Kayaker's equipment and supplies
A misconception has grown, that personal use items should be kept to a minimum due to their weight, volume and obstruction during transport and during the tour itself. We will quickly feel the shortcomings in personal equipment and the related inconvenience on the route. So wanting to, -that the water vagabond would create the best conditions for us to rest, we must properly prepare the equipment and personal clothing. So here we go to the preparation:
1) Outfit: trousers, 2 flannel shirts, air gun (spacesuit), raincoat with hood, jerseys, sweater, shorts, long and short sleeve shirt, swimsuit, gymnastic costume, bathing cap, cap (jockey), pajamas, trainers, knee-length rubber boots, wool socks (2 couples), handkerchiefs; for women moreover: skirt, Top, tanner, kerchief.
We put this equipment in 2-3 plastic bags.
2) Toiletries: towels, toilet soap, Detergents, Toothpaste, toothbrush and hand brush, mirror, cream, tanning oil, shaving utensils, comb, Cologne, Sunglasses, scissors, nailfile. These small items should be placed in bakelite boxes closed in plastic bags.
3) Also remember about sewing accessories - thin and thick needles, neither, scissors, buttons, safety pins, ribbon, patches, all in a small waterproof bag.
4) Personal dressing also in a bag: bandage, gaza, moon, headache powders, teeth, colds, strapping, some iodine, drops for stomach pain, valerian, ammonia, iron wool, elastic bandage, Burov's liquid, petrolatum.
5) ID card, swimming card, PTTK booklet, money for current expenses. Remember to secure your documents in a plastic one, a rubber or canvas bag.
6) Necessary little things: Map, guide, pencil, pen, mail paper, cards with postage stamps, watch, camera, compass, and if you are an angler - a fishing license, a fishing rod with a supply of hooks and line. In addition, the addresses of friends, to whom you will send greetings.
7) Repair emergency (repairs). Lack of repairs during our trip can become very annoying and annoying, and it can also interrupt your journey. The repair bag should contain:
a) for folders: rubber patches, glue "Butapren” (self-vulcanizing), adhesive plaster, insulating tape, a piece of sheet metal thickness 2 mm, universal clamps, little hammer, sandpaper, purified gasoline, aluminum rivets, bag with screws, washers, nuts;
b) for rigid kayaks: little hammer, pliers, insulating tape, a few nails, file, pieces of plywood, soft wire, sandpaper, the putty dries quickly, kit, glue "Certus”, quick-drying enamel.
In addition to the above-mentioned repair materials, our repair bag should also contain: strong needle with a large ear, nor lniane, scissors, folding knife, piece of canvas, rubber, linen or nylon cord, hatchet, sponge for washing and removing water from the kayak.
8) Kitchen tools: canteen or bowl and plate, cup, knife, fork, spoon, canning knife, tea infuser, tourist stove (preferably gas), possibly a cooker with fuel supply, food tray, water container, milk, food bag, cloth, napkin, zfnywak, scouring powder.
9) Backpack (necessarily without a frame) or a tourist bag should contain: a flashlight, battery backup, 2 candles, matches, haversack.
10) Accommodation equipment: sleeping bag or blankets (2), sheet-sleeping bag, or two sheets, air mattress, air cushion.
Before the trip, we check the pillow and mattress, and if they let air through, we clean the damage with sandpaper and gasoline, slightly smear with glue, we do the same with a rubber patch, which, after drying, we cover the damage. Now, when almost everything is complete, we still have to prepare the floating equipment, so canoe. If we're going on a tour, which runs along sections of the mountain river, for a trip away from home or a trip abroad, it is better to take a kayak (facilitates transport). We conduct a very detailed inspection of the equipment and make the necessary repairs. Then we conduct a trial of the unit, by dropping it into the water, where we check the strength and permeability of the kayak. Verified, We prepare the dried and cleaned canoe for transport. Transport of our unit, if it's a folding box (two), does not present much trouble. We load it in three bags:
1. backpack - rubber coating, apron, floats with sails covers;
2. sack - ladder, stringers, bortnice, folding oars, a mast to a sail and a boom full of swords;
3. hand bag - ribs, seats, backrest, ster + rudder horn, the keystone of the breakwater, posterior toe board, folding cart, stews (front and rear);
Folders, reliable equipment for mountain and lowland rivers due to their easy transport (folding up to three bags), we meet more and more often in domestic and foreign waters. In the domestic waters we meet "Neptune”, Pelican” (their production has recently stopped), pre-war "Hubs”, "Polish Pioneers”, and from foreign "Paxy”, "Clappers”, “Hummingbird” and many others. The price of the commercially available 'Neptuns” totals 5960 PLN (with full equipment). The production of foldable ones has recently started. Folder also has this advantage, that it is comfortable, roomy and easy to fold. Assembling the folder, if we get into practice, will take us 20-25 minutes. Follow the instructions carefully for the first installations, then we do some activities automatically.