343 days left until Canoecopia!     March 7 - 9
Canoecopia is presented by


Presenting Sponsor





Location
Alliant Energy Center
1919 Alliant Energy Way
Madison, Wisconsin

Show Hours
Friday: 3 PM to 8 PM
Saturday: 9 AM to 6 PM
Sunday: 10 AM to 4 PM

Tickets
1-Day: $15.00
3-Day: $30.00
Ages 17 and under are FREE
Cash or check only for tickets purchased at the event

Parking Fees
1-Day: $8.00
Cash or credit, fees collected by Alliant Energy Center

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Level Six Portage Gear Bag
So you just had the Best Day Ever on the water. Your dry suit and PFD and skirt are soaked, and you need to change in to dry clothes. What do you do? 14-year-old Jim would have forgotten about the need for dry clothes until it was far too late, rolled the wet stuff up somewhere, probably in a far corner of the truck and forgot about them until he (maybe) smelled the mildew. But older and wiser Jim has a better idea. Grab Level Six's Portage Gear Bag, and open the top and one of the side pouches exposing mesh fabric. Put the wet stuff inside, hang the bag where gentle breezes can waft by, and grab the dry clothes from the protected other side.
Ok, so both past and present Jim can see the value in such a thing, what are the details? Well, it holds a whopping 90 liters of storage, packs down to something not much larger than a large pizza pan, carries easily with either a clip-on duffel or a backpack harness. The outer TPU material is abrasion resistant so you can use it for years outdoors. Top-notch YKK zippers are used everywhere.



Level Six Voyageur Canoe Seat Pack
The perfect accessory for the canoeist. Fundamentally it's a glove box for your canoe, but it's much, much more. First, unlike a glove box, you get a cushion for the canoe seat. Then you've got the very convenient under-seat storage, obviously, but this pack goes one better. It's insulated, so your cold lemonade can stay cold, or at least a lot colder than it would out in the sun.

Level Six Algonquin 55 Canoe Pack
The Algonquin canoe pack is a modern take on a timeless piece of gear. It's 55 liters of storage fits in the nice Goldilocks range of being neither too large (encouraging overloading) nor too small (not as efficient). It's top loading for extra security, and built like a lightweight tank. It's comfortable (ok, as comfortable as carrying a pack can be) with it's air mesh back padding and weight distributing hip belt.

Stanley Pour Over
I like the simplicity of Stanley's Pour Over. It's honest. You pour hot water over the organic material of your choice, and in due time a delicious decoction is ready for you. So what is it, really? It's a stainless steel body with a stainless filter and a tough, removable filter. The body can hold up to six cups of water, but can easily make just one cup if that's all you're after. It fits their coffee mug perfectly, naturally, but any cup or insulated container will work fine too. Since the filter is stainless there's no extra waste from a paper filter. At the end of a week or so, if you want to put the filter in the dishwasher or give it a good soap and rinse, no one will complain.

Thule Tepui Foothill
Rooftop tents are really big in the outdoor industry. They're quick to set up, guaranteed not to have deep pools of water forming under your tent when the skies let forth with torrents of rain. They're so flexible. You can set them up practically anywhere. You get a lot less interaction with wildlife as you're up high. Also, you tend to get a better view as you're up higher.
Most rooftop tents lay dibs to everything in sight, like a fast-growing teenage boy at a potluck. I imagine that most roof tents look at the available crossbar spread and say 'Right! All of that is mine.' If you're just off hiking in the hinterlands, that's probably fine. If you're also interested in taking a boat along, that's more problematic. Well, it used to be, anyway. The Tepui Foothill takes up about 24 inches of rack space, leaving you with enough room for 1-3 kayaks. See? Another reason why it's good to share.

Council Tool Sport Utility Flying Fox Woodsman Hatchet
Has Council Tool moved into the lucrative automotive industry? No. Their new hatchet has plenty of utility (it can do all of the cutting and chopping you'd expect of one). It has a hardened poll (the flat part at the back opposite the cutting edge), which is great if you want to drive tent stakes, pound a nail back in, or adjust something with a well-placed whack. (Most of your axes? Don't have a hardened poll. Don't pound with them.)
Ok, so that's the utility side of things. Where's the sport? The hatchet was developed with specific design parameters and qualifies for competitive throwing in both major urban axe throwing organizations. So, very sporty, actually. (Do people actually participate in throwing competitions? Oh, they very much do. It's a blast. You should try it.)

Council Tool 5 lbs Splitting Axe
An axe is an axe, of course, unless the axe was turned into stacks of plaques for a fellow named Jaques. So you wouldn't normally think there's much that could be done to improve it. Fairly well established technology. The folks at Council Tool did not agree. They gave it a redesigned head, specifically a larger poll, and tweaked the wedge shape to make it safer, more ergonomic, and a more efficient tool. Small, detailed changes, but awfully nice to have.

Council Tool 2 lbs Hudson Bay Axe and Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe
Council Tool's new 'old-school' take on the iconic Hudson Bay design starts by making a taller eye (the top of the axe where the handle can be seen) for a more secure attachment to the handle. The thin cheeks have been made more wedge-like to make it better at splitting camp wood, and the head has been rebalanced for better control, especially one-handed. The poll is also hardened so it can be used as a hammer to smite things. The 'standard' axe is made using 1060 carbon steel - good stuff that holds an edge well. The Velvicut is made with 5160 carbon steel which is tougher and harder yet. The Velvicut is tempered to a final Rockwell number between 52 and 56.