Packing For An Overnight Kayak Camping Trip // Dagger Katana 10.4

[@LIVE4THEADVENTURE]

Awesome video and thank you so much for making this. I new at all of this and I was a bit loss on how to pack my Dagger Katana but now have a good plan to follow. Thanks and keep the great videos a coming!!

[@DetraDearmas]

That’s how we camp alright. 2 or 3 nights just means extra food for us. No table yet, but did buy a saw for my son one year and he needed stitches before we even took it camping! No more saws for me. We do have one big knife but rarely open the sheath. It has come in handy a few times is the only reason it still comes along for the ride. Catch you on the next trip!

[@RiverKingsKayak]

Oh yeah! Oh you have to try the table!! game changer! I always carry a knife. Hate to hear about the saw injury - it happens a lot!

[@ianhopcraft9894]

Great ideas as always, thanks. Helmets are also sensible if there are low branches or low bridges. Easy to get a nasty cut or scratch on your head or loose a fabric hat. Saws come in handy for branch clearance but also pose hazards of cuts or kick back of tensioned branches or loss/entrapment of the saw. How to safely cut your way past fallen trees from a kayak/canoe/sot/paddle board might be a good subject for a video?

[@RiverKingsKayak]

good ideas!

[@bespokedrip]

Thank you for all of the great content you produce! What make/model is that helmet, if you wouldn't mind sharing?

[@RiverKingsKayak]

That is a Sweet Rocker

[@harlcorbin2582]

First want to thank you for your content been trying to catch up and learn more !! Thank you!! Did want to ask if you had thought about using camel backs instead of water bottles? Myself I always have 2 , 2.5 liter camel backs ! I don’t use the backpack style but I love the military Mollie packs and place behind the seat run the hose up to my life jacket! I myself have found I drink more water more often than chasing bottles! And I can suck and paddle without stopping 🤔 that didn’t sound right 😂 anyway just thought I would share !

[@RiverKingsKayak]

I used camelbacks for years and years in a job I had that required looong walks in the woods at night with friends...LOL. They worked great for that. The problem for me with using them in a kayak would be the sprayskirt. I would have to fish the straw up through the sprayskirt somehow. This could be problematic with exiting the kayak as the resevoir (pack) would still be in my lap or behind the seat etc...It would be annoying at best and potentially a snag hazzard in a wet exit. For a paddler not wearing a skirt, it wouldnt be a problem.

[@harlcorbin2582]

@@RiverKingsKayak thank you I have kayaking sit on tops for about 10 yrs ! I have recently decided to get into sit in touring kayaking and been trying learn everything I can! And honestly that was something I had not thought about thank you !! And also thank you for your videos I have learned a lot from your content and honestly gets me excited to get of my Jackson barges and into a speed boat !! 😂

[@BladePressure]

A folding saw is pretty light.

[@RiverKingsKayak]

It is, I just never use them. Often, someone in our group will have one and they do come in handy every so often.

[@Boilermaker92]

Do you bring a first aid kit?

[@RiverKingsKayak]

Yes, I always do. It was in the Black personal items bag...I forgot to mention it. Thanks for catching that!

[@LIVE4THEADVENTURE]

Hey Pete, I’m revisiting this video because I’m about to go on a 3 to 4 day float on the Buffalo River. I have a few questions to ask you. 1. If you have to remove the front bulkhead to put gear in, then which should weigh more the front of the kayak or the back of the kayak??? 2. For clothes do you kayak just in one pair of clothes and pack just one pair of sleeping clothes?? 3. So I have the 9.7 katana and you have to 10.4. I was told the front and back hatch is all the same but them middle of yours is bigger. Is that true?? I know you know how to pack a kayak better but you sure did get a lot in that back hatch. Any help would definitely be appreciated. Thank you!!

[@RiverKingsKayak]

Hey L4TA! You want the kayak to be trimmed mostly even with more weight definitely to the rear of the boat. Heaviest items closer to the center with the lightest items out in the bow and stern areas. The clothing situation is weather dependent. I will always have one pair of clothes that I only sleep in and other sets of clothes for activity. In the summer I will wear one set of shorts and tee for a week (you can smell us coming). In the winter, at least two sets in case of immersion and inability to dry them before the next day. As for storage, those two boats are very different. The 10.4 offers quite a bit more storage space than the 9.7. Whoever told you they were the same in that regard is mistaken. The actual hatch opening is the same size, but the compartment is def bigger. The bow area is also bigger. The 10.4 is bigger than the 9.7 by almost 30 gallons. That volume proportionally follows through the entire boat design - not just a stretched cockpit area. I always suggest the 10.4 as the 9.7 is the same size as a medium whitewater kayak but with a hatch...the 10.4 is much bigger and offers the advantage of being able to really pack it in and haul the mail! for example, that 30 gallons equates to 240lbs of buoyancy. You will be needing that when you load it down and start paddling. The 9.7 is a great option to me if you are limiting yourself to a light overnighter type situation.

[@LIVE4THEADVENTURE]

@@RiverKingsKayak hey thank you very much for the packing advice and the size comparison. There is not much I can do now with the size I have but I think I can make a 3 day trip out of it. Well let hope lol 😂 !!!

[@RiverKingsKayak]

@@LIVE4THEADVENTURE for sure! I have 3 day camped out of regular ww kayaks before. The 9.7 will make that easy!

[@LIVE4THEADVENTURE]

@@RiverKingsKayak Thank you! I feel much better! Hopefully I’ll get a good video of my trip to share lol 😂

[@bashy2.0]

ya 2 quilts would fill my WS Etos 9, no room for out else lol

[@RiverKingsKayak]

Yes, I have found that if you are looking to pack some gear, the 10' crossovers are much more spacious!

[@squeakyarcher2946]

Hello

[@scottmccall6476]

What is the lowest that you would do the middle and lower Haw river? A friend and I would love to go Friday.

[@RiverKingsKayak]

What kind of boats do you have?

[@scottmccall6476]

@RiverKingsKayak Pete I have a Katana 10 4 and my buddy has a xp 9.

[@RiverKingsKayak]

@scottmccall6476 it always goes...just at varying levels of scotching. With those boats you can pick hour way through

[@scottmccall6476]

@@RiverKingsKayak we'll give it a try and hope it's not a scotch fest. Thanks

[@jerrymiller276]

You don't have a packing checklist? Really? Whenever we travel or adventure I always use a checklist. I have one done in Word that is a comprehensive list for anything that might go on a trip of whatever type. (I actually have two, one for camping or outdoorsy type trips and one for more resorty trips and my wife has one for kitcheny type stuff, spice, etc) I just print a copy out, scratch off the items I won't want on this particular trip, pack the rest, scratching them off as they are ACTUALLY packed up, and. voila!, when nothing is left that isn't scratched out nothing gets forgotten. Well, USUALLY. But, then, we all know about the usuallys, don't we? Usually tends to be one of those pain-in-the-ass words. A checklist is worth a whole bottle of your favorite headache pills.

[@RiverKingsKayak]

I used to, but it changes so little with each trip that I just quit using it. All my gear is organized and stored in a tote ready to be packed. I simply get it out, and set it all on a table, do a mental check list and layout on said table then pack it all into dry bags and then into the duffles. Where is the adventure if you are sure you have everything? LOL.

[@jerrymiller276]

@@RiverKingsKayak Our trips are so very different from each other that what you do wouldn't work as well for us. But you are right. Surprise is the essence of adventure.

[@ShanaRenee]

awesome, thanks!

[@RiverKingsKayak]

Thanks Shana!