Re: Expedition Gear

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Sea Kayak Trips Bulletin Board

Re: Expedition Gear

Posted By: Wes Boyd
Date: Thursday, 4 March 1999, at 1:37 p.m.

In Response To: Expedition Gear (Dan Gunn)

> O.K. well seeing as nobody has posted anything here since I asked about
> trips in Ontario I'll try another topic. I'm going to go on a three week
> expedition this summer. It looks like I'll be paddling the Trent-Severn
> Waterway from end to end. That's Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay, Lake Huron,
> a total of 388 km, (237 miles). Anyway, in the summer the channel is well
> travelled and I will be able to frequently go into town and purchase
> supplies. I plan on paddling a Chesapeake 17 or 18 (picking up a kit
> tommorow I hope) and I would like advice on clothing and camping gear.
Sounds like a neat trip! I'd like to do that some day, but to do everything that I'd like to do someday would involve hitting the lotto.
> White Gas Stove or just butane?
Actually, I've come to like alcohol stoves in the past few years. It's a little difficult to get the European style Trangia here, but I've used the mini-Trangia available from Campmor, admitedly on a low-cook menu.. The advantages to the alcohol stove is that it's quiet, not prone to explosions, easy to use, easy to light, the fuel is readily available (and expensive, if you want to burn booze!) and so on.
In a kayak, wehre weight isnt's as much an issue, I'd consider a propane stove. This involves a heavy, non-refillable cartridge, but they're commonly available for cheap, easy to use, again, and relatively quiet. For summer conditions I would not consider a white gas stove again. Period
>What seperates a $200 3-season tent from a $500 one?
About three hundred bucks. Seriously, I can't give an answer, since I've always used the cheaper ones.
>I'm advised to take a down sleeping bag, but the waters will be
> calm so getting gear wet shouldn't be a problem so what's a cheaper
> alternative?
I was the one that started that sleeping bag thread. Generally speaking, the conclusion I got out of it was that you're probably better off with a good (Polarguard, Quallofill) bag, than a down bag, for kayak use. They will be considerably cheaper than down.
>Some kind of gas lamp or a flashlight/headlamp or both?
Probably wouldn't bother with a gas lamp. In ontario, in July, you ain't gonna have that much night, anyway.
>I'm
> planning sometime in July I think, water will be quite comfortable for
> swimming so what paddling gear should I buy? Temperatures will be around
> 75-80 degress fahrenheit during the day, so staying cool should be the
> priority.
The biggest thing I can think of is that while it's generally warm, it can turn cold -- and when you're used to 80, fifty is cold. Be prepared for cold and wet.
>What cooking gear is most useful and compact?
I genrally try to do a minimum cook menu, so as to get by with maybe a two quart pot, maybe a one quart pot, a spoon, a cup, and that be about it. But plenty of people like to eat better quality food than I.
>What am I
> forgetting?
Something, for sure. I don't know what it is. There are plenty of gear lists and the like around; don't by pass the hiking/backpacking ones. There's a lot of similiarity between kayak/canoe camping and backpacking.