Some proven items
Most recently the Big Agnes sleeping system, but as far south as you are going you probably won’t want a sleeping bag.
A Thermarest chair kit. That way your sleeping pad works as a chair with good back support.
MSR Whisperlite stove. My one is over 25 years old and still cooks up a storm.
LED headlamp with spare batteries.
Maps printed on regular paper, then treated with Thompsons Waterseal from the spray can not the brush on stuff (I have maps that have been in the Boundary Waters over 5 years of trips and they are still waterproof, foldable, and can be written on)
Cooking hearty meals is part of our trips, but doesn’t sound like you’re headed that direction so I’ll spare you the yummy food stuffs.
My Dehydrator
Of course I don’t take it with me, but I make delicious dehydrated meals before I go. After a wonderful day of paddling, nothing like a gourmet meal in the wild. I also love my bakepacker, to make cornbread, brownies, fresh bread…
Donna
Gear…
A stormy trip on the west coast of Vancouver Island reinforced that a tarp large enough to cover your tent and provide some covered room in front of the tent for chores, etc. is a real help in stormy weater. (Moss/MSR Parawing works well–I’m hoping to make a silnylon version of this for next year at probably less than 1/2 the weight and bulk)
When it’s blowing hard and wet and not fun to be out of the tent for long, a stove like the MSR Pocket Rocket or even better, the Jetboil system ( http://www.rei.com/product/760622 )that can be carefully used in a tent vestibule are a welcome gear addition when it’s nasty.
One or two dehy food companies make meals in Al foil that the air has been sucked out of to save space. If you know you’re going to be using a meal soon, you can buy the regular dehy meals for less, poke a small hole just below the ziploc seal pushe the air out and use a good tape over the hole. Save space for less.
You know you’re free when
you walk through a kayak or outdoor gear shop and want for nothing. I have a bunch of gear (new) given to me that I may sell off real cheap. Sometime I’ll put up a list.
Agree with Pilotwingz. Do what makes ya happy…for me that’s light and quick.
My Pentax Optio WP
has been in my PFD vest pocket with a laynard for 4 years now and i don’t leave home without it. I’m amazed it’s survived my abuse in the pool, surf, w/w, and the weeks long trips on the BC coast.
I do get jealous of some finer looking pic’s from other cameras but when I think of how I just reach in the pocket with one hand w/gloves on and snap a pic with a moments notice and then drop the camera to get back to the business of paddling, I’d be foolish to upgrade. Being careful with a camera is just not in my nature.
Kelly Kettle
A Kelly Kettle and you can pretty much forget carrying fuel. If you use water out of a pot to do your food this is very fast.
I have been fumbling with a Peak Stove and had Paul pass me a cup of tea.
My buddy had . . .
. . . one. He forgot to read the instructions, left the stopper in and nearly scalded himself to death.
I guess if you are really good with it, it is fast. I can fire up the Peak 1, brew up and have it put away before he can find enough fuel to burn in the thing.
Preparation H
– Last Updated: Nov-29-08 4:17 PM EST –
OYO
FE
A few of mine
– Last Updated: Nov-29-08 11:49 PM EST –
A freestanding 1-person tent (I used a Eureka Mtn Pass XT-1 in Alaska and other places but have since bought a Hilleberg Unna that I have not yet used).
A down sleeping bag just warm enough for the coldest nights anticipated (synthetics did not pack small enough for the same temps). It goes into a compression dry bag with a purge valve, for maximum compression.
A ThermaRest Women's Prolite 4 pad, which at 5'6" long is long enough for me and shaves off the excess length I used to carry.
A tiny camp stove made by Markill; it folds up and fits inside a small cook kit. A folding spork (Brunton MyTi) to go with that. Some Esbit firestarter cubes (double-bagged because they smell funny) as back-up for the stove. They burn hot, unlike Sterno cans.
A Sweetwater filter, with Katadyne purification tablets as back-up.
Cigarette lighters in the emergency kit, the cook kit, and the toilet kit.
Princeton-Tec EOS headlight with spare batteries.
Tapered "bow" drybags which also fit in the stern.
Spare set of socks in the emergency kit can double as mittens. A thin polypro balaclava that rolls into almost nothing can be worn while sleeping if you get an unusually cold night.
A thin wicking set of long undies can be used as both paddling underlayers and as quick-drying sleepwear or daywear if worn with shorts over them.
Here's a really cool gizmo: someone made some strong thin line, some small attachments, and a modified film canister into a laundry-line kit. I bought mine at REI. The whole line tucks into the film canister when you aren't using it.
Collapsible bucket (PVC) can be used to filter water in, to carry small items in one trip, and to dump water over self for a "shower."
Things that can do double- or triple-duty definitely are valuable.
Imodium
And a big box of wine - just take the inside bag.
memo to self:
Quit giving free gear to salty
Good stove…
I use…
Posted by: coffeeII on May-12-03 8:40 AM (EST)
A SVEA stove, you can find it in a catalog or on line at www.cheaperthandirt.com. It is called (in the catalog): Military 5 piece cook set, but in the real world it is called a “SVEA” Alpine stove.
Me and my friends have been using these for sometime now & they work great!! It all stores into a 7x9x4 (roughly) aluminum cookpot, and comes with a 2-quart pot and a lid (plate), stove, windbreak & fuel bottle. They run off denatured alochol (very inexpensive). And they are considerably light for their size, about 34 ounces. They aren’t the fancy “fold up, stick in your shirt pocket” propane/butane stoves, but can cook up a good meal in afew minutes.
They are “VERY” inexpensive (BUT very durable, mine gets thown around in my pack or slid around in my kyack unrelentlessly), 3 stove sets for $15 on the “sale pages” or around $7 each.
Check it out, They work!!
I own two of them. On the bottom of the “stove part” it is stamped SVEA. The ones I have run off of denatured alcohol ($1.35 per gallon, and lasts forever). Go back to www.cheaperthandirt.com & look up part # ZRW-170 Military 5 piece cook stove. I am looking at the picture in the Cheaper Than Dirt catalog right now & I wnet out into the garage & grabbed my stove, it is right in front of me…
Thanks for double checking though
Coffee
Kayak paddles for tarp poles
Kayak paddle and spare paddle as tarp poles. The rubber drip ring acts as a stopper to keep the rope from sliding down the shaft. Just tie a half hitch above and a double half hitch below the drip ring and it will hold through gale force winds.Fully extended the paddles raise the tarp high enough to stand up. If I just need a bivvy I use half a paddle.
20-liter dry bag for carrying dry kindling and dry wood.
Jet Boil personal size and Jet Boil group size so I cook more than one thing at a time. Use the pot as a bowl. Jet Boil repair kit tucked in the kitchen bag. The Jet Boil canisters can be recyled. Just puncture and smash flat so they take up nearly zero room in the pack.
Tundra tarp is the first thing up and last thing down at every campsite.
ENO hammock and bug net set up under tundra tarp.
Big Agness 30-degree Fish Hawk down sleeping bag for most trips, with Thermarest prolite 3 in the sleeve. In colder weather I use a 45-degree down Mountain Hardwear Phantom as a bag liner. It stuffs to the size of a softball, smaller by far than a fleece bag liner.
Merino wool long johns, long tee, gloves, socks, balacava for really cold nights and I use them as an underlayer for my drysuit.
Blaze orange fishing vest over PFD. Many pockets for flares, lights, VHF, SPOT, compass, camera and binocs, tow tether and tow rope. Paddle float and bilge pump attach to deck bag. Deck bag clips to back of my PFD for portaging.
Popcorn popper
The popcorn popper my buddy brought along on an 8-day trip is not something that makes my list for kayak tripping. Probably, I wouldn’t even take one for canoe tripping. But since I wasn’t the one packing it, I thought it was an awful nice luxury item.
At the end of the day Steve would pop us a batch of pop corn that we’d munch with our drinks while we watched the sun going down. Fresh, hot popcorn is a treat any time.
My buddy Steve somehow fit it into his kayak. He brought one of those metal boxes, with a long folding handle so it can be used over a fire, and holes in the slide-open top. Overall size, before the handle was about 6x12x5. Indirectly, I guess I was carrying it, since we combined our camp kits to eliminate doubles and then split up the kitchen and camp items between our boats, based, more or less, on who could fit what. So maybe I got a few extra pounds of gear as a result of him taking the popper. We used it every day.
A popcorn popper is something you won’t see on many expedition gear lists, and it doesn’t have any other uses as far as I know. Silly, and I guess you could cook popcorn in any pot with a lid, but not with the same style.
~~Chip
take good care of it
"We’re sorry, but this product is no longer available."
Any recommendations for a good GPS?
looking to be able to load maps of the south America coastline as well as northern South America
Paul
they don’t go on a plane.
but neither does a kayak.
You would likely have to buy them when you rent your kayak.
It makes for a good tip when you bring the boat back.
The outfitter will likely be able to resell the flares.
WHAT YOU MEAN “SOME”, KEMOSABE?
– Last Updated: Dec-03-08 8:06 PM EST –
LOL, Paul, of COURSE we did! Cervesas of all stripes save the Jaimaican Red, vino, and spirits all to precede, accompany, and follow the Most Excellent Repast. And I had a cigar and a single malt the day before, AND the day after, to boot!
And as to expedition packing? Don't believe everything Jack sez, except that Nanci keeps things rolling -Sally says Nanci is everybody's mother -because when they go on an expedition, they take a trailer fer cryin' out loud!
Looking forward to you making it down this time.
Hope you get some good advice and tips here, so on your anxiously anticipated amazin' Amazon adventure, you'll leanly, P-NET expertly, and happily,
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
funny
this isn’t for the Amazon trip. That is already planned and set. this was more of a what woudl you bring and what is out there that serves double or triple duty. surprised I haven’t heard frisbees as plates, something to stand on while changing, cutting board for cooking, and oh yeah recreation. or paddle floats as pillows and water carriers.
Paul
my thermos trick…
I have a good thermos that I use on almost every trip. In the evening while cooking I make hot coffee, tea, chocolate, or whatever and put in the thermos. It goes in the tent, in really cold weather it goes in the sleeping bag with me. In the morning I have my morning brew without leaving my sleeping bag. While cooking breakfast I make more hot stuff and sip on it during the day and when I arrive at camp.
I prefer my Liquid Solutions thermos, Nissan are good as well, but the Primus ones have been pretty bad.
My other trick… I use the water from making pasta for my coffee or hot chocolate. Saves water, saves fuel, and adds a bit extra to the drink.
My other trick… corn starch - apply liberally to remove the grit before you get into your sleeping bag.