latest and greatest handwash setup from Partner Steel.  It used a foot-activated blub to pump water out of a bucket onto your hands so there's nothing to touch.  Put some bleach in the bucket of water and, voila, you have a gem of a setup.

Second, buy a case of food service gloves and bring a box on each trip.  When ever anyone is handling food, have them slip on the disposable food service gloves.  This eliminates any possibility of contaminating food from the bacteria that typically lingers on anyone's finger tips, even AFTER they have washed their hands.

I passed along my other tips to Dex & Jodi directly--a more efficient way of lighting the stove and a better way to keep the coffee grounds out of the coffee.

Those are incredibly minor suggestions for improving their camp scene.  It was great to see a camp scene so effectively and efficiently rigged.  Way to go, Dex & Jodi!  Ya dun good. Yer professional campers!