5 Pieces of my Favorite Gear

​Over the years I have gone through a lot of gear and been lucky enough to test a bunch of different products. I’m a minimalist by nature, choosing to only carry and use what I feel are essential and rarely come across gear that I can’t live without.  However, the list below comes close!

1. I often tell guests that there are generally two different kinds of dry bags. One has a roll down and buckle closure and the other has a “Ziploc ®” style closure.  In my opinion, the fist type is a “damp” bag, not a dry bag while the former is truly a dry bag.  I love my Watershed dry bags for anything that absolutely needs to stay dry and have been using them since they’ve been in existence!
2. For anything that doesn’t need to stay bone dry I prefer to use “dry sacks”, basically stuff sacks with a waterproof coating. They have the same roll and buckle type closure as many dry bags but are much easier to stuff into the nooks and crannies of a kayak hatch. I like the ones made by SealLine but have found that the ultralight versions don’t hold up well to repeated use in and out of a kayak (especially a fiberglass kayak). I would recommend the standard weight for longevity.
3. In almost 30 years of paddling for a living I’ve gone through several types of footwear.  After putting a catfish hook through my foot I never paddled barefoot again!  Shoes with a solid sole, covers the top of my foot and isn’t super bulky (so it fits comfortably in a kayak) is what I have found to work best.  Coverage on the top of the foot is super important for regions with razor sharp oysters (like our Cedar Key trip). I’m currently using shoes made by Astral Designs, they meet all my requirements and are comfortable enough to spend a day in or out of the water.
4. I don’t know how many times I have watched guests struggle with their water bottles on our guided trips.  I use a hydration bladder that goes into a sleeve and stays on the back of my pfd so I have access to hands free water anytime I want a drink.  The one I use is made from parts of  various systems I've used over the years and customized to attach to several different types of pfd's. But if I were buying a new one today I’d check out the one made by Kokatat. 
5. I have done my share of “roughing it” but my days of putting a stinky shirt or fleece into a stuff sack to use as a pillow are just a memory.  For the past several years I have been using a travel and camping pillow made by Cacoon. It’s great for camping, handy to have on flights and I’ve actually used it in some lodging facilities that had uncomfortable pillows.  Cacoon also has a travel sheet that is great for camping in warm regions like our Panama trip. 

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