yep
The Broze Bros should have made a narrower Express instead of simply cutting down the freeboard although your weight is still good for it. I paddled my Express in a week long trip in Maine with a similar load of water and gear and it was PACKED. I don’t think that hull is really meant to carry around huge amounts even though it’s got a lot of freeboard.
Ok, reality…
– Last Updated: Nov-26-08 11:51 AM EST –
Get rid of the table, get rid of the chair. Take acouple 1qt canteens & acouple 2ltr water bladders, buy yourself a water purifier or desalinator (pending your conditions. Cut your clothing to 2 extra pair of socks & undies, 1 extra pair pants a sweatshirt & a spare "T", buy yourself a bar of irish spring to do laundry with & call it good.
If you are really finiky about putting your food & stuff on the ground, get yourself a towel or a disposable picnic table cover from the dollar store. As for a chair, get $20 nylon hammock from a sporting goods store & use it as a chair in the day- a "napper" in the noon & a bed (along with your tarp) at night.
Problems solved & money saved on a kayak "to hold your gear".
The mindset is to get your gear to fit in your boat...NOT get a boat to fit your gear in.
Paddle easy,
Coffee
Regarding bear canisters
I paddled in areas where they are either required or a very good idea. The Garcia does not fit in an NDK. However, Garcias are not the best because they leak. They are good canisters, but also heavy. There are clear bear canisters that have screw on lids that don’t leak and do fit in NDK hatches. 2 of those and you are comfortable for a week or more. I also own a kevlar bag that works well and comes along with me on backpacking trips.
One thing you need to make room in those canisters for, is all scented products. That includes your suncream, lip balm and snacks in your PFD; your hygiene kit; and anything that has a potential food smell. Store them 100 yards from your camp and no where adjacent to a bear trail. Consider the fact that the beach is a potential grocery store for bears as they flip over rocks for sea food, scavenge washed up fish and so forth, so the beach isn’t always the best place. You might find Dr. Steven Herrero’s book, Bear Attacks: Their Cause and Avoidance to be a good read.
Dogmaticus
I’ve paddled…
Nordkapps, Arluk 1.8’s, Avocet, Romany 16, and now a Chatham 16, as well as a non-production custom boat.
I’ve paddled for 20 years and done some long solo trips in BC, Alaska (to AK), Van. Island, all through SE AK etc. Costa Rica, Mexico, California etc…
Passion is surf kayaking and i don’t do much sea touring anymore unless it’s on a cool trip. I enjoy that.
Coming from an alpine climbing background (guiding as a young college guy) I have the go-light approach. To me a small kayak is like a huge pack and I hate excess gear. I find it’s stressfull, slows me down, does NOT add safety, and is just annoying. I strongly encourage you to carry the “right” stuff, not lot’s of stuff.
That is a whole lot of info I’m not going to type, but there’s good info to be had. Small stove, tarps, good, but small tent, light down bad inside a very light synthetic over bag, no chairs, no big cook kits, you get the idea. As others have said, small nylon stuff sacks lined with plastic bags. Thermarest up in bow along with clothing and sleeping kit, weight near cockpit. tent, cook kit etc. aft.
In front of feet bear cannister and tarps, dromedary bag under thighs. Nothing on deck cept chart.
Have gone for ten days at a time this way but water was plentiful. I will admit that a long solo baja trip might require a bigger boat just for water hauling. I’d still try to go small as I’d need less gear.
As for wet exiting with water bags under legs I have never done that but feel it would be no big deal. I’m very comfy rolling and upside down so I see that as a non-issue. Often I’ll wet exit my surf kayak when coming into a rocky beach to save the fins. That is one snugggggg fit and it’s easy to get out.
Hope this helps. I can tell you I’ve spent many many many days solo in some of the wettest nastiest conditions in total comfort without carrying all the crap. When i go with others I’m blown away at what they think they need. Takes them forever to load and unload and really limits them. My approach is a hard sell i know, but the few who have embraced it speak of feeling more free and being more comfortable.
email me privately for a number and we can chat further if needed. I know G.Bay quite well.
The test is to put a red adhesive dot
on all things brought along on a trip. Peel the dot off if you use the item. Count the dots on things not used. Scrutinize them heavily next time.
Food: repackage and measuring portions is what saves me the most space. I can be pretty no frills in the food department on a trip. Dee-Hi in a zip lock for dinner; Granola, dried milk and dried fruit in a zip lock; A bag of jerky, nuts, string cheese and dried fruit for lunch. (No string cheese in the tropics.)
Dogmaticus
So??? What did you do or buy?
Paddle easy,
Coffee
Will be looking for a while yet?
– Last Updated: Nov-29-08 8:53 PM EST –
I looked up info on sizing for air type mattresses instead of the self-inflating thermarests and think getting one of those will save significant room.
I did some test fitting of water containers in my Elan and think I figured out a way to get more water in it than I have in the past.
I am going to borrow a bear canister from one of my friends and see how it fits in the Elan.
I am going to take a 3 day camping trip this coming weekend in the Elan and am going to try to pack it like I was going out for 5 or 6 days just to see what will fit including the borrowed bear canister.
I was going to sell the Elan and replace it with the tripper and keep the Force 3 for a day kayak. If I can figure out a way to get a bear canister and 5-6 days supplies in the Elan (using some of the suggestions in the thread) I may just keep it as my tripper (mini-tripper may be better term).
If the Elan does not work out I am leaning towards the QCC 6000 at the moment but I still need to review some of the kayaks mentioned in the thread. I have pretty well taken the Explorer off the list because of the hatch size.
Also the comments on the fore-deck of the Solstice confirmed what I thought so it is also off the list.
Mark
ThermaRest Prolite line
Mark, the Prolite pads pack much smaller than the regular ThermaRest self-inflatables. Worth checking out, because they are very comfortable and would be warmer than an air mattress. I use the Women’s 4-season Prolite (it is 5’6" long). You could probably get away with using the 3-season men’s Prolite.
My husband switched from carrying the humongous Luxury pad to the 4-season Prolite and he is happy with it.
A comment on the bear cannisters…
We carry them in front of our feet inside the cockpit. I don’t like Ursacks because even though the bear may not get into them, it makes a terrible mess of what is inside.
We wound up going with Bear Vaults and have both sizes. Even the large fits in front of my feet in all of my kayaks.
We store our water (when we have to haul it–and we’ve had to haul a lot) against the bulkheads usually.
I paddled an Impex Mystic (14’) on a 10-day trip off the Alaskan coast with plenty of room for food, camp kitchen, tent, sleeping bag, pads, tarp and poles, clothes, cameras, emergency equipment, etc., etc.
I didn’t take a table, but I could have put it on the back deck with the spare paddle I imagine.
Currently I have
a 12 yr old Camprest (72x25x1.75) that is just barely ok for sleeping and does not fit inside either kayak. I am using an 6 yr old Ultralite (72x20x1.0) for kayak camping. Its original stuff sack got ruined and I am currently carrying it in a Prolite 4 stuff sack which it seems to fit fine. It is really not that comfortable for me.
I guess want I really want is to carry something at least as comfortable as the Camprest and maybe a little thicker (say 2 in).
Of course you can’t always get what you want so I will keep that Prolite 4 in mind.
Mark
Take a look at the Big Agnes
synthetic fill inflatables. They inflate to over 2"s and pack down small enough to go on multi-day ww kayak self supports. Very comfy, moreso than any of my Thermarests.
Dogmaticus
Even better: Exped downmat
Keeps you warm and cozy no matter HOW cold it gets.
I have both. As space was a concern
for the OP, I left the Exped off the list as it is noticeably bulkier than many Thermarests and my Big Agnes. The big Agnes is almost (not quite) as comfortable. The Exped is simply devine. Blow up is slow using the stuff bag as bellows. It is very warm. If space were an issue, I’d take the Big Agnes. Easy blow up by mouth, too.
Dogmaticus