I’m on a perpetual quest to pare down my gear collection across 6 different sports and make things do double duty. Goals: simplify my life, reduce storage space, save money, make it easier and faster to pack for trips.
Here are my dilemmas and my tips about kayak and kayak camping gear. What are yours?
MUKUKS VS BOOTIES
I have both mukluks and booties. I have yet to wear the booties. It seems like mukluks are what I need in the cool months. Then the weather seems to go quickly from cold to hot and I switch to crocs all summer.
I know a lot of people wear booties, but are they necessary if you have mukluks?
DECK VS UNDER DECK BAG
I go back and forth about the deck bag. I hate to have anything cluttering up the deck, and food gets hot up top. But an underdeck bag is less convenient—you have to haul it out each time you want some small thing. It does keep food colder, though. Which do you prefer?
LIGHTS
My tip (doesn’t apply to sea kayakers, who have more specific needs): Get the most powerful small lights you can afford and use the same lights for kayaking, biking, hiking, backpacking, and camping. Use two together for increased power. I have a Coleman headlamp and flashlight, both about 75 lumens.
TENTS
I’ve pared it down to three tents: (1) backpacking/bike camping, (2)kayak camping, and (3) car camping. I’m sure #2 is unnecessary, but it’s a bit more luxurious than the backpacking tent.
SLEEPING BAG
Here I got it down to just one: a 35-degree down bag seems to work in temperatures from 25 to 70F. Highly recommend the LL Bean 35 semi-rectangular.
MATTRESS: Got it down to one, the Exped Synmat 7. Heavy for backpacking, but unequaled comfort makes the extra weight worth it.
UNSOLVED DILEMMAS
STOVES: Have 3 and don’t want to give up any of them.
LANTERNS: I don’t know of one lantern that both is small and light and lights up a large area. I have four.
I do it differently
DECK VS UNDER DECK BAG
I go back and forth about the deck bag. I hate to have anything cluttering up the deck, and food gets hot up top. But an underdeck bag is less convenient---you have to haul it out each time you want some small thing. It does keep food colder, though. Which do you prefer?
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I don't keep ANYTHING on deck. I keep some stuff in my PFD pocket (energy bar, water). Things like sunscreen/bug spray are INSIDE, not ON the boat. At most I would need to access them ONCE and once only. So I don't see the point of on deck bags.
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LIGHTS
My tip (doesn't apply to sea kayakers, who have more specific needs): Get the most powerful small lights you can afford and use the same lights for kayaking, biking, hiking, backpacking, and camping. Use two together for increased power. I have a Coleman headlamp and flashlight, both about 75 lumens.
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I do it differently. I have a VERY powerful helmet light for biking! There's also one on the handlebar that's not nearly as powerful but longer lasting and quite small. That gets taken on camping trips as back up light to my one single low power headlamp for hiking/camping/kayaking! :D
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TENTS
I've pared it down to three tents: (1) backpacking/bike camping, (2)kayak camping, and (3) car camping. I'm sure #2 is unnecessary, but it's a bit more luxurious than the backpacking tent.
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Yep, lose tent #2.
If tent #1 is too spartan for kayak camping, take tent #3. If it's too bulky, replace with a good compact one that has lots of space and feature as kayak/car camping tent!
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MATTRESS: Got it down to one, the Exped Synmat 7. Heavy for backpacking, but unequaled comfort makes the extra weight worth it.
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I have 2: RidgeRest (foam) for car/backpack, light weight and most comfortable. ThermoRest for kayaking/bike where space is at a premium.
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UNSOLVED DILEMMAS
STOVES: Have 3 and don't want to give up any of them.
What I have: 1 white gas: WhisperLite, one canister (?)
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LANTERNS: I don't know of one lantern that both is small and light and lights up a large area. I have four.
Me: Don't "need" lantern since I have head lamp. But have 2, one run on battery the other on gas.
I found most trips my lantern never got used. I've been leaving them behind lately.
Unique scenarios
Waterproof doesn't mean water-resistant so some
of the gear I use kayaking is extremely specific.
If all I want to do is boil water, eat freeze dried,
and make tea or coffee, then stove "X" works.
Other scenarios demand stove "Z" for cooking.
Sleeping bags ditto - unique/specific
Lighting ditto - unique/specific
I bought it, I own it and it will work for another
10 to 20 years with some TLC and maintenance.
Not paring down anytime soon in my future.
Deck bags none
Under or over. Aside from spare paddles, a strap on compass if no deck compass and a pump (behind me). if I can’t fit in a PFD pocket or be accessible in the day hatch I don’t need it. (I have a hydrator pack on my PFD.)
Lights - all waterproof lights I have tried end up not being waterproof after a while. I am myself moving to cheapo and discarded, because it is getting pricey to keep replacing supposedly waterproof ones.
Little opinion on the rest of the stuff - we have just basic 3 season camping gear because we are mostly fair weather campers. But I have found the same issue with lanterns as with supposedly waterproof lights - they just don’t last worth a darn for me.
It’s easy
I loose a lot of stuff or misplace it. So that when it is time for a trip I can only find the bare essentials.
For example on tonight’s hot dog paddle I remembered the grill, dogs, lighter, kayak, paddle, and hat. But I forgot the raincoat, DEET, and grill tongs.
Somehow we we able to get by in spite of it all. Next time I really want to find the tongs and bring some peach cobler. Maybe one day I’ll even remember the bug spray.
Thanks for the reminder
MUKLUKS VS BOOTIES
I prefer booties: a mesh pair for flatwater use and an over-the-ankle solid pair for WW (won’t get pulled off). I still have mukluks and keep forgetting to put them on Craigslist. I like the lighter weight and lower bulk of booties.
DECK VS UNDER DECK BAG
Neither.
LIGHTS
Water-resistant headlamps, kept in drybags. The much more powerful bike light I used to run had short battery life, very expensive battery, and I no longer have to recreate only in the evening. So I got rid of it.
TENTS
I no longer car camp from a tent; I sleep in the back of a truck. For solo kayak camping, I use a one-person tent. My husband and I have a 2-person tent for when both of us go.
SLEEPING BAG
Down mummy bag for backpacking or kayak camping. Big semi-rectangular synthetic bag for truck camping. I also have a pristine synthetic mummy bag that I don’t use now but will replace the big bag when that one’s worn out. I’d sell it if I thought I could get a decent price for it, but who pays much for a used bag, however perfect condition it’s in?
MATTRESS: ThermaRest women-specific 4-season pad for backcountry use. Big comfy oversized ThermaRest for truck camping.
UNSOLVED DILEMMAS (not for me)
I have two: a tiny lightweight one for backcountry use, and a $20 unit that uses the ubiquitous heavy propane canisters, for truck camping.
LANTERNS: I just use headlamps.
Thanks for the reminder to try to sell my mukluks!
HA! FUNNY!
You remind me of an old ex boyfriend. On a two-week trip to the Adirondacks he INTENTIONALLY left all of the cooking implements at home. We had no dishes, no utensiles, nothing. He wanted to prove to me that I was “too attached to material things” and should learn how to get along with less. I was not amused. I made chopsticks and a birch bark plate.