“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze new problems, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

Most other kinds of canoes are a heavy pain in the butt.

I have a 15-foot kevlar Wenonah Advantage C1 from about 1983. It was basically the first fast solo canoe. It weighs about 25 pounds. What a dream it is to carry it or do anything with it!

It has a mellow design in terms of race boats, but it’s much faster than a standard canoe shape.

What makes it versatile for me is that I can tour with it. I can go fishing and lollygag in it. I can also put away the miles. It’s fine on big rivers going flat-out. It’s also great on clogged-up little creeks where I end up carrying it over logjams as much as paddling it—what I call “boat-o-cross.”

I also really like poling it. In fact, I prefer to pole. Most of our local rivers are shallow, making poling just the ticket. I hate sitting down anymore. It’s so nice to stand up in a canoe and take in the sights. It’s the best way to enjoy the water. No bodily stress. All nice bodily action.

But that’s not all: I also really like to PADDLE while standing up. I made up a 6′ 6″ paddle for this purpose. The surfers are really into “SUP”—stand up paddling. A carbon paddle would be best, as my kelvar paddle is darn flexy. If it’s too deep to pole, I do SUP.

The only thing I don’t do in my little old C1 is sailing.

…A sailing canoe would be really sweet.

Having a canoe with a set of oarlocks wouldn’t be bad, either. When you get tired of paddling or sailing, just turn around and row.

But they make really fine sailing canoes nowadays. It’s a whole booming scene. In fact, a paddle-sailing carbon proa can be a blazing fast watercraft. But a type of canoe is called a “50-50″—made for equally being able to sail or be paddled.

I find that weight matters a lot in anything human-powered. So a proper sailing canoe would have a carbon spar and mylar sail, I bet! Sailing canoes are often decked—make the hull and deck carbon or some such, while you’re at it.

A truly versatile, and famous, canoe is the Dreamcatcher, by Verlen Kruger Canoes. It has a partial deck and can be sailed, can be rigged as a trimaraon, or as a catamaran with another canoe. Its seat can be raised for paddling or lowered for kayaking. It’s a rockin’ boat. …Best bought in Kevlar, of course.

Another boat in this versatile category is Bolger’s “Mary Jane.” It’s another trailerable that sails really nice—and it has portholes in the sides for oars to stick out through, so it probably rows well enough, too. One of the world’s quirkiest boats, it’s gotta be versatile!

This camera can do it all.

And you won’t break it while you’re doing it.

Put huge memory sticks in it and use it as a video camera.

Bring along a Gorilla Pod. And a sticky Pod. And you’re ready for anything. (Does it have a remote? That would be cool. I don’t have this cam. It just seems cool. And versatile. I have a Canon sd800…close but not quite.)

The only thing that could beat it would be a Blackberry that offered as good of a camera…and was still shock- and water-proof. …A small cellphone thingy with a QWERTY keyboard, anyway. (I haven’t gone there yet, so I’m just guessing.)

Versatiles are relatively recent, young breeds. They were developed in the 1880′s when a democratic, populist sort of vibe hit Europe. Previously the aristocracy had dogs. After feudalism, and when a man could get a bit of land for himself, he could have a dog. This was a big social deal. Of course, he could afford only one dog. So this dog had to do everything. The breeders, or perhaps just the people, of each European country that hit onto this new level of freedom each developed their own version of a versatile dog. The Germans developed the German Wirehaired Poiinter. The French built up the Griffon. The Italians crafted their Spinone. And the Czechs got a Fusek. Hungary got the Viszla. (Several other famous breeds fall into the versatile category as well. The Brittany is the most popular. The Pudelpointer is a favorite among the aficionados of Germany. The Weimereiner qualifies. Plus a very few others.)

A versatile has to be a family dog, a guard dog (of the house and yard), a work dog (who can pull a cart or sled), a bird dog, a track-following fur dog, and a blood-trail following big-game dog. And a rescue dog.

These are somewhat fancy dogs. Good pups run $500 and are worth every penny.

I, too, needed a dog to do everything. After I learned about versatiles, I also learned about the breed Rescue programs. I made myself known to the clubs. Suddenly we were approached by a local club that had a GWP rescue in need. We went for it. A free elite dog!

Sadly, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. This once-fine dog was abused. As a result it was gun-shy beyond repair. I worked hard with our sweet Daisy, but she’s still afraid of sticks and things that hiss, too. But she’s wonderful. She was 1.5 years when we got her…and she had no name, or didn’t know it, anyway. Her owner was in the military and was sent overseas right when he first got her. All his big plans went to nothing and she was tied up in a backyard without attention.

She did respond amazingly to training of all kinds…except noise. We had a wonderful time learning. All the learning was really on my side. She was game to follow within minutes every time. …If I only knew enough to make it so she could see what I meant. That’s the trick of learning how to train a dog. In a year she learned 34 commands! She was great with sled-dog commands. She could track a scent trail. And she demanded 3-way variety fetches. …She had to be worked an hour a day. After her learning year, she needed a “simple” daily hour of high-energy action of some kind or another. She typically wanted to be worked out across her range of skills every day!

I learned that breeds that can do a lot MUST do a lot! It’s not optional! A capable breed will go NUTS literally if it isn’t used as its body tells it to be used. Basically, each breed should do what it was bred to do every day for an hour. Of course, some are more high-strung. Versatiles are often demanding. They’re big on eye contact. They know what you’re saying, what you’re doing. If you don’t fill your end of the deal, they’ll let you know about it.

We’ve had a wonderful 13 years since we first got Daisy.

…Just no hunting.

She was supposed to help feed our family. …Oh well!

Still…we’ve had amazing times.

You toss a few light loads and a few heavies into your pocket when you set out. Some birdshot, some 4′s and 2′s, a couple slugs. Ready!

If you see a duck… or a rabbit… or a deer… or a coyote… or a goose… or a squirrel… or turkey… you’re all set!

…Too bad the game seasons usually aren’t as versatile.

Savage made or makes this gun in many other configurations as well. .30-30 over 12 gauge. Oooh, sounds pretty neat, to me. Or, .223 over 12-ga. Or, .22 over .410.

Of course a gun like this brings to mind the Marbles Gamegetter. That was a cute little number built on a breech-load pistol frame…in .22 over .410…with, what 18″ barrels…and a folding stock…that fit in a shoulder holster. Oh me, oh my. They were the ultimate pack/trapline/canoe gun.

Now illegal. For no good reason. Were these guns involved with crime? No. Categorically. Sad that they’re gone. Highly treasured as collectibles now, though. (I suppose one COULD modify a M24 to fit a folding stock…)

I also ruminate in my versatile way over the Thompson Center rig. With one action and different stocks and barrels, one could set up FIVE different guns. They make shotgun, big-bore rifle, small-bore rifle, muzzleloader and pistol barrels and grips for the same action! (Now, the pistol option isn’t official, but it’s all the same action…)

Harrington & Richardson (I think) is now re-branded as New England Arms, or something. they now also offer a multi-barreled action—where you can quickly change barrels and have everything that the T/C offers but the pistol.

I suppose most often it’s the skier himself who is versatile—and he uses specialized equipment for each aspect of skiing that he works on.

Super-G, moguls, tele, off-piste, jumping, xc classic, xc skating, biathlon…snowboard.

For instance.

If someone had good skills in all those kinds of skiing, they’d pretty much qualify for skimeister status.

But I have a more practical, everyday—versatile—kind of skiing in mind for the skimeister.

I’m thinking of skiing that you can do out your back door whenever there is snow on the ground. That’s your base level for “best” skiing. Then the more kinds of skiing you can happily do after you leave your house, the more “meister” you are. Most snow country is in mellow terrain, and mellow terrain is the most reasonable for humans to move around in. So when I leave the house I’m doing cross country skiing. And I’ll be going uphill and downhill. I’ll be doing sweeping turns down a twisty trail. I might also do some linked turns down a sloping open field. I might do some fun jumps. I might do some skating on a wide trampled trail or lake. It won’t be groomed conditions.

The ski set-up that I can do the most with is a full-length waxable Fischer light touring ski, about 58-60 mm wide, with sidecut. They no longer make the Touring Light of the early 1990′s—their best all-round ski of all time. Their new BC Country is flat, dull and heavy by comparison (with a soft tail that skids-out) but there’s nothing better out there.

I’m enjoying the new breed of light classic boot along with a NNN binding. It has a pivoting cuff over a regular light touring boot, to give super support in soft and mixed conditions without hardly any extra weight. A Combi boot, basically.

Then I cap it all off with a carbon pole.

I doubt if there’s a ski rig that you can do more with.

This fits in with an integrated worldview, where I try to have one standard for life. It also fits in with a simpler, thriftier approach to life. There are even style points.

It seems to go against the idea of doing any particular thing really well or optimally. But maybe it doesn’t. Perhaps the only thing a versatilist isn’t as good as is a specialist. But he can be “really good,” no sweat.