- Joined
- Apr 20, 2022
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Very inventive… I have been considering one of his products… to reduce weight but keep the Soave or increase the living area… much appreciated
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Happy National Blueberry Pie Day! 🫐🥧
What is your traditional canoe kit for tripping?
- Thread starter Crazy Trout Craft (CTC)
- Start date
Robin, where did you get pole connections for your canvas tent ?
Trip length makes no difference. All that changes there is food, and my trips are usually overnight if backpacking, 2-4 overnights if canoeing, and rarely as long at 5 overnights. To me, everything is about the portages. The older I am, the lighter the canoe. For hard trips it's a Hemlock Nessmuk II (22lbs). For easy trips, it's a Chestnut Chum (55ish lbs).
The other thing that has settled as I've aged is the gear I prefer. I have two shelter options, ground tarp or hammock, depending on Spring/Fall or Summer (bug net). Haven't used a tent in ages. Sleeping bag is similarly related to season... I have two down bags (20* and 35*F rated) and one 10*F quilt for winter, as well as two hammock underquilts (35* summer and 10* winter). The winter hammock setup really has nothing to do with canoeing, merely used to illustrate the point that I have time/exeperience-tested preferences, and like to have a couple options related to temperature/season.
My ground tarp is almost invariably a medium weight synthetic tarp (10x10, 28oz) set up as a plowpoint most of the time. It's a little heavier than it could be, but resistent to sparks, and bombproof in the rain. Also didn't cost a small fortune. I have also made trips using a polytarp Whelen Leanto, and love it... but at 3.5lbs vs 1.75lbs, it's not always worth the weight cost.
My packs are simple. Main compartment/bag, 2x side pockets for water/fuel bottles, and a middle compartment for use as a 'junk drawer'. I also like a web/mesh of bungie cord for wet items. My two favorites are the GoLite Gust (90L) and the GoLite Jam 70. Both will swallow a 30L or 35L dry bag, which are what I use for Summer and Spring/Fall canoeing, respectively. The larger capacity allows for the larger sleeping bag and additional clothing in Spring/Fall. This simple design allows me to very quickly stow items that i might need while paddling in that main compartment without having stuff strewn all over the place. I've seen people waste a lot of time unloading their canoe at a portage, and having a simple pack seems to make that smooth for me. I'd love to try an old duluth-style pack someday, but they are a bit price for me.
I have used canvas military packs as 'kitchen' packs, but don't love them. They seem heavy for what they are, and when your whole load minus food and water is under 20lbs, it seems pointless to carry that in a 4-6lb pack. The advantage of having more than one pack is that you can level the load more easily.
My kitchen is stupid-simple: lexan mug in Spring/Fall, Kool-Air jar with cozy for keeping rehyrated meals hot, a lexan tablespoon, and an old aluminum 5-cup pot. I have larger and smaller aluminum and titanium pots, but keep going back to the 5-cup one most of the time. 8-cups is handier in the Spring/Fall, especially if you want to bathe or wash clothes in it, but sometimes I just keep the 5-cup one. I generally don't carry a fossil fuel stove, prefering a cookfire, but I do carry a small alcohol stove (.3 oz) and 4-8oz of fuel in case of a particularly rough day when I just want to eat and get into bed, or a cold morning where I just want hot oatmeal and a cup of tea as quickly as possible without getting out of bed. To support the cookfire habit, I often carry a folding saw and hatchet, but you can also just use smaller hand-breakeable sticks and split them, if needed, with a knife. Again, depends on the trip.
Clothing is an area most people overpack in... I wear wool socks and T-shirt, quick-dry nylon pants, overshirt, and underwear, something on my feet, and something with a visor on my head (cap or boonie hat). I also carry a 3oz blaze orange knit hat when it's warmer, and a heavier black one early or late in the season as temps dictate. It's about the cheapest warm layer you can add, for the weight. I generally only carry a pair of socks as 'extra clothing', and sometimes a cotton T-shirt to sleep in. In spring/fall I add a thin fleece shirt, and wool long johns and long sleeved Tshirt. If it's really chilly, I may had a down vest, but that's more for backpacking when it's too cold to canoe. I waver back and forth between rain gear and poncho, but either will serve as a wind-breaker at about the same weight cost. I rinse my socks, underwear, and t-shirt during my daily 'hotest point of the day' duck bath, and my pants/shirt as needed (every 2-3 days in summer, every 3-4 in Spring/Fall). I generally just put the pants and shirt on until the undergarments dry, or the longjohns/long sleeve shirt if I'm carrying them, as most of my afternoons are spent lying around camp reading anyway... If you get cold, just wrap a sleeping bag around yourself until your clothes dry.
There are two or three luxury items that come on some trips... First is the afore-mentioned cotton sleep T... this was necessary when I lived in LA, less so now that I'm living in MD and playing in VA/MD/PA/NY/NH. Another is an 18oz Helinox chair, which can move almost anywhere, vs an 8oz 'sling chair'/half-hammock. This becomes necessary when camping with someone. It becomes more necessary with age. But the sling chair is far simpler and more comfortable on a solo trip; you just have to hang it where you can, not where you necessarily want it. And in summer, if I bring my hammock, I don't carry the Helinox. The third item is a wannigan. This is only for my wood-canvas canoe, as it is likely going to be an easy journey with few portages. This makes a nice seat, card table, dining table, and kitchen storage spot. I may at that point also add a frying pan and some more things to my kitchen set. Again, this is more for an easy trip, and sometimes that means more participants... no one in my family wants to portage from Slang to Clamshell to Fish Pond with me... but some will go on easier trips.
All of this becomes exponentially more complicated when bringing someone along... one reason I like solo travel, or certain paddling/backpacking partners who essentially subscribe to the same simplicity mantra, and you're just solo-trekking together, really only sharing a cook fire (and all four of my favorite partners are morning people who will get up and make a fire early.)
The other thing that has settled as I've aged is the gear I prefer. I have two shelter options, ground tarp or hammock, depending on Spring/Fall or Summer (bug net). Haven't used a tent in ages. Sleeping bag is similarly related to season... I have two down bags (20* and 35*F rated) and one 10*F quilt for winter, as well as two hammock underquilts (35* summer and 10* winter). The winter hammock setup really has nothing to do with canoeing, merely used to illustrate the point that I have time/exeperience-tested preferences, and like to have a couple options related to temperature/season.
My ground tarp is almost invariably a medium weight synthetic tarp (10x10, 28oz) set up as a plowpoint most of the time. It's a little heavier than it could be, but resistent to sparks, and bombproof in the rain. Also didn't cost a small fortune. I have also made trips using a polytarp Whelen Leanto, and love it... but at 3.5lbs vs 1.75lbs, it's not always worth the weight cost.
My packs are simple. Main compartment/bag, 2x side pockets for water/fuel bottles, and a middle compartment for use as a 'junk drawer'. I also like a web/mesh of bungie cord for wet items. My two favorites are the GoLite Gust (90L) and the GoLite Jam 70. Both will swallow a 30L or 35L dry bag, which are what I use for Summer and Spring/Fall canoeing, respectively. The larger capacity allows for the larger sleeping bag and additional clothing in Spring/Fall. This simple design allows me to very quickly stow items that i might need while paddling in that main compartment without having stuff strewn all over the place. I've seen people waste a lot of time unloading their canoe at a portage, and having a simple pack seems to make that smooth for me. I'd love to try an old duluth-style pack someday, but they are a bit price for me.
I have used canvas military packs as 'kitchen' packs, but don't love them. They seem heavy for what they are, and when your whole load minus food and water is under 20lbs, it seems pointless to carry that in a 4-6lb pack. The advantage of having more than one pack is that you can level the load more easily.
My kitchen is stupid-simple: lexan mug in Spring/Fall, Kool-Air jar with cozy for keeping rehyrated meals hot, a lexan tablespoon, and an old aluminum 5-cup pot. I have larger and smaller aluminum and titanium pots, but keep going back to the 5-cup one most of the time. 8-cups is handier in the Spring/Fall, especially if you want to bathe or wash clothes in it, but sometimes I just keep the 5-cup one. I generally don't carry a fossil fuel stove, prefering a cookfire, but I do carry a small alcohol stove (.3 oz) and 4-8oz of fuel in case of a particularly rough day when I just want to eat and get into bed, or a cold morning where I just want hot oatmeal and a cup of tea as quickly as possible without getting out of bed. To support the cookfire habit, I often carry a folding saw and hatchet, but you can also just use smaller hand-breakeable sticks and split them, if needed, with a knife. Again, depends on the trip.
Clothing is an area most people overpack in... I wear wool socks and T-shirt, quick-dry nylon pants, overshirt, and underwear, something on my feet, and something with a visor on my head (cap or boonie hat). I also carry a 3oz blaze orange knit hat when it's warmer, and a heavier black one early or late in the season as temps dictate. It's about the cheapest warm layer you can add, for the weight. I generally only carry a pair of socks as 'extra clothing', and sometimes a cotton T-shirt to sleep in. In spring/fall I add a thin fleece shirt, and wool long johns and long sleeved Tshirt. If it's really chilly, I may had a down vest, but that's more for backpacking when it's too cold to canoe. I waver back and forth between rain gear and poncho, but either will serve as a wind-breaker at about the same weight cost. I rinse my socks, underwear, and t-shirt during my daily 'hotest point of the day' duck bath, and my pants/shirt as needed (every 2-3 days in summer, every 3-4 in Spring/Fall). I generally just put the pants and shirt on until the undergarments dry, or the longjohns/long sleeve shirt if I'm carrying them, as most of my afternoons are spent lying around camp reading anyway... If you get cold, just wrap a sleeping bag around yourself until your clothes dry.
There are two or three luxury items that come on some trips... First is the afore-mentioned cotton sleep T... this was necessary when I lived in LA, less so now that I'm living in MD and playing in VA/MD/PA/NY/NH. Another is an 18oz Helinox chair, which can move almost anywhere, vs an 8oz 'sling chair'/half-hammock. This becomes necessary when camping with someone. It becomes more necessary with age. But the sling chair is far simpler and more comfortable on a solo trip; you just have to hang it where you can, not where you necessarily want it. And in summer, if I bring my hammock, I don't carry the Helinox. The third item is a wannigan. This is only for my wood-canvas canoe, as it is likely going to be an easy journey with few portages. This makes a nice seat, card table, dining table, and kitchen storage spot. I may at that point also add a frying pan and some more things to my kitchen set. Again, this is more for an easy trip, and sometimes that means more participants... no one in my family wants to portage from Slang to Clamshell to Fish Pond with me... but some will go on easier trips.
All of this becomes exponentially more complicated when bringing someone along... one reason I like solo travel, or certain paddling/backpacking partners who essentially subscribe to the same simplicity mantra, and you're just solo-trekking together, really only sharing a cook fire (and all four of my favorite partners are morning people who will get up and make a fire early.)
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2022
- Messages
- 219
- Reaction score
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This is excellent information .. I really appreciate the simplicity theory you apply, thank you for the detailed report. I will certainly be applying some of your practices
