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Can-X Recommended Gear for the Full Trip (subtitled Why My Dry Bag Weighed a Ton) |
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| 4-6 Swim Shorts/Nylon Shorts | 5 Pair of shorts was about right for 14 days. |
| 3-5 T-Shirts | Brought 2 synthetic short sleeve - liked the synthetics, were cool, dried quick; 1 synthetic long sleeve - felt good in the sun, with the evaporative effect, actually felt cooler than the short sleeves; 2 wife beaters - sometimes under the long sleeve supplex, sometimes solo; 2 cotton short sleeve for camp - nice change from the funked up daytime shirts. |
| 1 Sun Hat | Gotta have. Bought a hat keeper at the orientation - worked well. |
| 1 Long Sleeve Supplex Nylon Shirt | Wore it a lot more that I thought I would - most every day. Kept it wet most of the time for evaporative cooling. |
| 1 Pair Supplex Nylon Pants | Never wore the long pants, zipped off the legs and wore the shorts on the last day. |
| 1 Rain Jacket and Rain Pants | Brought them, it only spit rain a couple of times during the whole trip. |
| 1 Paddle Jacket | Never wore it. Only one morning with lots of rapids in succession where I might have broken it out if it was available. |
| 1-2 Set Long Underwear | Brought a pair, can't imagine ever needing in July. |
| 1 Fleece Jacket | Brought it, again can't imagine needing fleece in July. Made good stuffing for the pillowcase. |
| 1 Fleece or Wool Hat | Yes, I brought a wool hat in July. |
| 1 Pair River Sandals | My Tevas with the spider soles didn't really work that well on wet rocks, seemed to slip more than I thought they should. I think I'll try Chacos next trip, seemed to be the guide's shoe of choice. |
| 1 Pair Lightweight Hiking Boots | Came in handy for the many hikes. |
| 1 Pair Wool or Fleece Socks | Wore the wool socks with the hiking boots. |
| 1-2 Pair Non-Cotton Hiking Socks | SmartWool worked well. |
| 1 Pair Socks to wear w/ Sandals | What, and cover up the toenails? |
| 1 Wetsuit Booties | Brought a pair of neoprene socks, but never used them. |
| Cotton Clothing for Camp | Brought a long sleeve cotton shirt - never used it, thought I would wear it at camp, but was never cool enough. Brought some cotton beach pants - never wore. More pillow material. |
| 2 Quart Water Bottle | Another gotta have. I had a couple of Nalgenes, one with the small neck/opening and one with the large opening. The small opening was easier to drink from while on the move hiking. Kept one filled with water and one with Gatorgade or lemonade. |
| 1 Flashlight or Headlamp | Another gotta have. Had a headlamp that clipped onto the bill of a baseball hat - worked well. |
| 1-2 Carabiners | A couple of 3" for water bottles, and a couple of smaller one for miscellaneous clippage. |
| 8-16 oz. SunBlock | Used almost all the 20 oz. I brought. Small tubes to stick in your pocket for use during the day worked well. |
| 1-2 Lip Block | Yep. |
| 8-16 oz. Moisturizer | Used at most half of the 16 oz. I brought. The recommended Super Salve did work nicely to keep the dried out feet in shape. |
| Sunglasses with Chums | Goes without saying. Didn't notice much difference between the expensive 'aquapolar' sunglasses and the $10 Wal-Mart polarized sunglasses. |
| Eyeglasses | Only if you're my age and want to read. |
| 1 Towel | Chamois towel worked well. |
| Toiletries | Soap, shampoo, toothbrush, floss - to get out the sand between your teeth, saline nasal spray to keep the bloody boogies at bay. |
| 2-3 Zip-Lock Bags | Used one for miscellaneous trash. |
| 1 Bandana | Yep. |
| Optional: | |
| Camera | My new digital SLR worked great. The zoom and focus started making crunching noises during the trip. The lens required a visit to the Nikon service center for sand removal. Wished there was space for individual waterproof cases, using the communal ammo box was not really handy - kind of a pain to have to get the guide to take it out and put it back in. |
| Journal/Notebook | Brought a notebook with waterproof paper, in a zippered pouch with a waterproof ink pen. I think I left it on the beach on the first day. |
| Paddle Gloves | Brought them, never used them. |
| Underwear for Camp | Maybe wore one pair, mostly slept in the swim shorts. |
| Pair Sneakers | Wore them a couple of times. |
| Pillowcase | Gotta have a pillow. Had plenty of material for stuffing. |
| Soft Chair | Picked up a Crazy Creek chair at the orientation meeting, came in real handy at camp. |
| Book | Never found time to do any reading. |
| Other Stuff I Brought: | |
| Otter Box | Brought a small crushproof, waterproof Otter Box - kept camera cards, extra batteries, reading glasses, medication, pocket knife, . . . |
| Flip Flops | Nice to have at camp, a break from the wet Tevas. |
| Miniature Video Camera | Video quality was decent, directorial quality left something to be desired. Clipped chest high on the life vest provided a bad angle - lots of video of yellow tubes. Needed a helmet-cam. |
| Next Time I'll Bring: | |
| Thermometer | To verify that it was really 110 in the shade. |
| My full allotment of alcohol | |