Skip to content
Create your own combo! Mix any 3 paddles or accessories, Get 10% off entire order.

Flat Rate Shipping $29.99 to most US destinations with any purchase.

Paddling Insights

Five Essentials of Packing

by GearlabTeam 06 Jun 2019 0 Comments

Five Essentials of Packing

By Gearlab Outdoors

Packing for kayaking trips takes practice. The followings are some packing tips to make the multi-day paddling trip safer and more enjoyable:

1. Accessibility
Safety is the absolute top priority. Safety equipment need to be easily accessed when the unexpected happens. Some Safety equipment could be secured on the kayak, some on the paddler. For example, Paddle Float, Pump, and spare paddles should be secured on the deck. When the vessel is capsized, they could be easily reached and to recover the kayak. Walkie-talkie, whistle, signal lights, and other personal safety items should be secured on the PFD for quick access.

The essentials for long distance paddling also need to be easily accessible, such as water and energy bars/gels, should all be stored in front hatch or deck bag. Keep the stuff that will not be used during paddling in the front or rear cabin.

Five Essentials of Packing

2. Balance
It is very important to maintain the balance of the kayak when fully packed. An unstable kayak affects control, performance, and most importantly safety.

An easy way to check a kayak’s balance is to observe how it floats. When seeing the vessel tilting from one side to another, front heavy or back heavy, rearrange the packed items to distribute weight until the kayak is visually balanced from all orientations.

Five Essentials of Packing

3. Compression
Cabin space in a kayak is quite limited, try to compress luggage as much as possible to make sure that all essential items could be carried. Compressed luggage would also eliminate loose items moving around inside the bags and cabins, making noises and affecting the balance of the kayak.

4. Dry
All items in and on a kayak would get wet, even when stored in front and rear cabin. Make sure that the items need to stay dry are stored in securely fastened Dry Bags or other waterproof containers. Place the bags/containers in the front or rear cabin to reduce the chance of contacting water.

5. Everything Inside
Other than the necessities, the kayak’s exterior must be cleared. When there are stuff packed on front and rear deck, it would get in the way of paddling stroke motion, and increase wind resistance. It would also take away the required space when trying to recover a capsized kayak. Last but not least, check the what to bring list to make sure everything could fit in the kayak.

Five Essentials of Packing

Prev Post
Next Post

Leave a comment

All blog comments are checked prior to publishing

Thanks for subscribing!

This email has been registered!

Shop the look

Choose Options

Edit Option
Back In Stock Notification
is added to your shopping cart.
Terms & Conditions

Notice of Changes to Sales in the European Union (EU) Region
Starting from January 1, 2024, Gearlab Outdoors has decided to entrust the sales operations in the European Union (EU) region to our EU general agent. As a result, our official website, GearlabOutdoors.com, will no longer provide the sales and shipping options for EU countries, and the checkout process cannot be completed for EU region orders.

EU customers can still make purchases through our European regional retailers. Please refer to our list of European regional retailers here: GearlabOutdoors.com/retailers-europe.

 

Transit Times
Preparing packages for delivery usually takes 5-10 business days and is NOT included in the overall shipping time (*Actual preparation time may vary due to high season). Actual transit times may vary depending on customs clearance, recipient country’s mail system, public holidays, freight, weather, and other considerations.

 

VAT, Import Duties & Custom Charges
International
While our oceans are free and connected, our country’s borders and duties may not be. VAT, Import Duties & Custom Charge regulations can vary significantly depending on where you live. Customers are responsible to pay any additional duties and tax if incurred at the time of delivery.

Canada
VAT, Import Duties & Custom Charges are included at checkout for our Canada customers when choosing shipping method including DDP (Delivered Duty Paid). This would expedites the delivery process with no additional cost.

Please read our Delivery Policy in full before ordering >

 

Returns & Exchanges
We accept returns/exchanges of unused full-priced items purchased through GearlabOutdoors.com within 30 days of the purchase date.

*Free return shipping if we've sent you the wrong item, size, or your product arrived damaged.
*You have to pay for return shipping if you want to exchange your product for another size.

Please read our Returns & Exchanges Policy in full before ordering >

 

Disclaimer
Gearlab is striving to develop the very best products, and will do its best to promptly update information on the website. Note that the color calibration of individual computer, tablet and phone screens may not accurately depict the true product colors.

 

this is just a warning
Login
Shopping Cart
0 items

Create your own combo!

10% OFF

Mix any 3 paddles or accessories,
Get 10% off entire order.

Recommended3