Get your kayaks here

This week I got an e-mail from a friend who's selling a whitewater kayak for a friend. It must be the season because I got another e-mail about from another friend who has a cousin selling a wood kayak. This prompted Dave to remind us that he has a wood kayak for sale too.

Yep, everyone and their cousin has a kayak for sale.

If you want more evidence, check out the Southern Maine Sea Kayaking Network message board. It's almost all postings about kayaks for sale.

If you're serious about buying a kayak, I have some advice in my old Coastal Kayaker blog.

And Elaine reminds me she is selling the purple Valley. I have a sea kayak and a whitewater kayak for sale too.

What's the fuss?

I'm going to Cabela's this afternoon, and Carey Kish has a preview of what I can expect.

I've never shopped with Cabela's so I don't know what to expect. My impression is that they have a loyal following with the hunting and fishing crowd. I'm curious to see what they have for the rest of us.

I offered my ideas to earn my loyalty in a blog about this for MaineBusiness.com. What do you want in a gear outfitter?

I thought I was being healthy

Have you thrown away your Nalgene bottles yet? There is concern that your water will pick up Bisphenol A from your bottle and cause cancer.

The New York Times says Canadian Retailer Bans Some Plastic Bottles

A trade group says don't worry so much.

From what I can understand this can be a problem if the plastic is type "1," "4" or "7" and you:

Put very hot water into your bottles
Freeze water in your bottles
Keep bottles after the writing wears off. (That apparently is a rule of thumb)

Boiling and freezing can encourage particles of plastic and the chemicals that make up the plastic to to your liquid. If the bottle is old enough to lose its printing, the particles could naturally leach into your drink. Then the particles accumulate in your body.

Crap.

This winter I've been sticking Gatorade-filled Nalgenes (Yep, there's a "7" on the bottom.) into the microwave. Starting a winter hike with hot liquids can be a lifesaver. One of the bottles I used hasn't been readable for a year and half. And of course in the summer I like to freeze the bottles to make sure I can have a cold drink during the day.

About the only way I could make this worse is if I decorated the bottles with lead paint, filled them with hot tap water and kept them in asbestos insulators.

If falling off mountains doesn't kill me, will the Nalgene bottles? I could have skipped boiling water in my Nalgenes. But if I didn't start with hot bottles, they would have frozen in my pack. How's that for irony? And I remember when warm tea in a Nalgene seriously helped me stave off hypothermia during a rescue.

I come nowhere close to having the background and knowledge needed to advise anyone on this issue. But speaking personally, the risk was offset by the need. You can disagree and make your choice. Do your research.

Luckily, Nalgene will help me out. They're discontinuing BPA in their bottles. I can spend my stimulus check on new bottles.

All about the gear

I found a few stuff sacks and a first aid kit at Mardens on Tuesday for some decent prices. There were some decent deals on Thermarests but I could live without a new one so I passed.

It's that time of year that people are looking to add more gear to their lives. In case you're looking for the big stuff, I got a few leads for you.

Bikes

The Great Maine Bike Swap is Sunday. It's a good chance to get a second-hand bike.

Kayaks

If I had a dime for every time someone said "Hey if you know if anyone selling a kayak...." Well I know someone. The Complete Paddler in Denmark is going out of business. He's selling his boats and gear at a discount. That's too bad. I have talked casually with Jim Stanicki a couple times, and he strikes me as a decent guy. I hope everything works out for him.

If you can wait a month, the Lincoln Canoes & Kayaks consignment sale is May 17-18. It's also an opportunity to get rid of your extra boat.

If you score a new (to you) bike or boat, let me know where.

Outfitting at Mardens

I just heard that the Marden's in Portland has some outdoors gear. I haven't checked it out yet but word is that there are packs, stuff sacks, water bottles and Thermarest mattresses. Maybe 50 percent off retail.

If you beat me to the store, let me know if you get anything good.