Kayak camping-preparing to launch

[gyork]

On occasion, I have found myself on the wrong (last) end of a group of paddlers preparing to launch. I've gone over in my head some general guidelines that might help me be among the first to be ready. Your comments are most welcome please.

-Don't let yourself be the last person ready for launch

-If BIB time announced the previous evening is X o'clock, be ready no later than (x-1) o'clock
This allows for contingencies that may or may not have been anticipated (weather especially, personal matters, etc.). This "ready" margin allows you to lend a hand to others who may be slower packing up their camp. This includes: helping to move boats to the waterline for packing, dasassembling shelters, assuming a role of "organizer", and offering a hot drink or snack.

-Have non-essential (between "lights-out" and dawn) gear organized for packing, leaving the shelter job for morning.

-Eliminate the need for firing up the stove in the AM, unless you absolutely MUST have your brew. Enjoy something unheated for breakfast.

gary

[Phil Allen]

No arguments with your points above, but someone is always going to be last ;-)

To be efficient, I try to only unpack the things I need that night, and they're packed in the boat with that plan in the morning.

best

Phil

[josko]

Perhaps a more relevant metric is: what's your avg time between waking up and paddling? Mel and I worked hard to get it under 90 mins. With a hot breakfast.

[rfolster]

Gary, you are by far the most efficient camper I have ever had the privilege of paddling with! You are an inspiration to say the least. I would like to offer the following:

- Campers should express their expectations during pre-trip planning. That way there are no surprises in the morning when one paddler is ready to launch while an other is taking breakfast off the stove.

- Practice boat packing/unpacking and camp setup/breakdown at home to find out how much time it takes, then add in some extra time.

- If possible, make "breakfast" the night before and store it in a thermos. I don't know if coffee sits well, but My thermos will keep tea plenty warm for 24 hours without exaggeration.

[...]

Gary,

Thank you for initiating this wonderful thread! I suspect this issue is not uncommon among kayak campers and can be a source of stress for some. As you know, I love kayak camping and I believe all aspects of camping, including preparation for launch, can be very enjoyable.

To help make the process enjoyable I believe the team needs to agree on two important decisions the night before. The team needs to agree on the time to bring the boat down for loading and the time for butts-in-boats. I know some paddlers take longer to pack their boats and so a time when the boats are taken down is very important to them. It is not uncommon to encounter a 60 minute span of time between when boats are taken down and when BIB occurs. As long as the team has agreed to the times I am fine with the process. If, for example, the team agreed on 7:00AM for boats brought down and 8:00AM for BIB, I am fine with having my butt in my boat at 8:00AM even if I am the last.

(I must add there are times when Mother Nature forces an early or late departure due to wind/waves/fog. We all understand those situations. This discussion is not about weather related emergency evacuations.)

Gary, you are one of the most organized campers I have ever encountered. I suspect you are not as concerned with becoming even more organized as much as feeling the last off the beach might be in some way disrespectful to those who were waiting. Please keep in mind, there are some paddlers who always seek to be ready 30, 40, 50 minutes ahead of schedule and see nothing wrong in that approach. You will never be able to improve your efficiency to be the first ready to launch in those situations.

As I mentioned, camping needs to be fun. Each camper will have a different approach to how they prepare themselves. You already have an approach that feels right for you, that is good. I do not believe there is one best approach for all. I recommend you come at the issue from a different angle.

I believe it is all about actions that create and strengthen teamwork. The team agrees on the two times mentioned above. Paddlers who seek to change those times for their convenience because they happen to be ready early are disrespectful to the team. Food for thought?

Warren

[John Martinsen]

I wouldn't forgo a good hot breakfast, especially if the weather is cooler. Can always make a thermos of hot something the night before, great to have hot beverages before even getting out of the bag. Also easy to have just one person cook while others are packing; whoever is cooking should have their gear already packed, or someone could be kind enough to pack it for them. Helps to sort out breakfast the night before and leave it somewhere handy.

Other than that the only real tip I have is as soon as you're ready to get out of your sleeping bag, crack open the air mattress (if you have one) and let your body weight empty the pad. Get dressed and pack up everything and get it out of the tent, leave it in the vestibule if need be. Or make a pile where you think you're going to load the boat. For me it takes a little bit of discipline, but I find it saves time. No need to get back in the tent for anything, and if I avoid the going back into the tent I'm less likely to doddle, and can move on to other things.

[gyork]

Paddlers who seek to change those times for their convenience because they happen to be ready early are disrespectful to the team. Food for thought?

Warren

It's always about teamwork isn't it? Not suggesting that agreed-upon launch times should be changed or disrespected. By being among the first to be ready, without pressuring others to hurry up, I avail myself to others, wherever help is needed-teamwork.

[Suz]

All good points. What I do to get ready on time is to first find out what the launch time is! BIB time as said prior. I know that I always have a lot to do in the morning so as soon as I wake up, my first thing even before getting out of my bag is to open my sleeping bag. Prevents dawdling in bed!

- before even leaving my tent, I pack my gear inside my tent.

- get dressed in my paddling clothes first thing. If a drysuit day, I put my longs on right away and then if raining - get dress in drysuit, if not, walk around in my longs.

- pack up my bedding

- pack up everything I took out overnight.

I work really quickly on the above because I HAVE TO PEE! It makes for a quick pack up.

- put ALL my dry bags that are repacked into the vestibule and ready to go.

Then I PEE. Then off to make breakfast and drink my tea.

Drop the tent and pack that up while the oatmeal is cooking or soaking.

Start carrying all my bags down to the staging area for loading the boats.

[rfolster]

Can someone please invent an alarm clock that will pull the plug on my sleeping pad? That will prevent me from falling back to sleep!

A good bonus to packing my sleeping gear before getting out of the tent in the morning is that it helps to warm me up. Mornings tend to be the coldest time of the day, and after being in a toasty 15-degree sleeping bag all night, my body is used to having that cozy insulation layer. Shedding it can make staying warm a challenge, so getting active right away helps me get the blood flowing and get my internal heating system working to combat the cold morning air waiting to greet me when I open the tent.

While a cool morning may not have too much physical effect on my motor skills, the mental aspect can really slow me down. I always keep layers near by (kept warm in the sleeping bag if necessary) to throw on and keep the chill off as I get camp packed up. Depending on the time of year and who I am paddling with, I might even get into my paddling clothing right out of the tent so that I am using my activity-generating heat to help warm up my suit and/or clothing, as well as eliminating the extra steps of changing out of camp clothing and into paddling gear.

[gyork]

Can someone please invent an alarm clock that will pull the plug on my sleeping pad?

I tell others that I have a pad with an alarm clock. It has the tiniest pinhole somewhere (I have tried to find it several times using the soapy water at night trick) that will support me for about 6 hours before a stick/rock/root lets me know that I have slept (or not) enough-time to get up. I have decided to stop searching for that leak!

[Inverseyourself]

Brilliant! Put the paddling gear on right out of the tent. That is great advice.

One of my great time-consumers is rolling the sleeping bag so it fits into its dry bag(s). Latter are quite marginal in terms of space and I often have to unroll and re-roll my sleeping bag tighter than before....feeling like a complete fool in my (still standing) tent while I already hear boats bumping against each other on the water.

I also like the hot-water-thermos-in-the-evening idea but will have to use the stove in the morning anyway since I always like a hot drink in my kayak.

Tent break-down is another of my weaknesses, I really (!) suspect due to lack of practice (did it twice). I wonder if the Hilleberg crowd has an advantage.

I also like Suz's suggestion of actually PEEING before getting into the boat and fastening the spraydeck.

[rfolster]

One of my great time-consumers is rolling the sleeping bag so it fits into its dry bag(s)..

Yeah, stop that! Just stuff the sleeping bag into the dry bag, but spend the extra time (only seconds, really) making sure the bag is really stuffed in there and get as much of the air out as possible. Compression dry bags are good for this, but that is another topic.

I also like the hot-water-thermos-in-the-evening idea but will have to use the stove in the morning anyway since I always like a hot drink in my kayak.

I once experimented with bringing two thermoses with me, one for my morning hot chocolate and another one for my tea for the day. It worked out really well, especially when I found that one of them had lost its vacuum and was left with only one thermos! Until that point, I was able to make both tea and hot chocolate the night before, and the tea was still hot by the next day's dinner.

Tent break-down is another of my weaknesses, I really (!) suspect due to lack of practice (did it twice). I wonder if the Hilleberg crowd has an advantage.

It does help to practice tent setup and break down to figure out the nuances. The Hilleberg does offer some significant advantages in that the tent, fly, and foot print can all be connected together and stuffed into one bag. Also, the way the poles clip onto the outside of the fly instead of going through sleeves on the tent really helps. One of the really big advantages is the lack of weight..........in your wallet! But they are worth it in my opinion.

[EEL]

Andy:

Don't mess around rolling the sleeping bag and then putting it in the dry sack. Just stuff it in the dry sack. Grab a handful of the foot end, mash it down into the dry bag and repeat until its in.

Same technique for putting tent and fly in dry bags.

Ed Lawson

[Gcosloy]

I have enough trouble and anxiety getting ready for a day trip. Now I understand the benefits of camping solo!

[Inverseyourself]

Thanks Rob and Ed for the top tips!

So I was indeed not only feeling like a fool when I rolled my sleeping bag...again and again.

BTW, I was making the same OCD-mistake with my tent, folding it like it came out of the box when I first bought it (even brushing dirt, leaves and pine-tree needles off...just kidding...not)

Watch me be BIB first in the future !

[prudenceb]

While I am a stuffer of sleeping bags, I do like to fold the tent in thirds the long way ( including footprint) then roll up and stuff bc it keeps the tent cleaner and marginally dryer inside than just stuffing. If this is your last pack and you're heading home, no need to bother, but if you're going to have to set up the tent again and live in it again that night, a little extra effort to keep it tidy pays off. I do just stuff the rainfly. And taking that slight organizational step has never made me last one ready to launch!

I also agree with Suz's no-pee-before-packing dictum. It's a real...motivator!

pru

[EEL]

Andy:

OCD is good. Consider what a slovenly mess the world would be without our tireless efforts to keep everything neatly ordered as it is supposed to be. Seriously, it is important to keep the floor and interior of the tent nice and clean so be diligent about cleaning it. I shake mine out every morning. All those little bits and pieces will cause wear and leaks. The conventional wisdom used to be that by folding a tent in the same general way would cause the coating on the fabric to prematurely fail which is definitely not good. That said, I would not second guess Pru as she is getting ready to go where staying dry is no small task.

Ed Lawson

[rfolster]

The conventional wisdom used to be that by folding a tent in the same general way would cause the coating on the fabric to prematurely fail which is definitely not good.

Folding any fabric repeatedly to a point that you create a permanent crease is not good as you are creating a failure point. This is why most manufacturers recommend randomly stuffing the tent instead of folding a particular way. However, if you employ a "loose" folding concept, where you generally fold in the same shape but don't actually fold at the same points, you will avoid such damage. Another key is to not fold tightly which again avoids creasing the fabric.

Pru is referring to tents that pack with their fly and footprints attached (the Hilleberg does this, but I don't know if any others do). You want to avoid bunching the dirty footprint against the clean tent fabric, so you fold it all up in such a way that provides the best tent-to-tent contact and footprint-to-footprint contact. Once you achieve that, you can stuff the tent however you see fit. You can also accomplish this with tents that don't have the footprint attached, simply by breaking the tent down on the footprint, bunching it towards the middle, then burrito-wrap it in the footprint making sure to minimize the bottom of the footprint from contacting the tent fabric.

This is all a fairly new concept to me since I (and Cathy if we are camping together) have a three-person tent that is just too big to pack together. Therefore, I typically put the tent into one bag and the fly and footprint into another. That keeps the tent itself dry if the fly and footprint are soaking wet from the previous nights rain or condensation. Then again, maybe that's just my OCD talking.

[kate]

You are all so clever! I love the "hot thermos the night before" idea. Less enamored of the "wait to PEE" idea - not this girl's bladder!

Like others of you, I stuff the sleeping bag, fold and then stuff the tent (not in dry bag, just stuff sack - it dries quickly if it gets at all wet in the hatch), stuff the fly (also not dry bag, since it's often wet anyway) in separate bag. Footprint just gets folded and put in the bottom of the "wet" hatch (there's always a wet and a dry hatch, yes? one that leaks a little?), too wet and messy to pack inside something else.

Gene, yes that is what I like about traveling solo. It's difficult for me to wait for others to wake up, while watching the wind come up as the morning goes by. I really like Warren's suggestion of having two target times defined the night before.

I'm fine with occasionally launching without making a hot breakfast (in the case of group paddling, of course this would have to be agreed upon ahead of time by all). Paddling warms me in no time, and I am so happy to paddle before wind strengthens. A thermos of tea, though, is mighty fine along the way.

Just random thoughts and agreements, as well as appreciation for everyone's input.

Kate (often both the first and the last to launch)

[JohnHuth]

For me, it's just the habits. With my usual habits, I tend to not lose things and move rapidly.

Providing it's not raining buckets, it's something like:

Stuff bag, roll up pad, put on any non-water layers inside tent, jetison stuff outside tent, put on footware, take down tent.

Than put non-breakfast gear in boundary bags, bring them down near the launch point, come back up, make breakfast, clean that up, dawdle over coffee and yak about the day's plans, while looking at a map, get into my wet gear, bring that to the edge of the launch point, put the boat in shallow water, pack it up, and launch.

Just my habit.

In case of pouring rain: yell at my mates, see if they concur on sleeping in, read a book and wait for a break in the weather before packing.

[Michael_Crouse]

Pru is referring to tents that pack with their fly and footprints attached (the Hilleberg does this, but I don't know if any others do). You want to avoid bunching the dirty footprint against the clean tent fabric, so you fold it all up in such a way that provides the best tent-to-tent contact and footprint-to-footprint contact. Once you achieve that, you can stuff the tent however you see fit. You can also accomplish this with tents that don't have the footprint attached, simply by breaking the tent down on the footprint, bunching it towards the middle, then burrito-wrap it in the footprint making sure to minimize the bottom of the footprint from contacting the tent fabric.

My Exped Siris (no longer made) can be packed together, buy since the fly is usually damp I seperate them. The poles actually attach to sleeves in the fly and the body hangs from the fly. I can take pack up the sleeping bags, mats, etc... and stow the tent body while I'm under the fly and out of the rain.

For breakfast I recommend always bringing one no cook breakfast or some snacks in case you have launch early to get the heck off the water and avoid some bad weather.