If all had gone according to plan I would have spent this past weekend packing for our spring camping trip next week. The plan was to do six days in the Allagash starting at Churchill, exploring the lakes for a couple of days before heading down the Allagash River. With COVID-19 things didn’t go according to plan, but I did get together with my camping friends on Saturday for socially distanced, early morning trip on the Nashua River. Conrad was testing the extremes of what you can wear for respiratory protection while paddling – he kept in on whole trip. Five miles, relaxed pace, nice trip.
Video
https://vimeo.com/419428548
Pictures
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eckilson/albums/72157714331162798
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Nice. Glad you got out. The bigger trip will still come off down the line, no doubt. Yer buddy with the resp system looks like one of the storm troopers from Star Wars. Bet that Epic could’ve done the whole trip in 5 minutes.
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Nice day on the water since your original plans were not an option.
You’re right - put a white helmet on him and he would look like a storm trooper. He described it as “a first round BETA test for the AMC Outdoor Leadership Development Committee’s proposed rule requiring facemask for all paddling activities. So far I can say it works as long as you don’t flip. This is an industrial standard 3M respirator with the activated carbon vox filter as the base topped with a p95 particle filter and a tee shirt for a sacrificial layer on the outside. The exhalation valve is covered by a basic surgical mask secured with duct tape. I went for five miles with no problems. I’ll let you know how it works after rolling but I’m thinking this setup could be a challenge with a helmet and chin strap.”
Hopefully the AMC won’t go that far, I know that I’m not, although maybe for the shuttle… 
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“Maskz? Maskz??? We-dough-need-no-steen-king-maskz!!!”
Paddle free or die.
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And Eck, for the young uns’ and thems out there who might not get it…
