How To Prepare For A Kayak Camping Trip

Combining both kayaking and camping is the best of two worlds. You get the joy of kayaking, probably over several days, as well as the relaxation of camping.

However, there are some things that you need to look at before you take off with your boat. If you want a successful experience then you’ll want to put some time aside to plan and prepare for your trip.

To help you with that, we from recvets.com has put together this 3-step kayak camping prep-guide to help you with the planning process!

Here we go through the steps mentioned in the infographic

The Destination

Where you’re going is important. While it might sound cool to just take your gear and see where you end up, that’s not recommended. There are several factors that play into this, here are some of them:

• You need a location where you’re allowed to kayak.
• You also need to be allowed to camp around the areas where you’ll be paddling.
• You’ll want to have civilization somewhat nearby in case of an emergency.

These three are the most important reasons why you’d want to plan where you’re headed. Then there’s some more convenient reasons like being able to check the weather report and being able to plan a route so you know for how many days you’ll be gone.

Packing the right stuff

Depending on how many co-kayakers you bring along, you’ll be having more or less space to pack your gear. The reason being, three kayaks can carry more gear than two.

However, storage is limited so you need to plan what you’re packing as well.

What we would advice anyone to do, anyone camping in general for that matter, is to make a packing list.

Write down all the essentials you’ll be needing and think about how much you’ll actually be able to bring with you. We’ve listed a few things in the infographic but you can find a more extensive list here.

Getting ready and packing your kayak

So you’ve done all your planning and the trip is just a few days away. Now it’s a good idea to revisit some of the things you did earlier.

Is the weather report still looking good for your destination?

Do you have everything in your packing list?

Making these few checks will be worth it. If something went wrong it could actually have a larger impact on your trip than you might think.

Lastly, when the day has come, you need to pack your kayak, and you need to do it correctly.

Follow these guidelines:

• Pack your heavier items near the center of the kayak, and your lighter items closer to the bow or stern.
• Have essentials like water, food and first aid items in arms reach should you need it while you’re paddling.
• Pack your sensitive gear in dry bags.
• Try to avoid putting gear on your deck.
• Make sure nothing can fall off your kayak.

If you follow these guidelines you set yourself up to paddle without having to deal with any unexpected problems while you’re on your kayak.

Hopefully these tips will help you on your adventures. Happy Kayak Camping!