one low tech
solution to carrying water in a sea kayak is to use half gallon plastic soda bottles--they are much easier to store, go through the hatches a lot easier and are a lot cheaper than anything else I've found.
you are having metric trouble too?
never seen a half a gallon soda bottle!
LOL (sorrry).
And those freeze beautifully too. The only downside is that in some kayaks you can get them stuck in the bow…we had a hilarious time last January hanging upside down over the edge of a chickee…trying to dislodge a bottle from the bow and holding the bow up in the air…
whoops–2 liter I mean not 1/2 gallon
the list so far
Outback oven
Quality GPS
Steri pen
Spot device
Down sleeping bag for compression and warmth
Flares as emergency and fire starters
Good quality tarp and bug shelter
Hennessy hammock or equivalent
Thermarest chair kit
Kelly kettle
MSR Wisperlight Stove
Svea Alpine
Jetboil or pocket rocket
Preparation H
Sven folding saw
“something to make you start and something to make you stop”
cigarette lighters in all kits
¾ size pad
laundry line kit
collapsible pvc bucket
headlamps and spare batteries
2 liters soda bottles for water
katadyne or Aquapur tablets or drops
Frisbees as plates, cutting boards, something to stand on while changing, etc
Paddle floats as pillows and water carriers
Frisbees?
What size frisbees?
olive cleat
neat item:
http://www.coatesmarine.demon.co.uk/r58-99.htm
what do you call them here I wonder?
(small) images of the cleat
I haven’t seen them here (in the US).
I brought back a bunch after my 1st trip in Australia.
I use them for everything, eg: cinching things down on the deck.
(spare paddle, deck bag, etc.)
I put a couple of shots of them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/andrewsmitchell/OliveCleat
(btw, if there is any question, when tightened, the cinched down bungy with the olive cleats are quite tight - I’ve gone through a lot of stuff - losing nothing (a few trips up the ‘surfy’ coast of Aus.) )
Andy
i wonder if a good ships chandlery
somewhere woudl have one. the problem is finding out what they call them here.
Paul
THEY HAVE THEM AGAIN!!!
They are called a 5 piece cookset.
Paddle easy,
Coffee
instead of a down sleeping bag
try the Mountain Hardwear Lamina & Ultra Lamina series of sleeping bags. Almost as packable and lightweight as down, but they perform much better when damp.
MAYBE ANOTHER ONE FOR THE LIST…
Well, let's make that two:
1) Depending on where you are, a door mat made from an old bathroom towel or even a bath mat keeps the gunk out of the tent. In our most recent case -indeed, here in Florida, even inland, the most frequent case -it's sand! And if you've been walking around, it's WET sand stubbornly clinging to your feet/water shoes -and does it more easily than sitting inside with your feet outside as you towel your feet or bang shoes together to get the sand off.
Now perhaps this isn't something to take along on a bare-bones expedition, but it's not really a "luxury" item, either. If you can make space and carry the slight extra weight, it's real handy.
As to packing cigarette lighters hither & yon in your gear?
2) Good idea -but make them CIGAR TORCHES if you can, at least one of them a 3-jet model. They work REAL well, can handle a LOT of wind better than matches, Zippo-type fluid+wick lighters, disposable butane lighters. They can easily be used sideways -and in one case I personally know of and can attest to -upside down. Just be careful of who -and what -is on the rightside up of that particular shootin' match, so-to-speak...!
Both these items will make for a more pleasant time when you're stationary on your expedition, in-between the possibly even better times you
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
The Bic lighters . . .
. . . don’t work when wet. I take the spares and wrap them seperately in a sandwich bag and then a wrap of duck tape. Wet lighter will eventually dry out and work but after a cold weather bath . . .
One idea…
I use, and haven’t seen adressed is the space under your legs while kayaking.
When tent camping, a layer of closed cell foam can be fitted to the floor of the kayak cockpit, and used as a mini mattress, or supliment a thin thermarest.
And to think how I used to bust someone’s chops for ANY sleeping pad.
Thirty years on, they make a lot of difference.
Another tent tip in the warm regions is a small, battery powered fan. My wife knows I’m nuts, but one of those hand held little doube AA battery thingies can help you sleep when it’s hot and humid. I rig one as a “ceiling fan” in the tent. If you can stand the noise…
T
ScupperFrank,
Your #1 idea is one that we use regularly, but only when kayak camping. We bought a couple cheap mats at Wally World and we roll them rubber side out and strap them on the back deck with all our other long crap, er, gear. It makes a world of difference, especially in pooky (a technical term) weather.
SPOT
Paul,
Drop me a line if you’re interested in hearing about
my experience with the SPOT on a wilderness trip and their customer service.
Sharon
e-mail sent NM
P
more ideas
Shelter: If you’ll be in an area that has trees, you can’t beat the comfort of a camping hammock. I built my own and find that I feel much better after a night in the hammock than after a night on the floor of a tent.
Water: I like to use wine bags to carry the bulk of my water. They are collapsible and take up less space than water bottles. They also have handy valves on them. Make sure you don’t have any sharp edges (screws/bolts, excess fiberglass, etc.) inside your kayak. I also use a hydration pack and a water bottle to drink while paddling.
Survival kit: I like to carry this on my back. I use a hydration pack that has an extra pocket. It contains: a compass, flares, signal mirror, 550 cord, fish hooks, fishing line, waterproof matches, magnesium fire starter, space blankets, multi-tool, elastic tubing for a slingshot, old MRE bags to hold water for drinking, etc.
Safety gear: Manually inflatable PFD from Cabela’s, 14 ft. piece of webbing (1" tubular nylon) tied in a loop, paddle float, spare paddle, tow line, bilge pump, whistle, strobe light, flares, etc.
Food: Instant pasta packets, summer sausage, pepperoni, hard boiled eggs are good for a couple of days or more depending on temperature, bagels, tuna, dried fruit, beef jerky, power bars, etc. I also use a small piece of thin plywood as a cutting board.
Ice: I haven’t tried this yet, but on my next long trip, I’m going to try taking some dry ice in a small soft cooler. It sure is a morale booster to gulp down a cold gatorade in the middle of the summer heat during our Castaway Against Cancer trip. Florida can be great, but the summers are oppressively hot.
Pedro Almeida
www.castawaysagainstcancer.com
Also…
I keep the items in my survival kit waterproof by packing them in vacuum food storage bags. They work much better than zip lock bags. To keep the bags from breaking, I wrap anythig that has hard edges in a thin layer of packing foam before vacuum sealing them in the bags.
LED headlamps are awesome.
GPS and mount: I use a RAM mount with a suction cup base that I ordered from Cabela’s. It holds very securely on my woodstrip kayak.
Pedro
they also
don’t work well in cold weather