What Paddling Gear Am I Using In 2025?

With the paddling season just around the corner, I’m starting to look at what paddling gear I’ll be using for canoe trips this year. I have a couple of goals:

• Keep almost everything the same. I feel like I everything I currently have is well dialed, and I tested this setup last fall.
• Make the same setup work for canoeing, kayaking, and bikepacking. I want to do more of all three of those things this year to make up for the health issues that I had last year.
• Buy as little as possible this year. I’m kind of burnt out on the economy, trying to make money just to buy more stuff when what I have is good enough. I’m also sort of burnt out on trying to use affiliate links to try and get you to buy something when I know some browser extension will poach the sale at the end anyway. I should be linking all the gear in my list to a place where they pay me commission. I’m going to skip that because it seems like a bunch of extra work. Instead, I’d encourage you to shop at REI (because if you use this link I get a commission from the sale and you get a REI member reward) despite all my current misgivings about REI. Because it is a co-op, at least, we have a little bit of a say. If you are a member, go vote no on all their board members. Also, if you know of a good way to monetize this blog that is motivating instead of soul sucking, please, let me know. The money I make from this blog is used to buy gear for the reviews that I do. There’s a contradiction in this bullet point for sure.

As always, I like to travel with as light and as little of gear as I feel makes sense. I do carry camera gear, which won’t be included in my totals. While everything is dialed in, I may be testing a few new pieces of gear to review here. So far, I’ve accepted one piece that was offered (and testing is done), and I’ve requested an item that is brand new this year and looks great. They don’t have a demo piece available, yet, so maybe I won’t be reviewing it.

The only other question is my sleeping bag. Last year, I switched to a sleeping bag after many years of using a quilt. I got sick of dealing with setting up a quilt to work right without drafts. I just want the simplicity of a sleeping bag. I won’t be going back anytime soon, but I do wish I owned a sleeping bag in the 30°F range without a hood. That probably isn’t going to happen this year due to my goal of not buying anything. If you know of a 30°F sleeping bag that doesn’t have a hood and comes in under 25.6 oz (726 grams), let me know.

It’s always hard to present gear lists on the web, because they typically are just long lists of stuff. It’s hard to see how everything fits together. Instead of a list, I’m going to try something a bit different this year. Let me know if it works. I’m going to use columns for each category. Because columns stack on mobile, I suspect this will work better on a laptop or desktop.

You can get a spreadsheet version of this list style here:

Camping Gear (Tent, Pack, Sleeping)

This category of gear is the most important and is where the biggest weight savings can be made (if you’re into that). I vary what I bring based on the time of year and type of trip.

For tents, I’m using the Big Agnes when I want to be more comfortable, such as when I expect lots of bugs or bad weather. The tarp is better for when I really want to go fast and far and there are limited bugs. The bug bivy does a great job or protecting you against bugs, but there’s limited space to hang out in.

For packs, the Zerk is a little too small for the Tiger Wall UL2, the 15°F sleeping bag and a bear canister. It’s an awesome pack, but the Sea to Summit Big River Pack fits the bigger gear better. Before Dan Cooke passed away, we had emailed about him making a version of the Cooke Custom Sewing kid’s pack that could fit an adult with a few modified features that I want. I wish I had gotten that done. I’d likely use that pack for most of my canoe trips.

For sleeping bags, I love the Spark 15°F. It is one of the best sleeping bags that I’ve owned. It is a little too hot for the summer. Like I mentioned above, I would like a 30°F hoodless sleeping bag for warmer weather.

Kitchen Gear

This is about perfect for me. I can’t imagine changing it up.

I’ve tried a lot of filters and always come back to the Squeeze. It’s fast and easy to maintain. When the Sawyer 1 liter bag bites the bullet, I’ll replace it with a CNOC bag or bottle. I carry a cleaning coupling to pair with the empty Smartwater bottle if I have to backflush.

All the cooking gear except the spoon fits in the Vargo pot (I do have a spoon that fits with all that stuff but I like the long one better).

If I’m carrying a lot of food, I’ll bear bag far away from camp. If I’m feeling lazy or just out for a short trip, it’s much easier to use the canister.

Cleaning Gear and Personal Care

This is dialed in for me. The Lightload towel is if I want to swim or something. If I plan on swimming I may bring a bigger camp towel. I’ve been using Tooth Tabs by Unpaste for my toothpaste. Unpaste is convenient and I use it for all my traveling, but I’ve been considering just making my own by letting drops of my normal toothpaste dry out on parchment paper. Short of getting new eyes, I’m not sure what I can do about my glasses and contacts.

Carried in: Borah Gear DCF 4″ x 8″ Stuff Sack

Electronics, Navigation, Journaling, and Papers

This is also dialed for me. I can’t imagine making many if any changes.

For electronics, I do like FLEXTAIL’s new headlamp. That might come along if I think I’m going to be doing anything significant at night. With Garmin’s new subscription plans, I’m not sure that I’ll bring the InReach SE anymore. I’m going to have to replace either the battery in my Pixel 6 or get a new phone soonish. Its battery life is getting bad.

For navigation, I like the TruArc 5, but I do wish it was a little smaller.

In my journaling category, I always carry the Dry Doc ID case with the listed items. I haven’t been writing much on trips lately, so I usually leave the journal at home. I have been doing watercolor journaling instead. Although I didn’t do any of that on my last couple of trips. I used to journal all my trips, but I’m not sure I see the point anymore for myself. At least not right now. I mean who is going to read those journals anyway? Probably not me, so they will likely never get seen again after I write in them. Maybe I’ll change my mind in the future. I’m also finding that I don’t read much when on trips. I just fall asleep early and enjoy it.

Carried in: Borah Gear DCF 7″ x 11″ stuff sack and Ziplock (or drybag)

Clothing

My clothing worn changes a bit based on what is clean. Because I work in the outdoor most of my clothing is hiking/outdoor clothing. What I’m wearing on trips is basically what I wear everyday. For footwear in the colder months, I wear rubber boots. I usually do Sandals in summer. I’ve been wearing my Chacos (after an epic cleaning session made them less stinky). For colder seasons, I’ll bring a Kuhl The One as a clothing worn layer. If that’s going to be too warm, I usually bring a long sleeve quarter zip t-shirt.

I love my rain gear. The Helium fits great and works well. I’m not as convinced about the pants, but they seem to work okay.

My extra layers work well. The extra boxers and socks are for sleeping in after cleaning up. Sometimes I’ll bring an extra t-shirt to sleep in. The Ghost Whisperer vest is sometimes replaced with a down coat. If it looks like it is going to be cold, I’ll bring long underwear. Whatever is clean before I leave is what I grab. I try to grab my lightest long underwear.

Carried in a Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Bag – 13l

Emergency Repair, First Aid, and Paddling Gear

If interested, I can cover my first aid and repair kit in more detail, but it is similar to those that I’ve written about before. I can also cover my paddling gear in more detail if there’s demand for it. Otherwise, I just bring what I already own because I don’t want to spend the money for more stuff. I would love to build a new removable yoke. I have ideas.

Carried in: Hilltop Zipper Pouch – Red Med, Medium

And that’s it. That’s my gear for this year. It’s pretty much that same as last year. It’s similar to prior years, but the biggest change was to my sleeping bag and mattress. I think this will likely be my same gear for next year. I’m not committing to do reviews this year unless I really want the product anyway, so I can’t see much changing unless an amazing review product shows up and changes my mind.

Are you changing anything in your gear list this year? If so, what?

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