MUST HAVE RIVER CAMPING GEAR !
Some important items that you need in your river camping supplies! Camping is truly a favorite hobby but it is so much better while floating down the river! Taking the kayaks, canoes, and little plastic boats down the river to tent camp on an island is the ultimate adventure!
\VESSEL ESSENTIALS/
Whether it is a little plastic boat, kayak, or canoe!
First things first though! The vessel being used must have proper documentation and comply with all the applicable state fish and game rules! Check your states regulations via their website or talk to a local waterways officer.
- Registration
- Registration sticker
- Identification number stickers
- Life Jacket
- Air Horn
- Paddles
Waterproof box for vessel paperwork and EXTRA PLUG (for boat)
Trolling Motor
Battery
Net
FISHING LICENSE
Life Jacket (s) – enough for everyone on the boat!
\CAMPSITE NECESSITIES/
Packable Table is crucial for around the campfire and under the pop up tent. This is a place you can prepare food and eat food, store flashlights and s’mores ingredients. Handy to have! We usually use a portable fold up table, packable table (w/drinkholders), and the large plastic tote.
The Versabrella is a MUST HAVE boat accessory! Summer river floats are sometimes brutal with the sun blazing down onto your exposed skin! Especially if you have river dogs like we do.
The Versabrella is super convenient to block the sun from the boat. Clamps onto the boat on the edge, bar, or peg from the seat! Folding arms make it versatile with many different angles!
BUY this NOW, if you have any kind of boat and spend time on the water this is a great product!
Garbage Bag – for the clean up of a campsite and any additional trash from lunches and snacks!
Bluetooth speaker – In between the peacefulness of floating, sometimes it is nice to have some tunes to listen to while hanging on the water! Everyone that floats with us has different speakers, they are all good. Don’t forget one, it is enjoyable to have a nice party at the campsite!
Machete – Have to clear the campsite from Japanese knot weed and tall weeds somehow!
Lantern (+ top) – Lighting the campsite is a sweet treat to have so you don’t have to rely on flashlights or headlamps all the time. Nice to have with a bigger group of campers playing board games and preparing food after dark. The topper makes it nice to shine the light brighter directly down onto the ground! MORE LIGHT for the campsite!
ROPE – for the lantern and to TIE THE BOATS OFF! CRUCIAL! You do not want to wake up and have your boat floating down river on a 2 day float!
Collapsible chairs – we found some awesome small compatible chairs and these are essential for saving space in the boats/kayaks. while still having a comfy chair to sit in at the campsite.
Collapsible Cooking Grate
Leather Gloves
1st AID KIT
Cordless SAWSALL or “reciprocating saw”– Easier than using a hand saw! You’re going to want a fire and cutting up driftwood and log debris is a great source of fire wood.
Headlamp
I personally have this one and I can’t camp without it! Easy to throw it on your head and have your hands free. It is nice to have some light while rummaging through your bags at night and walking back and forth from the boats at night!
Propane Bottles – for a typical two day float we usually take up to 4 bottles; two for the mini torch and two for the overhanging lantern.
Mini Torch – crucial for starting fires fast. Rain and camping sometimes go hand in hand. Weather is unpredicable and to have a super easy way of lighting wet firewood is a mini torch.
There are cheaper versions available if you did not want to drag propane bottles around!
Mini Torch
Toilet paper – baby wipes
Extra batteries for everything!
Flashlights – mini and large
Personal Canteen – for drinking water
\CLOTHING/
T-shirt/Long Sleeve Shirt
Fishing Shirt
Extra shorts/capris for campsite
Layerable clothing – tank tops
SOCKS – Yes, socks. DRY WARM FEET.
Quick Dry Pants
\SHOES/
Water Shoes – Closed toe is important for boating, floating, swimming, fishing, basically anything near WATER! Protect your toes and feet from rocks, debris, possibly other dangers lurking on the shore !
Women’s Water Shoes
Men’s Water Shoes
HIKING SHOES
\ESSENTIALS/
- Towelettes
- Wet Wipes
- Face Wipes
- Toothbrush and paste
- Towels – YES, bring more than 2 towels! They will needed at some point in the journey! Especially with two wild river dogs!
- Blankets (Comforter, thin sheet, soft fleece blanket)
\GEAR BAGS/
WATERPROOF BAGS ; an assortment of dry bags need to go on our boats! From 20L – 60L, these are what hold the bed sheets, pillows, personal clothes, and towels. Anything that you do NOT WANT WET, you should most definitely put in a dry bag.
This 20L dry bag is a personal favorite; it fits 2 river days worth of clothes and a towel. Plus it comes with a nice phone protector dry bag!
A 90L waterproof dry bag hold the bigger comforter (glamping), bed sheet, thin blanket, and small fuzzy blanket (for the dogs), AND PILLOWS. It can hold so much but I tend to put the bulkier items that need to stay dry in this bag!
Personal packpack – all the personal amentities like deodorant, sunscreen, headlamp, etc goes in here!
\PLASTIC TOTE CONTENTS/
TENT
Air Mattress – do not forget the PUMP!
Sleeping bags – smaller the better! Need to save space. Here are a couple different camping/hiking sleeping bags that pack up nice!
2 – person sleeping bag! As a couple we decided to save more space by just buying a 2 person, which can also act as a larger blanket/bag for an individual! Almost like having a large comfy comforter for the air mattress!
\COOLERS/
- RCTIC backpack cooler – PERSONAL BOAT COOLER with convenient back pack straps ! So easy to strap on and go adventure without needing an additional person to carry a cooler!
- Ozark Trail large cooler – food storage
- YETI – food storage cooler – additional food storage
\ENTERTAINMENT/
- Board games
- Yahtzee
- What’s the MEME
- CARDS
- FISHING EQUIPMENT
- Rods, reels
- Lures
- Fishing bag
- LICENSE
- Net
\FOOD & DRINKS/
Utensils – knives, forks, spoons
Plates
Paper towels
Camp kettle – mmm…COFFEE!
Gallon jugs of drinking water – you need fresh water to drink, prepare food, and for the DOGS!
Individual coffee bags
Cappuccino mix – so easy and packable ! Individual packets of a latte or coffee are super easy to fit in a personal bag or in the food cooler without the big coffee cans.
Breakfast
Cinnamon Buns – the tighter the sealed package the better for packing food in the coolers!
Packaged breakfast sausage
Go-Gurt
Lunch
Buns
Mustard, Ketchup – I tend to stay away from mayo and other diary based condiments while being on the boats, in case of low ice and a warm cooler.
Sides like potato or pasta salads in plastic container
Lunch meat and cheese from deli – it also helps putting the cheese and meat in another ziploc bag to keep water out !
Packable snacks – individually portioned serving sized bags are handy!
Dinner
Packaged bratwurst, hot dogs, delicious chicken sausage. Anything that is sealed in a plastic air tight container! Some come with a cardboard wrap around them, remove it before packing in the cooler! It will get soggy and be a mess in your cooler.
Dessert
S’mores – marshmallows, graham crackers, Hershey’s chocolate, peanut butter cups!
\DOG GEAR/
ID TAGS / MICRO CHIPS – make sure the pooch has proper identification and if lost and found, a number to call to retrieve them.
LIFE JACKETS – safety and reassurance is a good thing to have on the river. Not only do we use it for safety but also to pick our pup in and out of the boat. Especially hot days on the river when she wants to swim around while we are floating, I can safety pick her in and out of the boat!
Food bowls
Water – We usually take a couple gallons of water (no water bottles).
Beds – comfy dog beds for the boat ride and for the hard river rocks.
Towels – the dogs love to get wet and MUDDY! You don’t want that in your tent, so make sure to keep the door to the tent zipped!
Dog Travel Bag– There is a nice travel bag for dogs that we carry with us, it holds their essentials. Food, treats, ball, leashes, etc.
It never fails to always forget one or two things on every trip. To ensure we don’t we have a checklist hanging on the boating shed to double check our packing.
NEVER FORGET these important items to make camping extra easy!
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