Adieu to 'Hippie Burner' airtight stove

 

The famous airtight sheet metal stove

If you dropped into just about any trapper's cabin, ice fishing shanty, hunt cabin, backyard workshop or hunting tent any time in the past century, chances are the wood-burning stove shown above was heating the place. It was the GWM airtight stove, made in Winnipeg.

These stoves, made of lightweight steel, came in several sizes and could heat just about any space.

They were so lightweight that you could easily pack them into float planes, ski planes, canoes, snowmobiles and toboggans. If you got the 20-inch size, or larger, the stove pipe lengths fit handily inside for transport.

And if you didn't have a special cooking stove, the top of the old airtight was big enough for a frying pan and a percolator or tea kettle.

A real bonus was they were cheap like borsch. Imagine getting a wood stove for $60 -$120.

Alas, they are no longer made. The company stopped manufacturing them during the pandemic. What are we all to do now?

How did they get the hippie-burner nickname? Well, back in the day when there were hippies all over the country experimenting with drugs and free love and getting "back to the land," they often chose this model stove for their hippie shacks because they were so cheap. They were totally unprepared for how hot the stoves could get. We're talking red-hot if the draft and pipe dampers were left in the wide open position which could happen if you were passed out or just outside following behind the little animals.

Anyway, not only did the stoves get red hot but also the stove pipe going through the ceiling and ultimately, the roof. These people had no concept of things like clearance to combustibles or insulated chimneys with the result a lot of chip-board shacks and, unfortunately, old log buildings that had been left abandoned went up in flames.

But if you were bush-wise, the stoves could be operated safely and despite their thinness lasted several years before they would get burned out and would need replaced.

At our former hunting and fishing lodge west of Red Lake, these airtight stoves heated the cabins for 30 years without incident. I replaced them with more substantial heavy steel stoves with glass doors when Brenda and I took over Bow Narrows Camp from my father, Don, in about 1996 or so.

When we began building the "Dockhouse" at our current cabin site, I bought the 22-inch model shown in the photo to heat the 12x24 building. This was the year before the pandemic. Turns out that stove was one of the last ever made. We never used it. The dockhouse was going to become a two-bedroom guest cabin when our bigger place was finished and locating the stove in a 12x12 space that was going to have a king-size bed in it became problematic. So we opted for a small propane wall furnace for this place instead. 

Then we finished the big cabin last year and installed a high-efficiency Drolet Savannah model stove with a glass door. So the airtight became surplus. I sold it on Kijiji this fall, along with its stove pipe and damper for $100. It sold immediately.

Inside view shows legs and heat shield

Happy New Year! 

Here's a posting I made on my old blog about New Year's Resolutions for Fishermen.

I hope you enjoy it.

Here's a tip before you slip

Wind River Rundle winter shoe

Six years ago I went out with the dog before going to bed one night. I literally was just going to walk around the house while the dog did his thing. When I came back inside 10 minutes later my life had been drastically changed and almost ended. I had slipped on an icy driveway and hit my head, breaking my skull and leaving me with a severe concussion.

I was lucky. Our friend, Bob, a Lutheran minister from Minneapolis, told us later that he had one of his parishioners do exactly the same thing -- walking the dog, slipping on ice, hitting his head. He came into church the next day with the concussion but then died shortly after.

My first concussion symptoms were a terrible headache that lasted for weeks and dizziness that could be brought on by things like walking down a long aisle at a store. Eventually I also realized I couldn't taste or smell anything. That turned out to be caused by brain damage from the blow.

Again, I was lucky. For one thing, I didn't have any brain bleeding, something that the doctors found remarkable considering the big crack in the back of my head. 

Today, I have what is called post-concussion syndrome. I get migraine headaches, brain fog and loss of balance from time to time. I am able to taste most things but am impaired in my ability to smell. I can't smell a skunk, for instance, or gasoline. Cucumbers, on the other hand, smell so powerfully that I can hardly be in the house when one is being cut up.

As you can imagine, I'm pretty motivated now about not slipping on ice again. For the first couple of years I wouldn't go outside around the house without Yaktrax or other over-the-boot ice-gripping aids. But these type of devices are cumbersome and cannot be worn while driving the car or when walking inside at the store. They would also damage the floor. 

Then I saw CBC's Marketplace program about this research institute in Ontario that tested all of the best brands of winter footwear for their ability to prevent slipping on ice. Only one company, Wind River, passed the test. They had a patented Ice FX sole with imbedded crystals that poke into the ice surface. 

I immediately found a pair of the boots at Marks Work Wearhouse and wore them for the next two winters. 

Ice FX crystals bite into slick icy surfaces

These were a hiking boot style, perfect for snowshoeing or other outdoor activities where you are  active. They would not be warm enough for sedentary things like ice fishing, however. 

Anyway, I found them to be just as advertised when it came to gripping ice, such as on the driveway, sidewalk, or parking lots. I never slipped, not even once.

However they were a bit too restrictive for driving the car. My feet would tend to go to sleep, for instance, on the hour-drive to Thunder Bay from our house. And if worn for extended periods inside stores or at other functions they were too warm. So I've had my eyes open for a winter shoe, rather than a boot, that has Ice FX soles, has some insulation for winter but is not too bulky.

I found it a week ago, again at Marks. It is the Wind River Rundle shoes with Ice FX soles. These fit like a glove, are warm but not overly so, and most importantly let you adhere to ice like a fly walking up a window. 

I see Ice FX soles are now offered on some other brands of boots too. It is a game-changer.

I think we should all be getting Ice FX boots and shoes each winter, just like we get snow tires.

My old Wind River winter hiking boots

Watay power line great environment news

 A huge environmental win took place Dec. 13 with the completion of the Wataynikaneyap Power transmission line to 12 northern First Nations north of Red Lake and Pickle Lake. Five more First Nations will be added in the near-future.

This means these northern communities will no longer be using diesel-powered generators for their electrical needs.

The Watay Power company is majority owned by 24 First Nations. They have been planning and working on the power line project for 35 years.

The megaproject includes 1,800 kms of transmission lines and 22 substations in Northwestern Ontario.

The two lines of the project run from Red Lake to Sandy Lake and Pickle Lake to Bearskin Lake with another branch to Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug or Big Trout Lake.

Another big transmission line is proceeding from Thunder Bay to Atikokan and on to Dryden. The Waasigan Transmission line will bring an additional 350 megawatts to the region. That is more than twice what it now takes to power Thunder Bay.

Hydro One and nine First Nations are behind this endeavour which is in the construction phase and will be completed by the end of 2027.

More power from electricity and less from fossil fuels -- just what the environmental doctor ordered!

Where did Ojibwe get canoe birchbark?

There are moments in winter that are just spectacular

When we came to Thunder Bay in 1979 one of the first things I learned was that Nipigon, 100 km to the northeast, had exceptionally large white (or paper) birch trees and that native people came from all around to get it when they were making birchbark canoes.

Other than those word-of-mouth stories, I have never been able to confirm this. But if it is true, then did people from far-off places like Red Lake -- 575 km away by road but much farther by canoe routes -- travel all that way just for birchbark? Did they trade for it up closer to Red Lake? Did they go to Nipigon and then make the canoes on the spot? Was there a canoe-making industry in Nipigon who sold/traded canoes to other First Nations?

Does anybody know?

If only we could make a buck on homeless

 If there was money to be made on homelessness, it would vanish overnight. It sounds stupid, but that is in fact the case, isn't it? Our world revolves around making money, making a profit. So, as crass as it sounds, as it truly is, how can we get rich off the homeless? There is the question to ponder this Christmas season, this Giving Season.

Let's just look at what we've done for the homeless so far:

We have given them a meal. But they are HOMELESS.

We have given them socks and underwear. But they are HOMELESS.

We have vans of first-aiders treating their frostbite and giving them rides to emergency rooms. But they are HOMELESS.

Free coffee, free water. But they are HOMELESS. 

We have a couple of shelters where a few of them can sleep cheek-by-jowl at night if they can pretend their fellow residents aren't screaming at mental demons or are threatening to kill them. A frozen tent on the side of the road seems a better alternative for many. 

Here in Ontario our premier, Doug Ford, has hit upon a solution.

"Enough is enough," Ford thundered this week, a nice three-word slogan repeated by his fellow Conservatives. Slogans work best if they are three words it seems. "Axe the tax," are about the only words federal Conservative leader Pierre Polievre says these days and apparently, according to the polls, he will become our next prime minister.

Anyway, Ford is going to show he is tough on homelessness. That is the old dichotomy right-wing thinkers like to pose for every social predicament. "Are you tough on crime or soft on crime?" Same thing for the homeless now.

"Enough is enough!" Either stop being homeless or face a $10,000 fine and up to six months in prison!

You can't make stuff like this up. People who don't have enough money for a room in the cheapest rat-infested accommodation are going to be threatened with $10,000 fines. That will show them!

Ford has also shut down safe-injection sites, including here in Thunder Bay, and believes all homeless people are drug addicts who simply chose that as their lifestyle. And to show he isn't really the Grinch, he is promising to increase drug treatment facilities in the future. But the homeless are here now. We need answers now.

Thunder Bay almost made a decision that would have made a difference. City administration who were tasked with finding a solution recommended using a vacant city block as the site of temporary individual homeless shelters. These would be small, box-like structures that would have a door, window, bed and not much more. But they would be heated and would have a door that could be locked. They would be arranged around a central comfort station with flush toilets, showers and washing machines. 

And that, according to the homeless themselves, would be a huge help. Here is what they say is so important to them: a place to be secure, a place to get warm, a place to safely store their belongings, a place where they can charge their cell phones, a place with an address.

You can't get a job if you don't have an address. You can't get a job if you don't have a cell phone. You can't get a job if you and your clothes aren't clean.

What about addiction? There is no hope of moving out of addiction if you don't first have safe shelter. Period.

Lots of people became homeless because of marital breakups, lost employment, illness or a combination of these things. Most of society today is living pay cheque to pay cheque.

Hardly anyone wants to be an addict. But when you are living on the street here are the cold, hard facts: you don't have $2,000 for an apartment; you don't have $200 for a motel room; but you do have $20. A bottle of alcohol or a hit of fentanyl is the only way to make life tolerable.

The Thunder Bay plan got squashed when businesses in that area had a fit. They don't want to see a homeless village in their area. There's no money to be made from them.

Merry Christmas.

An incredible survival tale from 1869

 I ran across this story in the Nipigon Museum blog. It's about an old, handicapped Ojibwe woman named A-GAT. The story comes from a Hudson Bay Company trader.

Click here for the whole story.

Ok, I've found a reason to believe

Something cheery, this 300-pound deer was caught on my trail cam in Nolalu this week

 I've been looking and looking for something positive and I've finally found it. Of all things, it's nuclear waste!

After 14 years of exploring geologic formations and consulting with communities, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization has selected Ignace as its future site for a $26 billion deep geologic repository. Ignace is an hour's drive east of Dryden.

It will be the first of its kind in Canada and will create hundreds of jobs both during construction and in operation. It has the approval of Ignace and Wabigoon Lake First Nation residents. I believe it will be the largest economic venture ever taken in Northern Ontario.

I'm sure many of my friends and neighbours will be shocked to learn that I support the creation of the repository. All over Northwestern Ontario, including here in Nolalu, people have "Say No to Nuclear Waste" signs in their yards. 

Am I not an environmentalist? As a matter of fact I am. Then what gives?

Let me start by asking this simple question: Is there nuclear waste in Canada? Yes. Ontario has three nuclear power plants, all in Southern Ontario. Quebec has a decommissioned plant that might be revived and New Brunswick has an operational one.  Where are spent nuclear fuel rods now stored? In pools of water and in above-ground vaults right at the plants. If you knew nothing else about the process, which sounds safer? Surface storage or a mile deep in granite? It's a no-brainer, isn't it?

Opposition to the repository comes from fear that somehow radioactivity will leak or there will be accidents in hauling the waste. The NWMO people have spent the past 14 years explaining to town councils, environmental groups, First Nations, and anyone else who is interested why that won't happen. Their system of packaging has multiple layers of redundancies that prevent intrusion by water, breakage by physical force, rust and everything else. The Ignace site was chosen for its particularly stable rock formation.

If anyone refers to the repository as a nuclear waste dump then they are fear mongering. The site will be an underground city. 

This is a permanent solution to a major environmental threat that has existed since the creation of nuclear power plants. 

It will be 10 years before work begins on the repository and 20 years before it begins operation. This is what responsibility looks like.

Attention now turns to the best way of transporting the used nuclear fuel in the safest manner. I would suspect rail will be chosen over highways. 

There are lots of environmental studies and permits to get and people to be trained. But let's be clear, this is a real solution, a major environmental victory for Canada.

 One reason I have been so bummed out came a couple of months ago when I read something from a young woman who was also fighting what is called climate fatigue.

"Individual actions are important," she said, "but they are not the solution." Solutions require systemic change.

I realized that I am a solutions guy. I don't do things that make me or other people feel good just for the moment. I want to fix the problem.

If you ask me to catch "the mouse" in your house, I won't stop until I mouse-proof the building because I know there is no such thing as one mouse.

Electing Trump and his anti-knowledge mob means all progress stops on climate solutions, just when there is no time left for inaction.

I found hope in the least likely person -- Canadian environmental guru David Suzuki. I had the misfortune of interviewing Dr. Suzuki one time when I was a journalist. He had been one of my heroes as he advocated for environmental awareness and protection on his radio and television shows. Then I met him in person and discovered he loathed all white people but Americans in particular. He picked up on my American accent and tore a strip off me. I wasn't the only one he disappointed that day. He had just addressed the graduating class of Lakehead University where he said that thanks to people like them, the world was going to hell. Happy graduation.

I never watched or listened to him again but recently began reading some of his newspaper columns. It was there he said that Trump's plan to destroy everything about green energy is not going to succeed. The cheapest way to produce electricity is by wind and solar generation, a fact not lost on American energy producers. Texas, for example, has an enormous green energy sector. "Drill, baby, drill," is meaningless when no one wants the oil.

Finally, I looked up one of the most insightful columnists I know, Gwynne Dyer. Now living in London, England, but originally from Newfoundland, military historian Dyer said that Trump's election does not mean the fall of the American Empire, at least not immediately. The Roman Empire survived for four centuries with rulers like Caligula and Nero -- men pretty similar to Trump. His election means nothing but bad tidings and some of the worst of those will be for Americans. 

As Thomas Jefferson famously said, "The government you elect is the government you deserve."

So Americans are about to get what they deserve. That's not my business. I don't live there although I have family that do.

Unfortunately, I feel Trump will also bring world chaos. I would say there are about even odds that he will bring about a world economic depression and a world war. I think there are only slightly less odds that he will invade Canada, something he brought up yesterday in a meeting with Prime Minister Trudeau. Aides said he was joking but Trump doesn't have a sense of humour.

The best possibility would be that he will be so busy burning Democrats and former Republicans at the stake that he won't have time to attack Canada. That's taking the glass half-full view, at least for non-Americans.