Brian Nystrom wrote:

Get some dry bags, pack your camping gear in them, shove 'em in your
boat and do an overnight trip. Repeat a few times until you've got your
gear needs and packing scheme worked out, then do your longer trip(s).

The same common sense advice I was going to give. Start small, with
easy overnight trips in warm weather, and gradually work up to longer
trips and/or colder weather. There are no shortage of books you can
read, I like Expedition Canoeing by Jacobson, but then I paddle an open
boat.

After each trip, think about whatever needs improvement, and modify gear
to suit or buy new gear that will work better. Occasionally I will make
gear from scratch to solve a particular problem. The time to do this
is right after the trip, when it is all fresh in your mind. If you wait
til the next trip, you will have forgotten half the problems you ran
into on the last trip, and you won't fully profit from the experience.

Richard


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