Gear you ALWAYS take with you?

[Dave-S]

I just got back from a BWCA trip and was thinking about the things that I make sure to always have along.

I need to have my Leatherman with me and my good old Silva Ranger compass. I got that thing back in college when I was about to go to "Forestry Boot-Camp" - the Itasca Field session.

[Canadienne]

It's not an essential piece of gear, but I never leave my camera at home. There are just too many photo opportunities to not have it.

I also always bring a 3rd pair of shoes. Most of my trips happen in the Spring and Fall when the water temps are fairly low. I travel with water shoes and then bring a pair of Chacos and trail running shoes to wear around camp. I am almost guaranteed to have a dry pair of shoes, which to me is really important. I have been caught in some cold weather with only wet shoes and I hopefully will never have to deal with that again.

[Dave-S]

No kidding on the extra shoes. I forgot my sport sandals at home last trip so I was doing wet launches for my wood-canvas in my hiking boots. Luckily, I remembered that I had forgotten my sandals before leaving the truck so I brought my trail shoes, which I had planned to leave in the truck for the drive home.

Camera - check. Not only is it always along but it's always HANDY. You never know when you might get a crack at something really cool.

My wife swears by her canoe "repair kit". A roll of Duct tape. She did lots of white-water canoeing in college and litterally taped a boat back together after it was wrapped around a huge rock in a river.

I like having about 100 feet of good para-cord too. It can be used for so many things around camp from setting a bear-rope, clotheslines, tying off boats, making a make-shift anchor, hanging tarps or anchoring tents.

[Micmac]

I like to bring 6 or 8 of the old fashion wooden close pins with the wire-o-springs. With that 100' of cord you can string up close lines for drying out most anything. Or, if you're handy with a knife, carve your own from a small dead branch-no springs attached. I understand you can a find real nice, hand made knives, from Dan in Sunburg.

[Dave-S]

I like to bring 6 or 8 of the old fashion wooden close pins with the wire-o-springs. With that 100' of cord you can string up close lines for drying out most anything. Or, if you're handy with a knife, carve your own from a small dead branch-no springs attached. I understand you can find real nice, hand made knives, from Dan in Sunburg.


Dan does make a nice knife. I was just admiring a couple of his the other day. Actually, I had people try to buy them off my belt on two seperate occasions within the last week.

[AndyB]

Some essential little things:

1. Lighter
2. Duct Tape (flatten roll under a car)
3. Sewing Kit
4. Parachute Cord
5. Iodine tablets or Polar Pure
6. Multi-tool knife
7. Lots of handkerchiefs
8. Caribiners

[tncook]

1.Water Purification and some sort of bottle:I have had good luck with the chorine dioxide tablets for water purification.
2. Knife and usually a multi-tool as well
3. Some sort of flashlight or headlamp
4. raingear
5. firestarter
6. first aid kit
7. hat
8. paracord or something similar

[Preacher]

Apart from the standard stuff everyone takes, stove, bag, knife...

Fishing gear. I love to fish. Great way to burn some time.

Often people note the standard stuff I frequently go without. Like a tent. Silly cutlery too, just a spoon and I don't need a plate and a bowl and a wine glass. Just one mug.

[pake rick]

Fishing gear. I love to fish. Great way to burn some time.



Preacher, I've gotta admit that I've carried my fishing gear more than I've used it. (my bad, I know) But, in truth, I don't know as much as I'd like to about it anyway. Gonna rely on Jerry and Bman to educate me a little in October. :confused:

Anyway, the piece of stuff I always carry......... my coffee mug. Finally found the one I like. Stainless, Thermos brand with a good handle and sealable top. I can clip it to my pack with no leaks. Keeps stuff hot all day, and I can sip hot coffee at lunch. At night it works great for those Hot Buttered Rums, right Barry? :D

rick

[Jerry R.]

Rick,
That's a good lead in to the gear I always take. 750 ml of something!! I think the hot buttered rums may be in order for next week!!

J

[pake rick]

Rick,
That's a good lead in to the gear I always take. 750 ml of something!! I think the hot buttered rums may be in order for next week!!

J

Oh yeah, Jer! The weather should be just right for them. Last fall Bmanand I enjoyed a little Yukon Jack, the Black Sheep of Canadian Spirits. In moderation of course! :cool:

rick

[Preacher]

my coffee mug. Finally found the one I like. Stainless, Thermos brand with a good handle ...

rick

Oh I love my mug. Not very large, but double wall. A few years back the handle broke off and now I love it that much more. Easier to pack. Weighs less. A lid would be nice.

A buddy swears by his Fair Share mug, but it's too big for me. A fair share of coffee from the percolator goes cold fast in that bucket.

[muireaton]

Along the coffe mug line....a great way to make coffee on trail is to bring one of those one-cup drippers (it sits right on top of your mug while the coffee drips)...usually some sort of screen built in so you don't need filters. The best ones have a gold filter, but those are hard to find. With this, you may not even need to bring the coffee pot part of a cook kit...just boil water in any of your pots and pour directly into the one-cupper.

Another option if you are with a larger group with many coffee drinkers, is a plastic french press. Although it takes up a bit of pack space, it is very light and makes great coffee (afterall, its nice to have a few modern comforts on trail)! If you can find the one made by Bodum, this last me for many, many years. I have recently tried another plastic press that has broken very quickly three different times...can't remember the brand. "Timmy" can you help me out with brand?? I would stay away from this one.

Hope these aren't too obvious!

[Micmac]

Yours last press was a GSI Lexan Java Press # 20289. I peronally like the one cup gold fiters better.

[canuckcamper]

Coffeepot...I like my coffee hot and in large quantities...
Fishing gear ala preacher
camera
A wee drop of the pure(Alberta Springs Premium Rye)
and Me smokes!!!!!!!!!

[Boneli]

Rick, I have a new reel in replacement for the one which the handle broke trying to bring in that lake trout last year on Lac La Croix. We’ll make sure we have fish this year. Going though the Falls Chain should provide plenty of fish and with the fresh lemons on the side, we’ll be eating like kings. As for the 750mm gear, I think Jerry is short changing himself again. To bad! I found the Irish mini’s on sale and picked up a four pack for the fall. Someone mentioned Jack, “Yukon Jack is a taste born of hoary nights, when lonely men struggled to keep their fires lit and cabins warm.” This will be true this coming fall. As for gear I like to bring, an insulated stainless mug is pretty high on the list along with my SS French press constructed the same. A reflector oven is fun too especially for baking.

Barry

[OneBadApple]

my skull & crossbonez "surrender the booty" can huggy..
and my 5 liter clear dry bag with my fixed blade small bush knife browning folding saw,deep woods off, 2aa small flashlight wrapped with spare duct tape,and a small tube of icy hot menthol cream to remove any unwanted suckers!!! besides that im still in the learning process and always looking for ideas...very good post
thanx
OBA

[Preacher]

Coffee is a must. I don't care how it's made just so long as it's hot and in good supply.

[OneBadApple]

i would think you intellect canoeist pro's would consider coffee a food and beverage... not gear(well other than the presses) i guess yall pretty serious about that hot dark water...not enuff 2holers on the shores for oba to drink that much java.... :D can't be humpin up round every corner:eek:

[SWIFT]

I strangely put this "reply" in another thread, so I'll paste it here. (Because you know it's soooo important, and I am soooo relevant.)

"Always bring"??

I do the finger count, standing outside my truck, before leaving the driveway.

I have...tent...poles for tent...sleeping bag...food...stove to cook food...fuel to use stove...boat...paddle to move the boat..pfd to be safe in that boat...I'll survive

There are more "things I always bring" but I could live with out them, as long as I got the basics.

Oh yeah and BEER!

[pknoerr]

I've seen this thread time and again, and the more I think about this, the less I realize that I bring on every trip. Packing for a trip is dependent on where the trip is, when the trip is, who you do it with, what kind of trip it is. I guess I always bring a canoe, paddles, sleeping bag, and a tent. But I have a couple of each of these and sometimes it's one, and sometimes it's another. Ultimately, I doubt that there is any one item that has made it on all the trips in the last even 5 years. Anyways, It's interesting and has provoked me to spend some time thinking about this, and I can truly say that I don't think that there is something that I ALWAYS take with me.

PK

[Preacher]

Come on PK, not even a favourite pair of Camping Undies?

[OneBadApple]

a must for all them "wild womens" here on the michigan rivers during the summer weekends!!!!!!:D
*please note ths was just posted for a chuckle as it is monday one of the most dreaded days of the workweek!!!
oba

[pknoerr]

Come on PK, not even a favourite pair of Camping Undies?

Nah, I avoid bringing them!! It keeps all the canoeing ladies wanting to touch my @$$.

Actually, I had a famous pair of port shoes that was making a bid to have made 7-8 years of wilderness trips, until I finally found their replacements.

So I stand by my assertion... I don't think I've brounght any singe piece of gear on every multi day trip in the last 10 years.

PK