The whole point of backcountry flying is remote access, getting to places not many people can reach. But what you bring determines what you can actually do once you get there. Inflatable canoes, packrafts, foldable bikes, fishing gear—what gear do you bring, and how do you keep it manageable?

I always bring lots of stuff and just forget about keeping it reasonable.

I'm a camping gear freak, with an equal dose of ultralight gear affinity and spend inordinate amounts of time and money in my never ending quest of the same. As an example my collapsible canoe/kayak tips the scale at a mere 28 lbs. and fits completely inside one float locker.

I generally bring a Montague Paratrooper folding bike for transport, then use a backpacking sleeping bag & hand inflatable sleeping pad to save weight. A single small cooler of food and a second-hand two man tent. Tools, chocks, tie downs, and oil usually take up the most weight but never leave the airplane. Probably 60-70 pounds total.

I started my collection of lightweight camping gear for motorcycle trips 20 year ago. That carried over - and expanded significantly - when I started back country airplane camping 10 years ago. I can go for a week with < 50lbs of gear and clothes, not counting whatever I might bring for water. That includes a 1 person tent, -10C rate sleeping bag, a ‘cot’ that keeps me a couple inches off the tent floor, a chair (or maybe two) and a small table, and Jetboil with dehydrated food. Add in clothes and toiletries for a week and I’m under 50 lbs pretty easily. If I stick to a Mediterranean diet for the month before the trip I can take a bigger tent

I have a base kit that rarely leaves the airplane which includes basic tools, an axe, saw, survival and first aid kits. That weighs 22-23 lbs. Add in my survival vest at another 6-7 lbs.

Without getting in to a lengthy diatribe on survival gear, I place a high priority on communication. Seems to me, in this day and age the key to survival - beyond not drowning, bleeding to death, or dying of exposure in the first day - is someone knowing where you are. I have 1090ES ADS-B, and I know Aireon / Nav Canada can track me in the far north because I’ve pulled the PAPR reports to confirm on multiple occasions. I have my InReach, which tracks and text messages and has bailed me out of a bind a couple times in the past. And, of course, a 406 ELT. To all that gadgetry I recently added a Starlink, semi-permanently mounted in the tail baggage compartment.

I almost always have both a spin cast and fly fishing rods but they don’t get a lot of use. I guess I’m not a very dedicated fisherman. I also have an Alpaka packraft but that’s more for spending time at a specific destination rather than a long multi-day journey.

It’s a time consuming exercise culling and sorting this stuff before each long-duration trip to avoid unnecessary duplication and eliminating the low-probability of use stuff. A couple years back I started sorting through the gear at the end of each trip and laying out all the stuff I didn’t use and taking a picture. It’s a helpful reminder when packing for the next trip, which will be the north end of Baffin Island in July.

Nice summary by Belloypilot! A few years ago, I added an Exped semi inflatable air mattress to the folding cot.....pure luxury, and doesn't weigh much. It sort of self inflates, but comes with a tiny battery operated pump which does the top off quickly.

I also carry a two person tent. Doesn't weigh that much more, but the extra room is REALLY nice in weather.

Otherwise, our kit is similar. I've sorted things into "groups": True survival stuff, Basic camping stuff, Luxury stuff.

DItto on comms, though I haven't got into Starlink, and likely wont'. Mostly, I go out "there" to be away from all that.....

mtv wrote:DItto on comms, though I haven't got into Starlink, and likely wont'. Mostly, I go out "there" to be away from all that.....

I don’t use Starlink for web browsing or anything ‘recreational’. But all the weather data the ‘civilized’ world has access to, as well as good quality voice communication and the ability to file flight plans while tent camped on the north shore of Great Bear Lake or some beach on the Arctic coast is kind of handy. Flight plans are a requirement for entering the ADIZ, so kind of handy. With the new speed restrictions I now have to drop below 100 MPH ground speed to use it in flight, but that’s easy enough in the Husky and I rarely have the need anyway.

I have a new inflatable sleeping pad I haven’t yet tried. It might replace my cot. We’ll see.

https://cascadedesigns.com/en-ca/produc ... ulyRfjqzCu

Great kit Mike

Don’t forget to change that fishing line out every few years. I use braid mostly, last longer and a mono leader.

Kurt

Renewing this thread as “being light” is key to success with our planes, camping and back-packing.

I really should create a detailed “Alaska-bound” pack list on http://fly2ak.com

Another item for the To-Do list…

Back when I was a working stiff, I got seriously tired of hauling around canoes as external loads. We tried out some Pakcanoes (https://www.pakboats.com/pakcanoes/) and I never looked back. I carried these things folded in the float lockers of 185/206, and they fit in the Baumann float compartments on a Husky, so two people, basic gear and a couple of canoes.....in a Husky! And, they are light. I've forgot the weight of each now, but they're lighter by far than a plastic or fiberglass canoe.

Tough??? Our field crews used these things, dragging them from waterbody to waterbody, beating them around, folding for travel, unfolding for use, rinse and repeat.....when I retired, some of these things were ten years old, and had been in hard use every summer. A few patches (easy to accomplish), and kinda ugly, but.....

They are NOT cheap, but I highly recommend these if you want water craft you can carry in a plane.

MTV, a PakBoat also fits in the locker of a CAP2000 barrel, they say Fool's Seldom Differ

The toys I bring vary with the destination. I have a folding bike, but the barn doors on the side of the Maule make it easy to bring a full sized gravel, or mountain bike, so that's what I usually pack when riding is the focus of the trip. Inflatable kayaks with drop-stich construction provide an amazingly rigid structure when pumped up and are super compact and light. For recreational use, I find these easier to play with than folding kayaks. When I'm done playing, I like my comforts, so I make sure my Aeropress coffee maker is in the pack when I airplane camp. A day that starts without a machiato, or latte isn't a day worth experiencing.

This is my Maule tied down at a lake in NE Washington State for kayaking, biking and dark sky camping. Bliss!


and here I am ready to fly home:

And your tied down next to my friends Barry and Lynne:)

Flyhound wrote:The toys I bring vary with the destination. I have a folding bike, but the barn doors on the side of the Maule make it easy to bring a full sized gravel, or mountain bike, so that's what I usually pack when riding is the focus of the trip. Inflatable kayaks with drop-stich construction provide an amazingly rigid structure when pumped up and are super compact and light. For recreational use, I find these easier to play with than folding kayaks. When I'm done playing, I like my comforts, so I make sure my Aeropress coffee maker is in the pack when I airplane camp. A day that starts without a machiato, or latte isn't a day worth experiencing.

This is my Maule tied down at a lake in NE Washington State for kayaking, biking and dark sky camping. Bliss!


and here I am ready to fly home:

Yikes!!! A two burner stove! You do go all out......

As many of you know, I love to “explore” SE Alaska. Particularly Icy Bay, Yakutat (Deception) Bay, Alsek River area, Nizina glacier “Lake.” Keeping it light is a whole different ball game than a weekend overnighter.

Full fuel is the biggest issue…150+ miles between fuel stops. At least a week or more of food. Then of course beer & wine are mandatory heavy items. All those are essentials. Maybe (ok always these days) an Alpacka pack-raft (etc), barely room for the tent and clothes and sleeping bags…

How light is “light?”

Nearly 20 years ago, a friend and I took an extended trip around Alaska, each in our own planes. I was in a super cub and he was in a husky. We had no idea what we were going to need along the way. I loaded the plane with 250 pounds of gear. I think I squirreled away a kitchen sink in the aft baggage area.

Nowadays, I am much more mission conscious. At risk of revealing too much about my personality traits, I confess that I maintain a spreadsheet with every camping/adventure item I have on the shelf and its weight. Before a trip, I run the list and enter how many of each item I want as the spreadsheet tallies the total weight. I can adjust the list depending on want/need while keeping an eye on the payload. It has worked for me.

And speaking of Barry and Lynn, you won’t find a better example of quality people. We spent some time together on their trip to AK a few years back, and I snapped this picture of them in the Wrangells.

Agreed, we met Barry and Lynn when they visited Montana a few years back. We flew around the Bob and up into Glacier stopping at Meadow Creek, Schafer, and Ryan.