The Nitty Gritty Pack List
a comprehensive list (with reviews!) of everything I brought on my Cahaba trip
EQUIPMENT
Old Town Manitou Sport Kayak—wonderful boat. Reasonably light weight and took a beating with all the rocks I encountered. The only complaint I have about this boat is how narrow the cockpit is while trying to enter and exit. I had to get out frequently to drag the kayak over rocks, and every time I reentered the boat, my legs scraped against the lip of the cockpit. My legs were bruised black and blue by day three. I looked like a car accident victim. By day five I had a friend bring me pool noodles that I cut down and padded the edges with. These did what I needed them to for the trip, but they are not a long-term solution.
Carlisle Mystic Magic Paddle—loved it. Feels good. Never once worried about it.
Onyx MoveVent PFD—solid choice for the price. My only complaint is the breast pocket is too tiny to fit a phone. But it is comfortable and gets the job done. No chafing.
MISCELLANEOUS
Keys
Wallet with cards/cash/identification
Ozark Trail Brown lens sunglasses
Four Bic lighters (two shrink wrapped)
Spare wet/dry bag
One pack Hot Hands (didn’t use)
Three Rite in the Rain waterproof notebooks (only used one but used every page)
Waterproof matches
Mini fishing pole—didn’t use, got in the way, but good for an emergency
Mini tackle box
TOOLS/PROTECTION
Buck pocketknife
Smith and Wesson neck knife
Ruger LC9s with 8 bullets painted with clear nail polish, leather holster
Small bottle Remington Gun Oil (in ziplock bag)
Wallet multitool (I actually needed this to unscrew screws)
FOOD/FOOD PREP
One travel size seasoning container with salt
Three mini gas canisters, 110g (didn’t fully use one)
14 days’ worth of freeze-dried food. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner—I pretty much hated these. So much so I stopped eating lunch. The breakfast options are good. But the rest of the options all tasted the same and had the same texture and consistency: boiled sadness. By day three I was craving something to sink my teeth into. I brought a variety of brands from Backpacker’s Pantry, Peak Refuel, and Mountain House.
Café Bustelo Instant coffee in Ziploc
Gobites Bio Duo Fork and Spoon Set—this is actually incredibly handy as both pieces work individually but come together to form the long utensil needed to reach into freeze-dried food bags. However, I hated this setup. I found it ungainly and messy, and I didn’t like the textured finish. But I’m picky. If you’re looking for light weight and functional, this is well designed.
2 Hefty Shrink-Pak Bags (large)—One of these I used to store my food in case the dry well didn’t stay dry. The second one was used to hold my trash in hopes that it would stay a bit more contained than a normal trash bag.
DRINKING WATER
Katadyn rechargeable Steripen Ultra UV water purifier—despite the fact that this thing is designed to be used IN water, the unit itself is NOT waterproof. This thing crapped out on me 6 days into the trip. It comes in a neoprene storage case. This got damp going over a set of rapids, but the unit itself was fine and functional that night. However, I replaced the unit back in its damp case and woke up the next morning to find water had condensed behind the screen. This killed it. This was avoidable, and I’m telling you this so that you too can avoid my mistake. A friend then met me later on and brought me the battery powered version of this same product and that served me well the rest of the trip.
Emergency Iodine
CLOTHING
1 REI button up
2 short sleeved quick-dry Nike shirts (one for sleeping one for kayaking)
1 pair Krimson and Klover shorts
1 pair Nike shorts for sleeping
1 pair convertible REI long pants—important for keeping covered from the sun
1 SPF long sleeve hoodie—a must for a trip like this. Helped keep the sun off my arms, but I was also was able to wet and wear the hoodie to keep cool in the blazing heat.
1 River Guide Original Outback Oilskin Hat—this was my first purchase for this trip and it is worth its weight in gold. Though it didn’t rain on my trip, I’ve since worn it in the rain, and it keeps the ol’ noggin dry. Plus, there’s a pocket in the crown.
2 sets of Marino wool undergarments
3 pairs of socks (so grateful for these after a long day of wet, chaffed feet)
Xero water shoes—stellar choice and I was happy with them. I did have some chafing of the little toe with so many days on the water. They are fully enclosed, so this keeps toes safely tucked in which was very important with so many rocks. However, this also lets in and traps sand a bit more than other shoes. The sturdy lugs on the bottom are top tier and helped provide grip and stability when I needed it most.
Xero Z-Trail EV Sandals—these were great to switch too when the sogginess of the water shoes got to be too much. The downside is of course how exposed the foot is both to sun and rocks.
Xero Hanna shoes for around camp—This particular style of shoe has been discontinued in women’s sizes but it’s comparable match could be the Kona. I threw these in there last minute because I had them and figured there might be a time where I might like a dry and protected shoe. Turns out, these were the perfect camp shoe and much appreciated. At the end of the day with feet in and out of the water/sun/mud. It was nice to put on a dry pair of shoes to keep things away from the sand for a little bit. I still valued walking around camp barefoot. But there were just times when having clean, dry feet felt good.
One neck gaiter—highly recommend one of these for every adventure. I won’t adventure without one.
BATHROOM/HYGENE
PackTowl—body sized quick dry towel
PackTowl—Personal Hand towel
Dr Bonners Eucalyptus soap—absolutely necessary
Kula Pee Cloth—I was incredibly skeptical of this product at first. But after reading the reviews I decided to go for it, and I’m glad I did. For those of us who squat to pee, this is a game changer. It makes being hygienic in the wild a breeze. It was easy to keep clean and I consider this money well-spent. Plus, the free poem that came with its purchase was amusing and sealed the deal.
PACT Compressed biodegradable towels and mycelium poop tablets—highly recommend. One packet lasted me the whole trip.
Small aluminum trowel
Travel Crest Toothpaste
Toothbrush
Daily vitamins/meds
Bottle of Naproxen—this was a life saver but then again also gave me mouth sores
Razor
Sawyer 12 Hour Protection Bug Spray—I didn’t use this at all. Actually, I saw a startling lack of mosquitos. There was only one night when they mobbed me, and I was already inside the tent with its bug netting. Once you get away from the peopley areas, frequency of bugs decreases. I’d still bring it on a future trip. But I didn’t need it on this one.
Raw Elements Mineral Sunscreen 50spf—listen, this stuff is amazing. It’s reef safe so it’s okay for the environment. It doesn’t give a weird sheen, and one 2oz container lasted me the whole trip. Just don’t forget your knuckles; I did and wound up with painful sun blisters.
Two first aid kits—one a generic first aid kit, the other my personalized kit I carry with me everywhere. I used a couple band aids and some Neosporin, but I was prepared for a variety of accidents.
SLEEPING
One shower liner—I happened to have this on hand and used it as a lightweight tarp option. It folds down neater and tighter than a tarp and was incredibly cost effective. I used it under the Lawson when set up as a tent, and as a welcome/dust mat when the Lawson was set up as a hammock.
Lawson Blue Ridge Hammock—I LOVE this product. I wasn’t sure if I was going to need a tent or a hammock on this trip as I had never done anything like this before. So, I found a product that functioned as both. I was so pleased with both set-up styles. This product is easily portable, quick and easy to set up, and reliable. I do recommend buying their specific suspension system and to always use this product fully zipped. I used my traditional hanging system when I was first trying out this product and was getting situated inside with the zipper door undone and I got my butt dropped straight on the ground. Their suspension system method provides the best stability. Beyond that, no problems whatsoever. I’ve also used this product in the rain and was pleased. The rain tarp is very secure, and the mosquito netting is great. There’s netting pockets on the inside for securing gear, hanging loops for attaching lights, and corner loops inside for securing sleeping bags/blankets. The flatbottom hammock element was also very comfortable.
NEMO Fillo Elite Travel Pillow—wonderful, love it.
ThermaRest Argo Blanket—this is a two-person blanket that I doubled over and used like a sleeping bag. It was slick against the floor of the hammock which is part of the reason I slid out and busted my butt during the trial run. But after I got used to it, this was no longer an issue. Great product, packs easily.
ELECTRONICS
iPhone 14
BigBlue SolarPowa 28 Charger—This solar charger was awesome. I had mostly sunny days but a couple overcast ones and plenty of time spent under partial tree cover on the river. Every day I wound up with a full charge.
Goal Zero Venture 35 charge block—love this! It’s weather resistant and has two USB and one USC charge port. It also has a built-in flashlight. One charge on here is two full cell phone charges. Or one cell phone and one full charge for a GPS locator.
At least two of every kind of charge cord (plus a multi spare)
Body Glove Tidal Waterproof phone case—overall very pleased with this product. You do need to make sure that it’s securely assembled. Also, since this fully encases your phone, the audio while making videos sounds canny. But you can still use this to make calls while it is encased.
Koala Phone Tether—I liked this product, but I didn’t trust it entirely. Occasionally it felt like one of the loops might slip off the side. So I put a mini-carabiner on the wrist strap of the waterproof phone case and clipped that to my PFD. This way my phone was secure through two points. This may seem like overkill but considering how it was my primary navigation and communication system, I wasn’t taking chances.
Fuji X-T30—I love this camera. It takes excellent photos and links via Bluetooth to your phone for quick transfer. It packs a punch for a compact di
DiCAPac Waterproof Camera Case—worth its weight in gold.
Burner phone with power cord (shrink wrapped)
Small extra power pack (shrink wrapped)
Coast FL1R Rechargeable Headlamp—two white light modes and one red light mode. Works great.
O2COOL Rechargeable Necklace fan—I brought this just in case it rained and the tent was stuffy. I wound up not needing it. However, I would still probably include it on future pack lists.
Backup flashlight
I would keep items charged by laying the solar panel out on the nose of the kayak and running the charge cable to the battery pack in a wet/dry bag between my feet. If I happened to get into a rocky stretch of river, I’d pull the solar panel and tuck it away into the wet/dry bag. A full day in the sun was enough to give the charge pack a full battery. After that, I’d plug in various items (camera, headlamp, phone, etc.) and capture the last of the sun. If you do something similar to this trip, you’ll need to factor in that many times the water way is encased in shady tree overhangs. This is going to have a negative effect on the solar panel’s charging capability. It was a challenge at times keeping the solar panel in full sunlight especially with how much I wanted to be in the cool shade.
NAVIGATION
Cahaba Blueway Map—The Blueway was one of the most important resources for my trip. It maps out every accessible point along the Cahaba and details the river between each of those points. So many stretches of the river were unknown to me. The Blueway was able to give me insight into the trip and was so valuable for planning and while out on the water. I copied and printed every section of the map and had it saved to my notes app as well as linked to the home screen on my phone. I wasn’t taking any risks that I wouldn’t be able to access the map if I lost service or my phone.
Garmin inReach Mini 2—this is a costly little device but the peace of mind it gave me was worth it. Garmin allows you to share a password protected page with your loved ones. So, folks could tune in to my location even when I didn’t have cell service. This device is also a satellite communicator. It pairs with your phone, and you can send text messages with it through their app. However, if you don’t have a phone, you can still send messages with it, it’ll just take forever to henpeck out the message scrolling through the alphabet. If there’s a downside to this system, it’s that it requires a subscription—both a yearly access one and a monthly usage one. There’s also an extra fee for emergency wilderness rescue. But it is a small price to pay if you have to be medevacked out of the middle of nowhere as that small fee covers all recovery costs. Overall, this device provided the peace of mind I and everyone who cares about me needed as I traveled alone. I had 23 people with access to my location and a variety of them dedicated to specific jobs. Some folks watched the weather for me. Other were dedicated to coming and grabbing me off the trip at a moment’s notice if I needed it. Overall, I had a community of support and felt at ease knowing they could all see where I was on the map.
iPhone location—I had my phone location turned on and given to several friends. I didn’t think this would be as dependable as my Garmin location, but it was helpful to have on as well.
Gaia GPS App—I used this app as a backup trail record app. Thus far I’ve used it on all my kayaking trips and so wanted this trip recorded in there as well. It also served as my backup trip record as using the Garmin was new to me, and I didn’t want to make a mistake and delete my track because I was unfamiliar with the Garmin platform.
THINGS BROUGHT TO ME ON DAY 5
Apples
Oranges
Lärabars
Underquilt—this goes below your hammock to keep you warm. Even though it was late May, it was still getting down into the low 50s at night. I froze my butt off on night 4. I hand made mine from poly batting and black out curtain material.
Sunglasses—listen, I scoffed at that one kayaking pack list that said to bring two pair of sunglasses and I regretted it. They were right. Bring 2 pairs.
Croakies
Long sleeve fleece
Two Root beers
Small bottle of lotion—(absolutely necessary, by day three my hands were cracking)
Pair of kayaking gloves