Personal gear Part 2 -- The Other Stuff

Sherwood Botsford

I talked about clothing. Now about other personal gear.

Sleeping bag.

Do NOT, I tell you you do NOT bring a cheap flannel lined sleeping bag. Even drying a synthetic sleeping bag is hard. And this is a canoe trip, so sleeping bags do get wet. Even mine. (Ok, once.)

Good sleeping bags are made of nylon shells with polyester filling. There are a range of options in fill,

with some being more compressible than others. The less squishy ones are a bit cheaper. For canoe trips bulk isn't usually much of an issue, unless it increases the pack count. The more compressible ones do have an advantage for backpacking where pack volume is at a premium.

Mummy or semi-mummy are lighter. Barrel cut are roomier.

The inner lining can be either smooth nylon or a textured nylon. The latter doesn't cling to your skin, and so it doesn't feel sticky on a hot night. It feels like cotton. Recommended.

Sleeping Pad

Controversy time here: There are 3 viable options:

1. Themarest or equivalent. These are typically about an inch thick, and have a foam core. The core blocks convection. Expensive, heavy, but they take minimal room.
2. Ensolite pad. These are closed cell pads, usually about 3/8 or 1 centimetre thick. They don't compress at all. But because they don't absorb water they can be strapped to the outside of a pack.
3. Nothing. On most trips I count on being able to find a patch of moss at camp. This does mean I have an occasional bad sleep when I end up on a pile of gravel, or a nice slab of Canadian Shield.

Roof

Here again there is a bunch of different options.

Tent. This is the selection for most people. Do NOT get a Canadian Tire Special.
They tend to not be very water proof. You want a tent that is solidly sewn, and has good quality zippers. Canoe trips tend to be hot, so choosing a tent that has lots of ventilation. The Canadian Shield is tough to pound stakes into. Get a tent that is freestanding or close to it. (Some are usable without pegging anything, but shed water better and breath better if you can stake out a few critical points.

While we're taking about tents: Expand your tent peg selection. The metal wire ones work well in sod, and can be persuaded with enough pounding to go into gravel at campgrounds. They don't hold well in moss. I like the 6" yellow plastic T-bar style pegs. Bring a couple extra. Not only do they occasionally break or lose themselves, but they are an immensely valuable trading item. You can get out of washing a lot of pots with a tent stake at the right time and place.

Tarp. The original voyageurs used a tarp held up by one edge of their canoe. Of course their canoes were a bit larger, and tended to rest on their sides because of the curl on the bow and stern. For the first 10 years or so I was working with the school we used tarps for all trips. And even at the time of the school's closing we still used tarps for fall trips.

Why, you ask?

The only real advantage a tent has is that it is bug proof. A tarp is lighter, faster to set up, more adaptable to odd terrain. And in general it's drier. I take a bivy sack with a mosquito net sewn in

I've also slept under canoes. This is not a really great option, as if there is any wind at all, rain will come in. And bugs love to come in and collect in your vaulted ceiling.

Ok, that's accommodation.

Culinary equipment.
I do most trips with just a cup and spoon. However the last couple, I've brought 2 cups. One for a beverage, and one to eat out of. BOTH are insulated, the beverage one has a lid. BOTH float. Cups have a short life. I buy mine at Value Village for 29 cents, but any insulated travel mug works. The one you eat out of should be wide enough so that you can reach the bottom to clean it out. Bright colours make it harder (but not impossible….) to lose.

Story time: On the Watheman-Foster trip in Northern Saskatchewan. We were having a tough slog up the Watheman, tracking most of it. Stopped for lunch about noon. The spot was uncharacteristically civilized -- there was a powerline overhead. After lunch we got back to work, and camped 5 hours and 6 kilometres later. We camped under that same powerline. At that point I realized that I'd left my cup at lunch. Had gotten distracted helping the boss set up the radio, and it had slipped my mind. I got out the maps and looked at our camp versus our lunch spot. It was under 2 km away. I briefly considered walking back to get it. Only briefly. Got out my spare cup, and said goodbye to my other one.

One friend brings a bowl with him.

If the water is at all dicey, having a water bottle is handy. On a lot of trips I just use one of the bottles that you buy water in. I try to fill it and take it to my shelter at bed time, as I often wake up thirsty in the night.

Wash stuff:

Some people go the grubby route. There is merit in this, as the bugs seem to be repelled as much as your tent mates. However there are some caveats in what you bring:

1. Avoid scented anything. The bugs are attracted by floral scents. So are the bears.

2. Liquid soap should be in a screw cap bottle. The snap up lids will often do just that in your pack. Using hotel shampoo bottles is a good way to minimize weight. I can usually wash my hair 3 times from the contents of one of these.

3. An old onion net bag is a great place to park your soap. Just leave the soap in the bag all the time. The net makes a good scrubber, and also a way to dry it without it picking up all kinds of crud. Run a shoelace through the mesh at the top, and you can hang in in a tree by your camp to dry.

I don't get worked up about environmental soaps. Usually the trips I go on are not popular, and any lake big enough to bathe in is big enough to tolerate the addition of anything I'm willing to put on my skin.

I don't bring a towel, but I do have a cotton T-shirt that I bring for hot days. It gets drafted as a towel. If you do insist on a towel, get one of these synthetic chamois towels. Lot less room in your pack, lot quicker to dry.

Pack:

You need something to put this all in. I really like the SeaLine bags for this. While not absolutely waterproof, they are pretty good. These bags are made of heavy vinyl that is folded over several times, then clipped. I had one sitting with a corner -- the end of the rolled up section -- in two inches of slop water in the bottom of the boat for most of the day. The shirt nearest the corner was wet.

If they go through a dumping, and go under with the canoe, the water pressure will squeeze them hard enough to make them leak air. Then as they rise up, the contents expand, sucking small amounts of water back in.

These packs come in a 70 litter and a 100 liter version. I find that the 70 is fine for personal gear. The 70 also comes in a version with a waist band and sturdier construction. These make great food bags. They also come in smaller sizes that don't have pack straps. Having one for the tent makes sense, as the tent is often wet in the morning.

Bring a small net bag that can be fastened to the outside of your pack. This is where you can stuff wet socks, raingear, those little things that you want handy when you are on the water. (Work really hard to not put anything wet IN your pack.)

***
I bring a Mora sheath knife -- the blue handle stainless steel version. These are inexpensive (about $15) very well made, and have a solid sheath. This knife lives in a pocket on my life jacket. It often gets drafted for slicing cheese.
***
Headlamp or flashlight. Lot of trips this goes through the entire trip unused, but it's sure handy if you push late one evening, or have to get up during the night.

***

Bug repellent. YOU can use skin-so-soft. Or citronella. I'll carry on using DEET. While I'm nearly immune to most bugs, I bring along a bottle of the strongest concentration DEET I can find. I've got a bottle of 95% that I've been working on for over 5 years now. Note: DEET dissolves many types of plastic, including the waterproof layer on tents and raingear. Screw cap, not pop-top.

***
Possibles Pouch. This is a heavy nylon zippered bag, about a quart in volume. Lots of the little stuff I bring lives here. Like the headlamp. Spare batteries. Small sharpening stone for my knife. Spare compass. Extra mechanical pencils, and map markers. Dental floss and needles for doing repairs. Buckles for the pack. A spare shoelace. Extra spoon. Box cutter. Couple of lighters. Couple chunks of firestarter. A pocket packet of kleenex lives here too. It stores better than a role of toilet paper.

Sunglasses. Ever since shooting Brassy Rapids strait into the sun, I regard sunglasses as a requirement for a trip. They will spend most of the trip in my camera box, but if 'down river' is also down sun, or if we are heading into the sun on a big lake, they will keep your eyeballs from feeling like toasted marshmallows.

What are your tips to add to this miscellaneous gear list?  Email me