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General Trip Gear

So the "Blue Barrel" and the Preferred Tripping Style" threads seem to show that everyone has different ways they like to travel. In that it is slowly showing that everyone has their own way of storing their gear and in general just different types of gear for different regions. And also different skill levels. For instance I am still pretty new at tripping and still learning what to take on multiday trips.

Like I never knew people actually used a hot tent until seeing them here on CT.

Anyways, I was packing for my daughter and I annual canoe trip down the Brazos river and though I would take some pictures of my stuff and how I pack it. Plus I know some here just love my Texas 5 gallon buckets. ;) For us I use 3- 5 gallon buckets with the screw on gamma lids. 1 for the kitchen items, 1 for all the bedding and 1 for all our clothes. This is my "Packing List":

Keys

Battery for phone

WHISTLE

CANOE

  • 3-CANOE
  • 6-PADDLES
  • 5-PFD's
  • BOW LIGHT
  • REPAIR KIT
SLEEPING

  • TENT
  • GROUND CLOTH
  • 2-SLEEPING BAGS
  • 2-SLEEPING PADS
  • 2-DOWN BLANKETS
  • PILLOWS
CAMP

  • SHOVEL
  • FIRE WOOD
  • 2- HEADLIGHT
  • FIRST AID
  • WATER FILTER
  • 2-CHAIRS
  • TP/PAPER TOWELS
  • LIGHTER
Kitchen

  • DUTCH OVEN
  • SOAP/SCRUB PAD
  • 20 PAPER PLATES/20 FORKS
  • 5 BOWL/SPOONS
  • WOOD SPOON
  • WATER POT
FISHING

  • 4 POLES
  • TACKLE BOX
  • CRATE
CLOTHES - WEATHER - HIGH 64-74, LOW 42-48 / PARTLY CLOUDY-CLOUDY
TAILWIND
2-YETI CUP



So what does everyone else use? I know that everyone's list can run from the minimalist to taking the kitchen sink. From using Blue Barrels to Hefty Trash Sacks. But it all depends on where we live, what we have, experience and many other factors. There is no right or wrong way to pack or trip.

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When I worked, had access to free olive barrels, till they started coming in buckets. They are 20 liters. Three of them, lying on their side, one on top of the other, fit in a large drybag almost perfectly. Most were round, but I have a couple that are kind of squared off, which makes them even better. The screw lids were originally waterproof, but the seals don't hold up. I use them a lot for packing pointy or fragile items. You might ask your local deli if they have them.
And yes, I use dry bags, not Duluth packs.
You can also get icing buckets from commercial bakeries, like in a Kroger store. Often for free. If the O-ring isn't damaged, they are probably still waterproof. If you don't get a screw lid, a pry bar, designed for opening buckets, is handy. I've opened, literally hundreds, so I know how to open them. easily, without the prybar.
 
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If you are planning a BWCA trip in 2022 be aware that the Forest Service has issued this edict for food storage

So.. it seems that Ursacks are out as well as blue barrels and paint buckets with gamma lids.. unless you are hanging.. And Ursacks are easier to hang for sure.

I suspect you are right but, as is often the case, it's not exactly clear. How is anyone to know which containers pass the test? Would an Ursack with an aluminum liner pass? This is a departure from the previous tests where bears were given a container to play with. I predict that the number of injured while trying to hang food will exceed those injured by bears!
 
Good to know.
I always hang food or use a bear proof container anyway, though my usual hanging set-up probably isn't up to their standards.
I plan on using my REI dividend to buy a larger bear proof container and a dry bag that it fits into nicely.
I've seen a number of photos of cars that have been heavily damaged by bears going after food. Don't leave food in your vehicle in bear country.
One nice thing about the rivers of the desert Southwest is there isn't much of a bear problem. Racoons and Ringtails are another matter. Jackalopes have never been a bother. Sometimes I use them to haul gear.
 
Are we still talking about saws?
I found a site that tested a number of folding saws by timing how long it took them to cut through a log.
The one that was the fastest was the Corona tools Razor tooth saw.
I bought one on Amazon for less than $20. Haven't used it, but looks fine.
I also looked at hatchets. The Fiskars X7 looked like the best choice, but I already have a similar Gerber hatchet that is so sharp I could shave with it.
One of the most useful things I take on canoe trips is a sunshade/rain tarp. In the desert it's important to have a place to relax out of the sun and in other places it's important to have a place you can cook and relax out of the rain. I see some people have screened in shelters. I've wished for one of those on a number of trips. Deer flies in the dessert, mosquitos and no-see-ums other places.
 
For desert tripping ( admittedly only a month desert canoeing experience ) but also in Florida beach camping we use a giant beach umbrella that adjusts so that two of us can sit in our Helinox chair in its shadow. Packs down to almost nothing and is quickly deployed.
 
8-10-21 the food storage order was amended . The phrase " solid non-pliable " was removed.
The order seems to apply all year round. Does that mean winter campers will have to comply with these regs. too?
I'd love one of the carbon fiber Wild Ideas canisters. I guess if rules like this begin to applied more widely it would make the cost more bearable. It may also drive more innovation in designing food storage containers.
At the moment I'm debating a second Ursack, I like the idea of splitting my food for extra safety.
For all you hangers, did you watch the video of the bear that took the lid off a barrel hanging from a line in Algonquin Park? Barrel stayed up there but the food was emptied out.
 
Hmmm.

2 drybags, one for stuff, one for food for me and the dog for one month.

1 30 degree bag, one zero degree bag.

Tent is built onto canoe, never comes off, just unzips around the bottom and rolls up.

Dry suit, 2 layers of long underwear on me, 200g insulated pants and jacket on me. 1 pair long underwear so I can dry stuff.

3 pairs wool socks. 20 pairs liner socks I burn them.

3 pairs thinsulate pack boot liners

1 pair neos stabilicer overshoes, but I don't bring shoes, the socks, liners and drysuit booties fill them.

Solar panel and camera gear.

Silky katanaboy, Kershaw camp 14, couple other knives.

MSR reactor, 3 propane cans, extra pot for cooking over fires, no plates. Titanium fork and spoon cause I'm fancy.

Cotton balls and Vaseline. Bees wax. Glacier sunglasses (cheap). Multiple balaclavas. Ice pick things to pull myself back up on ice. Life vest. Pulling harness. Cut off downhill skis. Wooby hoody and sleeping bag woobie I sewed together to make a quick warmup suit for coming out of the water after you've been in a while. Slippers or crocs, depending. A book to read on camera (visual audiobook?). Some rope, maybe some climbing tackle just pulleys in case I need to pull the canoe up something steep. Or lower it. Not taking that this trip hope it works out.

Pipe and tobacco. Bottle of whiskey. Maybe a small amount of weed, but I don't really smoke, its in case I run into anyone who does, kind of an ice breaker. Rechargeable flashlight and headlamp.
Pulling straps for me and the dog.
1 paddle hope it doesn't break.
Goretex shell gloves and mittens with 2 pair liners each.
Karate kid headband.
Some first aid stuff, fish antibiotics, medical stapler and tourniquet...some ferro rods and gear maintenance stuff, sewing kit, oil, a leatherman. US flag and Illinois flag are sewn to the tent, I want to carry an Illinois flag on a pole this year, so Iowa can see it, and know.

Can't think of much else. If its warm I just take less insulation. I don't filter water, just boil.

The drysuit is my clothing for the trip. So no coat or pants or raingear. No tarps needed its a drysuit, I can just keep walking. My head gets wet sometimes, but thats not too bad, and when its really cold it doesn't rain and the balaclava sort of sweats and freezes and gets more windproof.
 
Got today off, because I fell about 14 feet off a plank. My shoulders hurt but not too bad, maybe ok. Have to forgive the construction, I started spending money on better gear for trips. Uh, tent is 230 denier nylon, dwr and poly coated on inside, seam sealed with that clear rubber stuff from Walmart? With me and the dog the condensation is fierce, 1/4 inch of frozen "snow" in the morning, and the top of sleeping bag is usually soaked and frozen. Works ok though. I can just stop on the ice, jump in and sleep.
 

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Oh, I meant construction on the trailer. Yeah, the tent is solid. Theres a segmented pole that runs underneath inside a channel. Waterproof YKK zippers. Its OK. I'm going thwartless this trip, so it feels extra roomy. Honestly, I might carry a hammock once in a while, but its so convenient to just sleep in the canoe. This spring I'm getting a 15 or 16 pakcanoe, and I'll make a color matched expedition tent to go on it. Then I can carry 400 pounds of gear if I want. Once the canoe is on skis on the ice, it basically weightless to pull, except when you go in and the canoe joins you in the hole. Then its pretty heavy lol.

I rode the planks and ladders down when I fell so I didn't just freefall the whole way. Its still not great tumbling around in a loaded tool belt onto landscaping features. Ended up pulling something in my shoulder. 2 more weeks and I should be free, and on the water for the next couple months if all goes well.
 
I love gear talks, part of why I joined this site. But I’m going TRY and keep mine simple.

Outside of the normal, tent, sleeping bag, chair, axe, etc etc. I’ll try and touch on some highlighted items. Also, whatever list I have,
It it can’t fit in my pack and/or my wife’s pack, it might get left behind or swapped out. My pack is the Seal Line Pro dry pack 70L, wish it was the 115. Wife uses a Gregory hiking pack in 55 L. And most things are organized in smaller dry bags internally, by color.

So, my pad is the Big Agnes insulated air core. I chose this one because it’s only insulated on the top half… meaning in the summer I can flip it over and not have insulation directly underneath me

My water filtrations is the Platypus gravity works 4L with extra bottle caps, and it’s used regularly. I also don’t have a problem drinking directly from a stream in vast wilderness.

Something else that I used to use was a throw line and a throwball from work to hang all of our smelly stuff. I saw somewhere on this site that somebody talked about the Fugal Innovations bear hanging kit. Smokes! Genius idea!! That’s EXACTLY what I use climbing to remove my weighted friction off of tree limbs but in a tiny version. I recommend for anybody who hangs there food/gear. It beats retractable micro pulleys and limb/tree destruction.

I pack a collapsible tenkara rod, with flies and extra tippets. It packs down to something like 20” and extends out to 12’. A simpler fly fishing idea that I actually do love.

And lastly, I bring a gas powered generator to power all of our electronics and speakers. I figure… hey, nobody is around….🤫
 
The usual. I like to bring an axe in case I have to make a paddle. I hide it when people start drinking.
I like a tarp to set up in the rain to cook under and still see out. Good for the heat.
We bring coolers with fresh food and do not portage except in emergencies.
I like furniture, a chair, a small table to cook on. a 2 pound cot for rocky shrelines.
 
The usual. I like to bring an axe in case I have to make a paddle. I hide it when people start drinking.
I like a tarp to set up in the rain to cook under and still see out. Good for the heat.
We bring coolers with fresh food and do not portage except in emergencies.
I like furniture, a chair, a small table to cook on. a 2 pound cot for rocky shrelines.
I need to get a trap and learn how to use it. If it was just me going I would probably use it more so than a tent. Do you use something like this for a table?
1641994867352.png
 
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