Repair kit (thank goodness)
Long underwear
Spare paddle
Head net
Extra day's food
DEET
Rain suits
PFD
EPIRB
Meds
Spare map
Rather than even contemplate the spare stuff I have brought and not used I’ll just work off SFM’s list.
Long underwear.
Or something else in the warmth garment area. I tend to pack for one season colder than expected. In summer I pack long fleece for fall conditions. In fall I pack for winter long underwear. In winter I sometimes pack a one-piece snow mobile suit for lazy in-camp leisure use.
Sadly there is an unobserved obverse to that, meaning that I have done shoulder season trips where it was unexpectedly 85F for day’s on end and I wished I had a clean, unsmelly tee shirt. The worst was a 3 week spring trip; I had packed two pairs of short pants, one of which mysteriously vanished before I launched. Think three weeks of unseasonably hot weather in the same pair of seldom washed pants.
Spare paddle.
Always, but rarely used. In all honestly I use the 6 foot wood staff more often, as a push pole, boat hook, tarp pole, hiking stick, etc. But I can’t imagine not bringing a spare paddle.
Head net.
Yeah, that’s one that rarely gets used. I hate wearing a head net, especially if it is warm out, to the point that I’d rather swat and suffer, retreat to the tent for a spell or move to some windswept locale. It still comes on every trip, way at the bottom of the essentials bag, where I hope I don’t need it.
Extra day’s food. Almost always. Well, I always pack an extra day’s food. That is a freeze dried beef stew, which is my least favorite of the freeze dries, but I usually end up with enough dribs and drabs to make breakfast and lunch out of the unused remains. I get a certain satisfaction from coming out with at least a hungry days worth of food remaining. That Pro-pack beef stew has been on a lot of trips.
DEET.
And SPF 50 sunscreen. I don’t especially like using either one, but both buried are in the essentials bag.
Rain suits.
Every trip. God bless “breathable” WP fabrics. More often than rain protection GorTex (etc) pants and jacket are my 3rd layer of off season chill and wind barrier. I can’t stand wearing that “breathable” layer if it is warm out; I sweat too dang much. But as a shoulder season layer and wind chill protection I can think of nothing more useful.
PFD. Well, yeah, of course. And I wear it 90% of the time. I always start off wearing a PFD, but if I am in knee deep bay waters and sweating to tee shirt saturation underneath a PFD it is coming off as hyperthermia risk management. Oh Gawd that drying breeze feels so good!
EPIRB
Nope. SPOT, nope. GPS, nope. Cell phone, nope. One of the permitted venues I frequent asks paddlers about that stuff. For years I have told them that I have a weather radio, maps, a compass and common sense. They have stopped asking.
Meds
Yeah, in terms of a first aid kid and medications more than I need. I carry up to three first aid kits. A minor boo boo kit even on day trips, a more extensive kit on multi-day solo trips and a large kit on group trips. That latter is a 3-compartment roll out Medic’s pouch with a laminated, quick reference what-is-in each-compartment index. There is stuff in there I have never used thank god, finger splint, clotting trauma bandage and an Epi-pen (courtesy of bee-sting allergic companions), but also lots of stuff that has been unexpectedly used
In that unexpected use realm the things that have often been handy (looking at the index): tampons (don’t ask), small hemostats, Anbesol anesthetic for tooth problems, nasal spray, anti-diarrheal, liquid bandage, moleskin, Benadryl (replaced every couple years)
One of the most important items I have found in a first aid/meds kit is a small zip-lock trash bag, so I can easily see what I have used and what needs to be replenished after a trip. That, and a folding lady’s compact mirror; it is really hard to tell how bad a facial cut is bleeding on a solo trip without a mirror, much less patch it up with any accuracy.
Spare map.
Well, not a second copy of the same map for the area, but when I have the option of carrying topos (my old school preference), printed mapping software sheets and photocopied guidebook maps I’ll take everything I can get. Paper weighs next to nothing. Of course they are all in the same map case; if I lost that I would have to rethink.
OK, other things not on SFM’s list.
A whistle. I have one in my PFD pocket, and yeah, there another in the big first aid kit. I have never used either and I still want both. Speaking of PFD pocket contents, a spare vehicle key and a $20 bill in a tiny pouch. I have needed and used both on several occasions.
Spare sun glasses. I have been snow blind twice and bright sunlight is my nemesis. The couple times I have needed spare sunglasses I have
needed them; it is hard to paddle with your eyes shut.
Bail out/Spares and Repairs bag. Another 3-compartment roll out bag stuffed in a 10L dry bag, mostly carried on group trips. Way more stuff that I have never used, but also way more stuff that I have at some point found a need for.
What I actually come to most often use from that kit:
Duct tape, tools, giant trash bag, parachute cord, 1” Fastex buckle, needle and thread, fire starter, vinyl repair kit for sleeping pads, cable ties and spare machine screws and nuts. I use something from that kit on almost every group trip.
Also not a bad place to carry a backup photocopy of your driver’s license and health insurance info.
There is a never-used length of SS rudder cable and swedges in that kit. I hope I never need it, but I am awaiting the day I encounter a sea kayaker with a busted rudder cable. That will be memorable Canyon Fairy rescue and repair fun.
