Our Gear

Billow Ultralight Tarp 12ft

Onewind

OD Green, in hand since August. Better made than we expected, and the detailing shows it. First real test is the Altamaha in September.

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Permethrin & field kit

Sawyer

Sample box in hand since August, permethrin included. August down here is ticks and mosquitoes, and treated clothing is the only thing that genuinely works.

No affiliate programme. Listed because we use it.

River Rat

TOPS Knives

In hand since August. A blade earns its place here on what it does with wet hands, which is the only test that counts on this water.

No affiliate programme. Listed because we use it.

Waterproof packs & cases

Aquapac

Eight items landed on 31 August: a waterproof backpack, a second large bag, smaller bags and pack dividers. Between these and the duffel, clothes and gear finally go down the river dry.

No affiliate programme. Listed because we use it.

Boulder Summit Waterproof

Lems

Zero-drop and foot-shaped, from the Outdoor line. Down here your feet are wet from the first launch to the last takeout, so what matters is that a shoe drains, grips, and gives your toes room while your feet are soft from a week of being wet.

Sunscreen & gear wash

Stream2Sea

Sunscreen, gear wash and body care, all reef-safe. You are floating in the water you would otherwise be rinsing it into.

Static V Summit ×2

Klymit

Two insulated pads, one for Rodney and one for Tina. Winter is the gap in the footage and the season people ask about most.

Rack-Pack 49L

ORTLIEB

The main gear bag gets handled twenty times a day, dragged over peat and loaded wet. Smaller Dry-Bags alongside it separate camera gear from dry clothes, so the whole system gets shown rather than one bag.

Altitude Sun Hoodie

Outdoor Vitals

XL for Rodney, medium for Tina, so the same layer gets filmed from both sides of the boat.

Samurai Long Sleeve

AFTCO

Long sleeve is what actually gets worn here. Five or six days on open water in full sun with the sleeves down the whole time. Pants and a hat alongside it.

Vario 50 OS

Badlands

Agreed 28 August after Colt asked which pack we actually wanted. Chosen over the smaller one so a portage is one pass instead of three, and for the side access into the middle of the main pocket when the pack is loaded.

Folder for the PFD

Kershaw

Agreed 28 August. The knife that matters on a canoe is not the one on your belt, it is the folder clipped to the vest, because when a line is wrapped and one arm is holding the boat a one-hand opener is the only tool that helps. Day one opening action against day six is the test.

No affiliate link. Listed because it is coming and will be filmed.

Kodiak Canvas

Canvas wall tents. Too heavy to portage, and exactly right for a base camp you paddle into once and stay in.

GCI Outdoor

Camp chairs and rockers. The chair is on camera more hours per trip than anything else we carry.

Howl Campfires

Portable fire pits. Fire without scarring the ground matters on sandbars that go under every spring.

Cascade Designs

Therm-a-Rest, MSR and SealLine under one roof. Pads, stoves and dry bags from the same house.

Helinox

Ultralight chairs and cots. Packs down to nothing, which is the whole argument in a hull that is already full.

Gerber Gear

Knives, axes and multitools. The tools that get used every hour of every trip and judged hardest.

HOVSCO

Electric bikes. Running a shuttle is the hardest unglamorous part of any one-way river trip.