The gentle sandbar of the Carver Campground was a welcome site after an 11 mile canoe trip down the Buffalo River in Arkansas.

Campground Review:

Recently spent several days paddling the waters of the Buffalo River in Arkansas. This was the last day of our trip and proved to be the most gentle leg of the river. We put in at Pruitt Landing and headed out on the 7 hour trip to Carver.

We had been on the river several days prior to this leg and the water had been running fairly fast and murky. However, after a couple of miles into this trip, the river widened out and it turned into a calm float down the scenic river. Lots of beautiful cliffs, caves and foliage.

We hit the pull out point of our trip at the base of Carver Campground. The area was out of the way of fast moving water so it was easy to guide our canoes in. The sandbar was small river rock and provided a very clean and easy way to end the water portion of the trip.

While the put in/pull out portion of the camp was open and convenient, it is at the base of a fairly steep hill. Add to that that the road leading down to the waters edge from the campground was a dirt path that was wet and slick, it did make getting our crafts up a little rough. Several trucks were trying to backdown the road to put in and gave up when they realized they may get down but wouldn’t get back up.

The campground itself is a small 8-10 site camp. This is a basic “river float” campground and really didn’t offer anything other than a place to camp. No trails or activities that we could find but we weren’t looking for or needing that.

Each site had ample room but not much privacy. Kind of an open area with some shade trees so you could see and hear all of the other campers in the area. Again, not bad for what we needed it for but if you are looking for a secluded, activity rich campground, Carver probably isn’t for you.

Each site had a fire pit and picnic tables. There was a common use water faucet that made refilling water containers and clean up easy. This is a tent camping site so did not see electricity or dump stations should you have an RV. Very well maintained vault restrooms for such a small campground. There was way more parking available than what was needed for such a small campground so it was obvious that it is used as a parking/pick-up area for many more visitors than just those that spend the night.

Overall, the campground served its purpose well. A place to clean up, use the restroom and lay your head down for the night. Great stop for float trips!

River surge warning forced us to bed down for the night at the Erbie Campground along the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. It was a welcome and comfortable site for our sore, wet bodies!

Our group of 9 guys had planned a canoe/kayak trip to the Current River originally but heavy spring rain flooding had left our route muddy and littered with debris. Last minute change of plans put us on the Buffalo River.

Plans were to set in at Kyles Landing and paddle to Ozark Campground for the night and then reach Carver Campground the next day. Because we were going it alone, we dumped the gear at Kyle's and then a couple of guys took one vehicle to Carver. LONG DRIVE! Much longer than we expected so by the time they got back, we were really late in the afternoon.

Some commercial guides who were pulling out at Kyle's informed us that heavy rains upstream were headed our way and would create a surge sometime in the late evening. Told us that it would not be a slow rise.

Finally put in and paddled for several hours. The river was up and running fast from the get go and canoes did tip and gear got wet. Around 8pm, we had stopped on a sandbar and as we were talking, you could see the river rising. Being about a 1/2 mile from Erbie, we decided paddle quickly there and pull out rather than chance it by going all the way to Ozark. GLAD WE DID!

River side of Erbie has a great primitive loading and unloading area. We were able to easily paddle in and carry the kayaks and canoes up about 25 yards to a safe and dry area. There was a circle road that, should we have wanted to use Erbie as our put in or final take out area, it would have made gear unloading and loading very easy. In the area of the ramp, there was a wide open space of freshly mowed meadow, a parking area, a vault bathroom and a half a dozen picnic tables. Looked like the perfect place so we pitched our tent and broke out our kitchens. Turns out that we weren't really in the camping area of the campgrounds but we didn't realize it until morning when it the light came up.

The real camping area was better equipped. Some designated spots were fairly primitive with just a grill area and a picnic table but others had full pad sites with water and electricity. The designated camping areas were nestled in trees and were nicely spaced. Many offered a very "remote" feel to them. There were at least 3 vault restroom facilities but while we were there, only the one in the parking area where we camped was open. Not sure why as there were quite a few other campers in the area. There were also several "communal" water hydrants but all were locked. Since there was no camp host that we could find, we never did find out why there wasn't water available. That was disappointing but we just may not have known the details on how to get access to the water.

Overall, the campground was well maintained, seemed safe, and the the restrooms were clean and stocked. We liked the remote feeling of the area and the river access was excellent. I would recommend Erbie to those needing a spot to stop on a float trip.

Pros:

Cons:

I'm not an ultra light backpacker so do keep that in mind regarding my evaluation. First the specs. The bag weighs in at 35 oz and offers an R value of 5. It is a wide 30 inches and a long 76.5 inches. It is designed with V chambers to limit air movement and comes with a cinch down bag and repair kit.

Again, not being a hardcore, ultra light backpacker, the 35 ounces wasn't a concern. As long as it is durable, warm and comfortable, a few extra ounces are worth it to me.

Being 5'9", the 76.5 inch length was more than adequate and the 30 inch width allowed me to do my normal tossing and turning without hitting ground. Fully inflated, the pad is a whopping 3 inches thick and extremely comfortable. Being so thick, I felt no discomfort when I was side sleeping. Something other pads fail at. I believe it has to do with the design as there didn't seem to be any air movement between the chambers when fully inflated.

I read somewhere that it takes 50-60 breaths to fill it up but my experience was only 25-30. You'll be blowing in and not seeing much happening and then all of the sudden it's full. Not sure if you would be able to use a pump to air it up but don't know why you would. 25 puffs and lest than 2 minutes and it is fully inflated ready for sleeping. Deflation is as simple as releasing the valve and pressing the air out.

The valves are very durable looking. I was inclined to try to "unscrew" them to open an close and that caused me some confusion in the beginning. It's more of a push/pull and a twist maneuver. Guess they expected me to be smarter that the pad!

This trip was my third opportunity to use the Insulated V Luxe. Man have things improved since my first sleeping pad! I highly recommend the Klymit Insulated Static V Luxe pad. Durable, comfortable, warm and affordable - all good things in my book!

See my video review HERE

CRKT is a 20+ year old knife company offering quality affordable knives for multiple uses. K.I.S.S. stands for “Keep It Super Simple” and the Ed Halligan designed Sweet K.I.S.S. does just that. Slim, sleek, and sharp!

This is a knife that is designed to where around your neck and used for emergency personal protection. Yes, that means, should you be in harms way, this is a knife you could use to defend yourself from an attacker. I do a lot of hiking and camping alone and while I am not overly concerned about running into people with bad intentions, I do like to be prepared.

While its main purpose may be for personal protection, I wanted it to test it out as a useful tool in my outdoor lifestyle. It’s overall length is just over 7 ½ inches a modified tanto blade with a black oxide finish measuring in at just over 4 inches. The blade is made from 8Cr13MoV which is a pretty good material for an “every day carry” knife. It won’t hold an edge as long as a better quality steel but does sharpen easily you can get a wicked sharp edge on it.

Being a neck knife, if found it very convenient on the canoe trip. The knife was very accessible but still out of the way. The cord is adjustable and has an adjustable stop on it that would give way should it get hung up on a branch or something. Nice feature to prevent getting strangled by your own knife!

Not really into single use items, I did want a knife that could do more than just stand up to stabbing an attacker. The incredibly sharp edge made slicing camp food a breeze. Check out my video HERE to see how easily it went through a ripe tomato.

Extremely pleased with the knife and would highly recommend it should you have similar needs.

Pros:

· Light but durable

· Easy to get to in emergency situation

· VERY SHARP out of the box

· Perfect tension to hold inverted in sheath but easy to get out

· Great looking

· Affordable

Cons:

· Little dangerous if your hand should slip on the thin, short handle

· Leather lanyard on end is nice for added “real estate” when pulling out or gripping but could be made more substantial