Carver Campground — Buffalo National River

Had a blast swimming, fishing, and kayaking! Caught 18 inch small mouth bass! Biggest small mouth I have ever seen!

Went with a large group out to the Buffalo River and camped at Carver for the weekend. Absolutely beautiful area! The entire campground wasn't that big, but that's probably because our group took up a majority of the sites. The sites has fire pits, picnic tables, and plenty of room to spread out and relax. Each morning after waking up and cooking breakfast we explored the beautiful bluffs, swam in the river, hiked the trails, and peered out into the majestic valleys from the mountain tops (especially Mt. Judea which is a good distance South of the campground). I definitely recommend this spot!

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!

Gear Review: CRKT Sweet K.I.S.S Knife

As a Dyrt Ranger gear tester, I often get opportunities to evaluate equipment and clothing during my outdoor adventures. On this trip, I carried with me the Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT) 2356 Halligan Sweet K.I.S.S Fixed Tanto Plain Edge Knife to try out.

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