Climbing mountains and fording streams.

A 1982 article in Southern Outdoors described Sheldon Coleman Sr. as a "blend of superlative sportsman and masterful businessman."

By his own calculation, he had paddled some 5,000 lifetime miles. He knew as much about traversing various kinds of waterways as anyone and won the hearts of canoeists and fishermen alike with a line of Coleman-branded marine products. Made of a revolutionary petrochemical formulation, the RAM-X® canoe was nearly indestructible. And unlike a boat with an aluminum hull, the Coleman® craft scarcely made a sound if it clipped a rock or grazed a sand bar.

A small stove, descended from the GI Pocket Stove, was the first product in a line of lightweight, high-performance backpacking gear. The Peak 1® line grew to include sleeping bags, lanterns, tents, cookware and a pack with a revolutionary plastic frame as opposed to the traditional welded tubular aluminum. Other products would join the lineup. And another Coleman would join the company. In 1981, Sheldon Coleman Jr. became the third generation to be part of the business, which was turning out 15 million products a year by the end of the decade.