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| Howry Creek east of Murray Lake (heading west), Killarney Park, August 2010. |
Essential Equipment falls into a few categories - see further below for advice on each category:
Accomodation: (click for more)
Tent, sleeping bag, mats, pillows, tarp shelter, flashlight, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, small "digging tool" in case there is no treasure chest at the site.
Luggage: (click for more)
Dry packs, back packs.
In the boat:
Paddles, PFDs, first aid kit, ropes, bailer, map, compass, whistles, water shoes, hats, sunblock, shoulder pad for portage, paddling gloves, spare paddle, repair kit, bug repellant.
Kitchen:
Pans, stove, cooking fuel, water filter, water containers, meals, snacks, emergency supplies, garbage bag, fire-lighters, matches, camp soap, dish towel, pan scrubber, plates, drinking cups, cutlery.
Other Essentials:
Ropes and pulleys for hoisting food.
Optionals:
Camp chairs: young supple types can make do with sitting on rocks and tree stumps. I can't. The folding camp chairs that are $15 from Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, etc are just the ticket.
Bear-proof food container: most barrels sold for expeditions are NOT bear proof.
GPS: this is a useful additional navigating device. It is NOT a substitute for a map, but is hugely helpful to show where you are on the map and hence where to find the end of a portage, or the location of a camp site.
Axe: we have always found enough dead wood and loose available kindling - we have never needed an axe.
Liquor, cards, books.
Camera equipment, fishing equipment.
Luggage: (click for more)
Dry packs, back packs.
In the boat:
Paddles, PFDs, first aid kit, ropes, bailer, map, compass, whistles, water shoes, hats, sunblock, shoulder pad for portage, paddling gloves, spare paddle, repair kit, bug repellant.
Kitchen:
Pans, stove, cooking fuel, water filter, water containers, meals, snacks, emergency supplies, garbage bag, fire-lighters, matches, camp soap, dish towel, pan scrubber, plates, drinking cups, cutlery.
Other Essentials:
Ropes and pulleys for hoisting food.
Optionals:
Camp chairs: young supple types can make do with sitting on rocks and tree stumps. I can't. The folding camp chairs that are $15 from Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, etc are just the ticket.
Bear-proof food container: most barrels sold for expeditions are NOT bear proof.
GPS: this is a useful additional navigating device. It is NOT a substitute for a map, but is hugely helpful to show where you are on the map and hence where to find the end of a portage, or the location of a camp site.
Axe: we have always found enough dead wood and loose available kindling - we have never needed an axe.
Liquor, cards, books.
Camera equipment, fishing equipment.
TENT:
Paddlers don't need to be as fussy about weight as are back-packers, however when camping in the back-country, not just any tent will do.
Some sites have one good place to put a tent, and a tent big enough for four people will use all of that space. Depending on the store, this may be a 4-person tent (MEC), or it may be described as a 6-person (Canadian Tire). When staying on the most popular lakes in Killarney and Algonquin this is not really an issue: however the time to find out whether there is enough space for your tent is not arrival time.
If your party has two tents, a non-ideal camping spot can be made better using leaf litter, putting a folded tarp under the tent, etc.
As for the type of tent, for Ontario back-country, if you might want to camp in the Fall or Spring, I recommend having one with an inner tent of full fabric, with mesh screen doors each end so they can be opened up for ventilation if the weather is hot. This is much better than the type with a mesh inner that can't be properly sealed if the weather gets windy and wet. Keeping out the rain is priority one: but keeping out the wind is a close second. If you will only camp in the summer, a mesh inner tent will be fine.
Watch out for exposed seams facing into the weather. Even very good zippers will leak in a rain storm. What is required is an outer tent with full covering to ground level all the way round, otherwise a tarp may be needed to keep the tent entry dry. And that seems pointless.
Where to shop is a matter of preference. The gear from specialist outdoor stores is more expensive than from Canadian Tire or Wal-Mart - but it's also generally much better and will last longer. Prices and styles can be checked on-line, often with reviews, and then in my opinion going to the store and touching the product, seeing a sample up close, is the real test.
SLEEPING BAGS, MATS, PILLOWS.
The self-inflating mats and pillows are ideal - made by Therma-Rest and others. Available pretty much anywhere. The big advantage with the mat is the low bulk with excellent thermal insulation - I recommend 1.5" for comfort. A budget approach is to buy the closed-cell foam pads which are much bigger to carry, but a fraction of the price ($5 versus $75 - which is a lot if there are 4 of you).
Pillows can be achieved by rolling up a coat, but my wife tells me that's not good enough so we have the Thermarest self-inflating things.
Sleeping bags: now it's a trade off and on a hot night any sleeping bag is more than you need. In the Fall, a 3-season bag still needs jeans and a t-shirt to stay warm some nights. My favorite feature of my latest sleeping bag is a double-ended zipper. So you can open up at the feet, and open up round your chest area, and don't overcook. And in the middle of the night, when it's cold, it's quick to zip the thing shut both ends.
The key is to keep number of pieces of luggage to a minimum, with each one being carryable. So, for example, figure out the largest backpacks that can fit into the canoe, lying on the bottom, so as much weight as possible is low down. The pack needs to be carried over rough terrain for the length of a portage and needs to be carried up hill to a camp site, so the weight has to be manageable.
Sleeping bags and clothes need to be kept dry, and the best way to ensure this is to use "dry packs" or garbage bags inside regular backpacks.
Next, some sort of pack or other container will need to hold food in such a way that it can be hoisted into a tree, protecting the food from agile little animals and from the rain.
Paddlers don't need to be as fussy about weight as are back-packers, however when camping in the back-country, not just any tent will do.
Some sites have one good place to put a tent, and a tent big enough for four people will use all of that space. Depending on the store, this may be a 4-person tent (MEC), or it may be described as a 6-person (Canadian Tire). When staying on the most popular lakes in Killarney and Algonquin this is not really an issue: however the time to find out whether there is enough space for your tent is not arrival time.
If your party has two tents, a non-ideal camping spot can be made better using leaf litter, putting a folded tarp under the tent, etc.
As for the type of tent, for Ontario back-country, if you might want to camp in the Fall or Spring, I recommend having one with an inner tent of full fabric, with mesh screen doors each end so they can be opened up for ventilation if the weather is hot. This is much better than the type with a mesh inner that can't be properly sealed if the weather gets windy and wet. Keeping out the rain is priority one: but keeping out the wind is a close second. If you will only camp in the summer, a mesh inner tent will be fine.
Watch out for exposed seams facing into the weather. Even very good zippers will leak in a rain storm. What is required is an outer tent with full covering to ground level all the way round, otherwise a tarp may be needed to keep the tent entry dry. And that seems pointless.
Where to shop is a matter of preference. The gear from specialist outdoor stores is more expensive than from Canadian Tire or Wal-Mart - but it's also generally much better and will last longer. Prices and styles can be checked on-line, often with reviews, and then in my opinion going to the store and touching the product, seeing a sample up close, is the real test.
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| Killarney Lake, Fall 2010. MEC Wanderer 4, 3-season tent, with optional second vestibule. An ideal tent that accommodates four people in comfort. |
The self-inflating mats and pillows are ideal - made by Therma-Rest and others. Available pretty much anywhere. The big advantage with the mat is the low bulk with excellent thermal insulation - I recommend 1.5" for comfort. A budget approach is to buy the closed-cell foam pads which are much bigger to carry, but a fraction of the price ($5 versus $75 - which is a lot if there are 4 of you).
Pillows can be achieved by rolling up a coat, but my wife tells me that's not good enough so we have the Thermarest self-inflating things.
Sleeping bags: now it's a trade off and on a hot night any sleeping bag is more than you need. In the Fall, a 3-season bag still needs jeans and a t-shirt to stay warm some nights. My favorite feature of my latest sleeping bag is a double-ended zipper. So you can open up at the feet, and open up round your chest area, and don't overcook. And in the middle of the night, when it's cold, it's quick to zip the thing shut both ends.
The key is to keep number of pieces of luggage to a minimum, with each one being carryable. So, for example, figure out the largest backpacks that can fit into the canoe, lying on the bottom, so as much weight as possible is low down. The pack needs to be carried over rough terrain for the length of a portage and needs to be carried up hill to a camp site, so the weight has to be manageable.
Sleeping bags and clothes need to be kept dry, and the best way to ensure this is to use "dry packs" or garbage bags inside regular backpacks.
Next, some sort of pack or other container will need to hold food in such a way that it can be hoisted into a tree, protecting the food from agile little animals and from the rain.
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| A yellow Seal-Line "Pro-Pack" stands ready to be portaged. |
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