Camping using my H Revo - am I kidding myself?

Soooooooo, I look longingly at my Revo and dream of when the weather turns and going Yak camping/angling for the first and hopefully many times.  Then reality begins to ping my brain, wondering where to put the camping gear for say a 2-5 day trip.  How is this done on this peddler yak?   Do I consider towing a small sot-tailer - what would that be like?
Any input would be greatly appreciated - thinking of this as a winter thought and action project.
holtfisher

I have done several multi day trips (longest 5 days 4 nights) in my SOT.  What I couldn't or didn't want to put in the hull.  I put in quality dry bags and bungeed to the back deck/tankwell.  You can't take the "big stuff" you do car camping, think backpacking on a boat. I can get everything I need in two "large" bags and one "medium".  I am actually planning a long trip for my SOT right now.

I have done several multi day trips (longest 5 days 4 nights) in my SOT.  What I couldn't or didn't want to put in the hull.  I put in quality dry bags and bungeed to the back deck/tankwell.  You can't take the "big stuff" you do car camping, think backpacking on a boat. I can get everything I need in two "large" bags and one "medium".  I am actually planning a long trip for my SOT right now.

PP, any chance you could start a separate thread "to be stickied" that we could follow and live vicariously through your process? 
This would be a really informative How-To that I'm sure a lot of folks here would follow.  From there, others could spawn their own version of a SOT camp trip and post their start to finish experience. 

I could see SOT fishing/camping as another Forum Topic over the next year or two. 

I know a few members here and at NCKA that have done trips like PP said. Like PP noted minimalism seems to be the name of the game. My fav piece of hardware that some multi dayers use is the Thermette. http://www.thermette.com Gotta get me one of those someday.

Z 

I know a few members here and at NCKA that have done trips like PP said. Like PP noted minimalism seems to be the name of the game. My fav piece of hardware that some multi dayers use is the Thermette. http://www.thermette.com Gotta get me one of those someday.

Z 

That's pretty cool.  I'll stick with my Primus for wet locations or alpine areas where fires aren't allowed but that looks like a nice little piece of hardware for summer trips.  Do they come with carry bags to keep the soot off your other gear?

My favorite piece of hardware is a good water filter! 

I know a few members here and at NCKA that have done trips like PP said. Like PP noted minimalism seems to be the name of the game. My fav piece of hardware that some multi dayers use is the Thermette. http://www.thermette.com Gotta get me one of those someday.

Z 

Zee that is pretty slick. 

On a simpler note just to have a fire to cook over, this homemade box pit looks like it would pack flat.

http://wings.interfree.it/html/nomad.html

Soooooooo, I look longingly at my Revo and dream of when the weather turns and going Yak camping/angling for the first and hopefully many times.  Then reality begins to ping my brain, wondering where to put the camping gear for say a 2-5 day trip.  How is this done on this peddler yak?   Do I consider towing a small sot-tailer - what would that be like?
Any input would be greatly appreciated - thinking of this as a winter thought and action project.
holtfisher

I wouldn't tow another boat. That would be tough. You just have to figure out how to pack. If you think of it in terms of back packing, you'll be fine. look at msr stoves, water filters, water bags & tents.

I've found you can pack extravagantly if you have the right gear. I take a pillow, two sleeping pads, 4 man tent, sleeping bag, food, water, clothes, hammock, double burner stove, pots & pans, case of beer etc.....more like car camping in a small car.

100+ days of kayak camping has taught me that lots of smaller stuff is better than fewer bigger things. you can cram little things into every nook & cranny of space, and use quality dry bags.

I totally second the pack like your back packing technique.  Get the back pack out, get your list of equipment/food and pack up.  Now stow it all in various sized dry bags in and on your yak.  I think you will be pleased.  This is good winter practice so you get it figured out before spring. 

One example of making use of your equipment I tried on a John Day trip.  Four guys in early spring planning for rain.  We all bought the same army surplus poncho.  They are large, durable, and have snaps.  The idea was to use them not only as ponchos, but as ground covers, gear cover, an extra layer of warmth.  We also snapped them together making one very large cover and slept under it.  One piece of equipment with multiple uses.

I think taking pics of the equipment people use laid out like pre-trip planning and then posted would help.

-Scott

I have done several multi day trips (longest 5 days 4 nights) in my SOT.  What I couldn't or didn't want to put in the hull.  I put in quality dry bags and bungeed to the back deck/tankwell.  You can't take the "big stuff" you do car camping, think backpacking on a boat. I can get everything I need in two "large" bags and one "medium".  I am actually planning a long trip for my SOT right now.

PP, any chance you could start a separate thread "to be stickied" that we could follow and live vicariously through your process? 
This would be a really informative How-To that I'm sure a lot of folks here would follow.  From there, others could spawn their own version of a SOT camp trip and post their start to finish experience. 

I could see SOT fishing/camping as another Forum Topic over the next year or two. 

Will do.. I will try to take some photos of what I take and how I take it.  I plan to do a little write up of the trip too.  Wanted to take the trip this month but things got in the way so most likely won't be until after the new year, possibly late Jan or Feb.

I am loving this participation all and sure look forwards to lots more.
 I gots lots to lern.
holtfisher

I hate to rain on your parade, but I suspect you're going to have a tough time to fit all of your gear in and on your Revo.  I once did a four day trip down the John Day in my Prowler 15 and I was amazed how quickly I ran out of anywhere to strap down one more thing.  And you bet I used mostly only backpack gear and backpack food.  Once I couldn't push one more thing inside the hull I stacked it on top of the front hatch and in the tank well, just like you would imagine.  I'd estimate that in my case probably only 1/3 of my total gear was able to go on the inside.

My prowler is only rated to carry 325# or so (including 200# of me) and your Revo is rated at 350#, so I don't think the total weight is going to be an issue.  But you don't have as many cubic inches inside that Revo and you certainly don't have as many square inches upon which to stack on the outside.

Okay, I'm gonna throw you a bone here.. I would almost bet for sure that you CAN get 5 days of gear and food in and on your Revo, but your going to have to minimalize considerably more than I did.  You have all of the rest of the winter, so I'd suggest you start dinking around in the garage and start playing with an all out dry run.  See for yourself if you can pull it off and how.  Like I've indicated, I'm real sure it's going to be a bulk thing and not a weight thing for you, so start finding out how much can fit where.  Of course you need to get the dense items down low, but you'd be wise to somehow check how stable is your ride when it's packed BEFORE you launch on that first glorious day of your trip.

If you've got the means to do it, you can start looking online and in Backpacker magazine for ideas and items used by ultra light packers.  Like a 3 oz cook stove, ultra light down bag, 3# tent or maybe even a 1# tarp-tent.  Don't buy them if you don't need them, but I think you're going to need some of that stuff for a 13' boat.  Or you might get clever and make sure that at least one someone in your group did like I did and bought a boat even bigger than the P-15.  For real, I'm now the proud owner of Polepole's old Malibu X-Factor mostly because I wanted it for the next time I go down the John Day.  It's quite a bit wider than the prowler, the hull is a little bigger in the front and WAY more accessible in the back, and it will tote up to 600#.

Fishin-T

I went to follow your linky, Insayn, and my browser security software blocked it saying that it was a known malicious software distribution site... I believe the host site interfree-dot-it is the actual listed culprit, so the subdomain might be o.k., but I'm not sure.  Any internet nerds out there willing to confirm for me? I'm too chicken to visit the site anyway and see what happens.

Thanks for starting this thread Holt!  I, too, am very interested in doing a multi-day yak expedition, somewhere. Next summer, probably.
 I have enough backpacking gear that will work. I'll need another large drybag or two. I can easily fit the contents of a 50 lb backpack (the MAX load that my knees will let me truck up some trail for any distance) into and on top of my Tarpon 140. That is in addition to my regular fishing and yak safety gear.  I'm sure I can find a way to pack 100lbs or so total in and on my yak. I have older, but decent stuff (as opposed to the latest, lightest, newest, coolest, etc), so 50 lbs of my gear/food might translate to 35 lbs of lighter and spendier gear that a hard core "gram-shaver" might have. (My tent is 5+ lbs, bag is 3 lbs, etc). However, that maxed-out 50 lb pack (plenty of food!) is good for a week in the backcountry.

The biggest pain in the arse to me is water. If you don't have to pack it with you, life is much easier.

4x10L dromedary bags are about 90lbs. which is what I take for 2 people for 5 days.

The weight is what is going to get you. It takes so much more energy to paddle loaded boats....not to mention a SOT is already allot of work......less glide, more resistance + allot of weight. hard to get moving, hard to stop, but once they're going, they're going (don't crash)

It is nice that the load gets lighter as the days go by.....eating food and drinking water/beer for me cuts the load by more than half.

I honestly don't see how it's possible to have 150 pounds of camping gear for a 5 day trip. I've filled my sea kayak to the brim with stuff for 15 people for 5 days....we fill all the boats to the brim with food etc......all said and done, boat+gear is less than 250lbs.....and that is for a float and bloat trip......all we do is eat....

Packing for myself on a 5-6day trip, my gear + food + water is <75lbs....and 85% of that is food and water/beer.

clothes take up allot of space, and you don't need them. You're on a kayak camping trip...no one expects you to smell or look fresh.....that's what baby whipes are for!

5 days = 1 poly T, 1 poly long T, 1 short, one pant, fleece top, fleece bottom, 2xpair socks, 2 x underwear, camp shoes, beanie......that right there is still allot of space.

There's nothing wrong with dry bags on the deck of a SOT.....there designed for that. make sure to keep the CG as low as possible, secure items to the deck, and keep stuff in quality dry bags.....no problem there.

I know I could carry way more in a T-15 than my sea kayak -explorer, and the explorer just did a 3 week self supported trip in antarctica.

Great input across the  board,  and continue to be excited about additional input for all of us!

Years ago I gave all of my camping/backpacking gear away, therefore
all gear needs to be purcased except for current light down sleeping bag.  Would sure appreciate thoughts as to where to purchase quality stuff at realistic prices?  Downloaded a couple of backpacking lists to be begin sorting out what is needed.  My being a minimalist is a bit like asking the offensive tackle on the Seahawks to cut back to one porkchop for dinners. 
holtfisher