Packrafting Gear Weights

Sorry about that, any way to delete it and try over?

Can’t edit titles or first post in a thread unfortunately. Suggest using a disposable first post. Then you can edit for a week.

Apologies for above mess…

Thought I’d share some gear weights for an upcoming (June) trip to Canada, just had the scale out. This is more or less the boating gear I’ll have. Yet to decide on how much swiftwater gear I’ll bring and how serious I am about carrying a proper boating helmet or a foam climbing helmet.

One thing I noticed right of the bat is that my new Alpacka internal UL dry bags are 3oz heavier than spec. I suspect this is due to the changed closure in the newer models, it now more closely resembles a classic rolltop dry bag.

Paddling Gear (choose 1 helmet)

Shred Ready Halfcut helmet 19.3

Petzl Sirocco 6.05

50ft 1/4in Spectra Line 10.05

UL MYOG Throwbag 0.65

Astral Seawolf PFD w/whistle and tether 34.95

Flip Line w/biner 3.4

2 Prussiks w/biner 2.6

River chainsaw in case 4.55

Spyderco Rescue 79mm Knife 2.2

Scat Harness 3.2

Aloksak w/bubble wrap for iPhone 0.5

10L Sealine Nimbus drybag 5.1

UL Internal drybags 12.2

Sil Bags (each) 0.85

Granite Gear Pack Liner 6.4

Neo Socks 3mm 4.35

Neo Gloves NRS Maverick 4.2

UL Thigh Straps (Podsacs 2m trimmed) 2.85

Spray Skirt 6.95

Kokatat GFER Drysuit (estimated) 50

Werner Sherpa Paddle 40.85

Mini Repair Kit 1.7

Cockpit Coaming 5.05

Packtowl 0.4

Yak/Llama custom, ww deck and cargo fly 120

Chad,

How many people on the trip; what are their boating skill levels; what are the walking/boating miles; WW class range you will be paddling; how far away is the nearest access point in case of an emergency; and your anticipated average air/water temps? This addiional information would be helpful for people to better gauge the appropriatness/weight of your gear choices.

Richard, we’ve got four paddlers. The trip is about 330 miles of floating, maybe 80 or so hiking. Paddling up to class 3-4, but largely unknown due to the remote nature of the trip. It’s a long bush flight out of there to be sure, 170-200 miles depending on where we are along the route. June in the NWT can have lingering snow squalls and spells of colder weather, but generally temps will be above freezing.

I’d certainly welcome any weight saving insights, though my initial intent was to share a WW specific list with weights, as we’d been discussing drysuit weight in a previous thread and I haven’t put much thought into the overall weight of my boating gear choices until now.

Realistically it seems that 19-21lbs of boating equipment per person is about what I’m looking at right now, to have a PFD capable of performing live bait rescues and towing boats, and enough tools (saw, mini pin kit) to deal with uncertainty. This is similar to the gear I brought on a trip for work last summer, the primary difference being my personal boat has a cargo fly, which I find give me more confidence and stability in bigger water.

Chad,

Thanks for the detailed reply; all of the safety gear you had in your prior list makes more sense in context of the trip environment. That is a trip type that necessitates most/all of the safety gear you have listed, regardless of the weight total. The following questions are for my understanding more so than a critique of your gear list:

Does your spectra line have a substantial polypropylene sheath to stay on the surface in frothy water?

Does that big front pocket on your PFD catch on the edge of the packraft on a self-rescue?

The GFER has built in Gore-Tex socks eliminating the need for neoprene socks doesn’t it?

What do you use the pack towel for?

What is a Scat Harness used for?

Your trip sounds like it has the making of a great adventure article on BPL… exciting.

Yes, the spectra is standard throw bag line that floats, pulled out of an NRS bag and into one I made.

The clamshell on a Seawolf or Greenjacket has never presented a problem for packraft reentry for me and greatly eases access to rescue equipment and snacks/sunscreen/Gaia GPS/lip balm etc. I do keep my knife inside now: an external knife (NRS co-pilot) of the Seawolf lash tab did get hung up, and external carry with these lightweight inflatables makes me nervous.

The socks on the GFER (like all Goretex socks) last much longer inside a neoprene sock to protect them from sand and grit in the shoe. I’d stay it’s more or less standard practice to “protect your investment” this way in the boating community, but you’re right, I may have enough warmth and save an ounce or two by bringing thinner neo socks.

The following two items are from a blog post I’m working on:

“Scat “The Cub” Bear Spray Holster- On hike and float trips through grizzly bear habitat keeping bear spray accessible is important. I wear the Cub on the front of my body, underneath my backpack waist belt while hiking and beneath my PFD (over top of my sprayskirt) while boating. This way it’s always close at hand, even when I get out to scout a rapid or walk to the end of the gravel bar to pee. It’s lightweight, purpose-built and dries pretty fast too. I tried it on with all my boating layers and then lopped off a foot or so of the extra long strap, resewing the end so it wouldn’t pull through the buckle.

Small Packtowl Square- I bring an 8” x 8” square of a highly absorbent fabric for a variety of uses. Drying off your boat at night takes only a minute or so, and allows you to sleep on the boat as a very durable groundsheet. I keep it in my PFD and use it to keep the sun off my ears and neck while tucked under a trucker hat, and it’s also great for drying out your boat post-trip before you throw it in a friend’s car. Quick field repairs to the tube fabric are also made easier in wet weather. It offers lots of utility and only weighs 0.4 oz when dry.”

I’ll likely write up a trip report and post it online somewhere, and will be sure to link to the BPL packrafting forum.