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Jim,

I really appreciate your support of Jack.  A while back a few detractors tried to smear his name concerning the canoe test.  I defended him, but sometimes people are going to think what they think anyway, so I don't know how successful I was.  At first they said he didn't have enough experience to offer meaningful input to float hunters, then when I reeled out his credentials, they said that he was over-qualified and too opinionated to offer anything of use!  Sheesh!  I know Jack needs no defense from any of us, but sometimes I think people just don't know what they're saying.  I though I listed all the testers' credentials at the end of the article, but I guess some folks didn't read that far.  I'm pretty wordy, so I'm probably partly to blame for that.  These days I'm working on keeping it short and succinct so folks don't become bored.

The testing we did last October left several holes to be filled, but as you know (from being there), we had a very full day and simply ran out of time to cover all the bases.  Perhaps someone else will take up the slack one day.  The two tests we didn't complete were the "does it fit?" test and the heavy load in fast water test.  The "does it fit" test consisted of a simulated hunting load (including simulated moose quarters supplied by Mr. Bartlett) being packed into each boat.  I intended to photograph this test so folks could visualize what a typical hunting load looks like in an inflatable canoe.  I think when it came time to drop a test from the roster, this was the logical choice because it doesn't require a huge amount of imagination to see what may or may not fit.  Canoes are small, and you just have to pack light.  I think the performance tests were much more useful for folks.  The heavy load downstream run would have been interesting, but I'm not sure if it would have altered the final results much.

Thanks again for your participation in the testing and for the volunteering of your boats.  I hope there was something useful in it for you and for Alaska Series Inflatables.  At a minumum, at least we all had a chance to get together.

Have a great summer!

-Mike

Message Thread:

• Inflatable canoes jps Jul 02 2005
  • inflatable canoe expert Jack Mosby Alaska Series Inflatable Boats Jul 07 2005
    • Thanks, Jim! Michael Strahan Jul 08 2005
  • aire traveller... fullkurl Jul 03 2005
    • re Aire Traveller jps Jul 04 2005
  • Inflatable canoe information Michael Strahan Jul 02 2005
    • Inflatable Canoes jps Jul 03 2005
      • More Inflatable Canoe Answers Michael Strahan Jul 03 2005
        • re More Inflatable Canoe Answers jps Jul 05 2005