A Complete Guide to Planning and Executing Self-support Kayaking Trips

December 1, 2016 Matt Gerhardt

Self-Support Kayaking: A How-to Guide

Self-support kayaking is often regarded as something that only the most experienced and dedicated kayakers undertake. However, with proper gear and planning, even novice kayakers can pull off a self-support kayak trip.

The glory of self-support is in the simplicity and efficiency of moving downstream with everything you need in and on your boat. Self-support trips are often faster and provide more opportunities for camping, and give access to more side-canyon hikes.

With a little bit of preparation and practice, just about anyone can enjoy a multi-day kayak trip. This guide will give you some tools to plan and execute your own self-support kayak trip.

Planning

Planning is possibly the most important aspect of any trip. Spend ample time preparing for the trip. Google Docs spreadsheets and lists are extremely helpful with trip planning.

They are easy to share, collaborate on, and are easy to save and update from trip to trip. They are also great for documenting trip expenses or group gear checklists.

Self-Support Kayak Gear

The first thing you’ll need to itemize is your gear. I like to break it down into three lists: kayaking gear, camping gear, and clothing.

Kayaking/Paddling Gear

Kayaking gear consists of gear that you would use on any river trip: kayak, paddle, skirt, helmet, pfd, river shoes, throwbag, etc. Drysuits are almost mandatory on self-support trips because of their added safety and comfort benefits. Bring a repair kit with basics like duct tape, super glue, Aquaseal, Tenacious Tape, spare gaskets, spare outfitting bolts and screws, bituthene or Quick-Patch.

When choosing your kayak, choose something big enough to fit you and all your gear, but small enough to maneuver if you’re headed on a low-water or technical river. For example, for eight to twelve-day trips, choose paddle boats like the Dagger Katana 10.4, Jackson Karma Traverse 10, and Dagger Vanguard.

Check for any regulations in the area you’ll be paddling. Make sure that you have all the required gear and that all of it is up to code. One member of our group had his PFD rejected at Lee’s Ferry because the ranger couldn’t read one of the serial numbers. Luckily, we had thrown a few extra in the shuttle van.

Kayaking/Paddling Gear:

Kayak – Dagger Katana 10.4 with Jackson Hard Hat Hatch Cover (read our Dagger Katana review here)
Paddle – Werner Stikine Straight Shaft
Rescue PFD – Stohlquist Descent
Dry Suit – Kokatat GoreTex Icon
Skirt – Snap Dragon WW EXP
Helmet – Sweet Rocker
River Shoes – Astral Brewer
Swim Shorts – IR Guide Short
Skull Cap or Hood – IR Thermo Cap or NRS Storm Hood
Wool Socks
Pogies or Gloves – IR Pogies
Throw Bag – NRS Compact Rescue
Sunglasses
Breakdown Kayak Paddle – Werner Sherpa 4-piece (tucked between seat mounts and hull)
Bilge Sponge

Camping Gear

When it comes to camping gear, think about what you NEED. Things that can serve multiple purposes are a huge plus. Breaking your lists up further into essentials, semi-essentials, and non-essentials is a good way to pare things down.

Make sure to consider the environment that you’ll be in. Be prepared, but as minimally as possible; perhaps you don’t need that pair of flip-flops or that fourth pair of socks.

If you’ll need to portage or boof a lot, then you’ll really need to think about shedding excess weight. If not, it's more a matter of how much you can fit or how much you want to deal with. Trying to pack a boat to its gills every day can become quite a task, and a heavy boat takes more effort to paddle.

But, don’t be scared to pack on the pounds if you want to (read: beer). My Dagger Katana 10.4 weighed in at over 160 pounds when I launched on the Grand and performed just fine.

Camping Gear

Tent or Bivvy
Sleeping bag
Sleeping pad
Inflatable camp pillow
Headlamp
Portable Charger
Spare Batteries
Emergency Contacts, Driver's License, Insurance Card
Trash Bag – Gallon ZipLocs inside of an old drybag
Fry Pan
Sand Mat – 3×3
Thermos
Misc Dry Bag – 10L NRS Dri-Stow
Toiletries
Camp Towel
Lucie Solar Lantern
Journal
Playing Cards
Pocket Knife
Trowel
Bleach wipes, paper towels & hand sanitizer
Book
Speaker – EcoXGear Pebble
TheraCane
Slingshot
NRS Dri-Stow 10L for camp shoes
Group Shelter: Kelty Noahs Tarp 12
Camp Stove: GSI Glacier Cook Set inside NRS TuffSack 6L
Camp Chair: TravelChair Joey Chair
Water Bucket: Jack's Plastic Collapsible Water Bucket
Water Bag: 4L MSR Dromedary

Clothing

For clothing, bring enough to stay sufficiently warm and dry. Bring all synthetic or wool technical wear, unless you want to pack an extra set of cotton camp clothing. We suggest bringing two full pairs of technical clothing, plus a camp/hiking set.

Clothing

Base layers –

Top – IR Thick Skin or NRS H2Core Lightweight Shirt
Bottom: Tights – NRS H2Core Lightweight Pants

Mid-layers

Sweatshirts
Fleeces
Fleece shorts
Down vest

Outer layers

Puffy/Insulated jacket
Rain Jacket

Buff
Wool Socks
Fleece hat
Baseball cap
Sunshirt
Spare Sunglasses
Rigging Gloves – NRS Cove Glove

Ben Bellah boofing a fully loaded Karma Traverse on the Dolores River

Food

Your food choice will largely depend on the length of your trip and your own personal taste. When thinking about food choices, remember that fat provides 9 calories per gram, whereas carbohydrates give you 4 calories per gram.

Many self-support kayakers opt for dehydrated backpacking meals from Mountain House Meals for their simplicity (add 2 cups boiling water!) and weight. For more picky eaters, consider more “standard” foods like pastas, soups, and canned/cured meat.

For breakfast, things like oatmeal, pancakes, and breakfast burritos with dehydrated eggs and cured meats are popular choices. Lunches mainly consisted of Babybel cheese wheels, nuts, cured meats, granola or energy bars, and chocolate or other candy.

Dinners were largely pasta dishes, cous cous or rice dishes, or dehydrated soup mixes or ramen noodles. Root vegetables also keep well and can be added to almost any dish. For shorter trips, you can get away with perishable foods with the use of a kayak soft-cooler.

You can also freeze meat and use it in the first few days of the trip. The easier the prep and cleanup, the better.

Pre-prepping and repackaging meals at home can be key and will help minimize the trash you’ll have to carry out. Packing food in Zip-Lok bags comes in handy for trash containers when empty.

Bleach wipes, paper towels, and a small dish towel come in handy for quick cleanups. Hand sanitizer and baby wipes or face wipes are also good to have along.

Food

Breakfast

Dehydrated meals
Powdered eggs
Hardboiled eggs
Oatmeal
Pancake mix
Pop tarts
Salami
Dried fruit (Apples, mangos, apricots, etc.)

Lunch

Cheese (Babybel cheese wheels or cheese sticks work well)
Dried meat (Salami, summer sausage, jerky, etc)
Nuts
Dried fruit
Trail mix
Tuna
Granola bars
Protein bars
Peanut butter
Tortillas
Energy gels/waffles
Electrolyte powder

Dinner

Dehydrated meals
Quinoa
Rice
Ramen Noodles
Pasta
Soap

Soap Creek camp — Camping next to our boats – Soap Creek Camp

Self-Support Kayak Logistics:

As with any river trip, you’ll need to figure out how to get you and all your gear to and from the river. Compared to raft-supported trips, your gear will be much simpler to haul, so trying to fit into fewer vehicles and utilizing a shuttle service can be an affordable option when split amongst multiple people.

One word of caution: don’t transport your boats loaded. We ended up with some fairly large dents in our boats after leaving them semi-loaded on the return trip.

Use common sense and let people know where you’re going and when you plan to be back. It's never a bad idea to rent or borrow an emergency locator like the Garmin InReach (keep it on your person), and carry a copy of your insurance card and list of emergency contacts with you on your trip.

Basic survival tools like minor first aid, a map, a compass, and waterproof matches are all good things to have on your person as well.

Start small and work your way up. Consider doing a trip you’re familiar with and that is well within your comfort zone. Start with a 1 or 2-night trip and work up from there.

Rivers like the San Juan from Sand Island to Mexican Hat, Ruby/Westwater, or the Moab Daily on the Colorado, the Rio Chama in New Mexico, and Escalante Canyon of the Gunnison are all great stretches to do your first self-support on.

Preparation

Packing

Packing all your gear is a critical part of planning your trip. Plan it out, then test it before your trip. Figuring out that you can’t fit everything at the put-in is never any fun. Use nylon drybags and compression drysacks to save weight and space (be careful of outfitting screws when packing the boat!).

Use smaller drybags in varying sizes of 6L to 15L range. The Watershed Ocoee also makes a great day and/or camera bag with the padded liner.

Think about how to organize your gear, both in your bags as well as in the boat. Group like items together, keep items you’ll need during the day separate, and try to keep weight towards the center or front of the boat.

Pack your tent/tarp, sleeping bag, and clothing in the back of the boat, as they’re usually the lightest. Try to put heavier items and things you won’t need to access during the day (stove, camp chair, dinner/breakfast food) in the bow. I keep my lunch, camera, and day bag behind the seat for easy access.

Remember that not everything needs to go in a dry bag, and utilize nooks and crannies between bags to stuff small things (or beer!) into. Be careful of sharp corners or outfitting screws that could tear your bags.

Bring a pair of lightweight rigging gloves to protect your hands while packing (open wounds suck in the desert!) Do a full test pack/unpack. I also recommend doing a test run on your local run to get a feeling for paddling and rolling the loaded boat.

Make sure that you’re in proper paddling shape before embarking on your trip.

Lunch at Deer Creek Falls. High water made it possible to paddle all the way up to the falls.

On the Water

After lots of planning and prep, you’re finally on the water! Woohoo! This is where you put all the hard work to use, so let's cover a few helpful tips and some essential guidelines for when you’re on the water.

Remote river canyons are some of the coolest places on Earth, but they also demand and deserve our respect. Use good common sense and err on the side of caution. Mistakes in the middle of nowhere can be a big deal, and nature can be very unforgiving, so use extra caution.

There’s no raft to sit on, should you get injured, on this trip! Have respect for your surroundings. Practice Leave No Trace ethics and leave the canyon better than you found it. Pack out all your trash and solid waste. Liquid waste goes into the river.

Strain your dish water and pack out your food waste. Use a small kitchen tarp (which also helps keep sand out of your food). Be respectful of your environment so that others can enjoy it as well.
Stay dry and warm! Try to keep your gear as dry as possible. Don’t forget about dew point and condensation, which can easily soak you if you sleep under the stars uncovered. Keeping sand out of your gear is an art form that can only be learned by experience. Bringing a small sand mat or ground tarp is very helpful.

Filtering Water

Filtering drinking water will be one of the biggest considerations during your trip. On most rivers, pulling water from the main channel is recommended as side channels can have more concentrated contaminants.

Having a few collapsible buckets like the Jacks Plastic Water Bucket is key for settling water on the muddy desert rivers we have around Durango. Water flocculants will help with the settling process, and using AquaMira before filtering will help make sure your water is good to drink.

Take care with decanting if you’re using a gravity filter to extend your filter life. Don’t lift the bucket after it’s settled! We went through 4 filters for our Katadyn 10L Base Camp gravity filter system for 6 people / 10 days on the Grand, even with careful decanting. Use paddles to make a tripod on treeless beaches.

Water Filter setup — Our $1200 full carbon water tripod

Self-Support Kayak Trip Groovers

For the groover (or poop tube), I used a lightweight 18in x 4in PVC sewer pipe with a cap on one end and a screw fitting on the other. Inside, I made a foam stopper on a string to compact and separate the waste from my TP, hand sanitizer, and unused Wag Bags.

It weighed in at less than 2 lbs using the lightweight pipe, but I would go to 20” if I were to do it again. The “rule of thumb” is 40 cubic inches per day. With a 4” pipe, I think 2” of length per day is ideal. See the most recent self-support regulations here.

Fire Pan

This aluminum breakdown firepan is easier to pack and assemble. It meets current regulations for most river trips, including the Grand. Double-check your area’s regulations before assuming. A fire blanket may also be required.

Protect your food! Especially on popular rivers like the Grand, rodents and other creatures are a legitimate concern. Keep your food inside your boat with the hatch or cockpit cover on, which is good for keeping critters and insects out of your boat and gear. In bear country, elevate your food in a tree.

Keep essential items close at hand. I keep my small first aid/emergency kit, sunblock, snacks, and camera in my day bag for easy access and for hiking. Bring an extra pair of sunglasses. Keep your throwbag or any other rescue hardware easily accessible and/or on your person. Stay hydrated!

That’s it! Have fun, be safe, take lots of pictures, make lots of memories!

GC Gear Pile — Author’s self-support setup for a 10-day Grand Canyon self-support trip

Self-Support Kayak Gear List:

Below is a list of items we brought for our 10-day Grand Canyon self-support kayak trip in early November. Temperatures ranged from the low 40s to mid-70s. Keep in mind that this is not a definitive list, and you need to assess the proper gear for the conditions you’ll be paddling in.

Organized by location:

Paddling Gear:

Kayak – Dagger Katana 10.4 with Jackson Hard Hat Hatch Cover (read our Dagger Katana review here)
Paddle – Werner Stikine Straight Shaft
Rescue PFD – Stohlquist Descent with Add-A-Buoy
Dry Suit – Kokatat GoreTex Icon
Skirt – Snap Dragon WW EXP
Helmet – Sweet Rocker
River Shoes – Astral Brewer
Swim Shorts – IR Guide Short
Skull Cap or Hood – IR Thermo Cap or NRS Storm Hood
Wool Socks
Pogies or Gloves – IR Pogies
Throw Bag – NRS Compact Rescue
Sunglasses

Everything Else:

Front of Kayak / Bow:

Group Shelter: Kelty Noahs Tarp 12
Camp Stove: GSI Glacier Cook Set inside NRS TuffSack 6L
Camp Chair: TravelChair Joey Chair
Breakfast / Dinner Food Bag: NRS 22L TuffSack (OR Lightweight Dry Bags are preferable)

Breakfasts X number of days(oatmeal, pancakes)
Dinners X number of days (pastas, soups, grains, canned/cured meats)

Water Bucket: Jack's Plastic Collapsible Water Bucket
Water Bag: 4L MSR Dromedary
Flask: 64oz of Bulleit Rye Whiskey

Back of Kayak / Stern Hatch:

Clothing Bag: NRS MightyLight Dry Bags or OR Lightweight Dry Bags

2 full sets of camp clothing, all synthetic or wool. (NRS H2Core Lightweight and Silkweight Hoodies, NRS Lolo Pants)

Compression Sack: OR AirPurge Dry Compression Sack

Sierra Designs Zissou 6 Dry Down Sleeping Bag
Sierra Designs Transendant Down Jacket
Inflatable Camp Pillow

Tent Bag: OR Lightweight Dry Bag

Pelican 1150 Dry Case

Headlamp
Portable Charger
Spare Batteries
Emergency Contacts, Driver License, Insurance Card
Ipod & headphones

Trash Bag – Gallon ZipLocs inside of an old drybag
Fry Pan
Sand Mat – 3×3
Thermos
Misc Dry Bag – 10L NRS Dri-Stow

Toiletries
Camp Towel
Lucie Solar Lantern
Journal
Playing Cards
Pocket Knife
Trowel
Bleach wipes, paper towels & hand sanitizer
Book
Speaker – EcoXGear Pebble

TheraCane
Slingshot
NRS Dri-Stow 10L for camp shoes
Cockpit Cover

In the Cockpit:

Lunch Bag: NRS 10L Tuff Sack

10 days worth of cured meats, wax cheese wheels, nuts, GORP, Cliff Bars, Chocolate & Candy

Day Gear Bag: NRS 6L Tuff Sack

Rain Jacket
Fleece hat
Baseball cap
Spare Sunglasses
Rigging Gloves – NRS Cove Glove

Day / Camera Bag: Watershed Ocoee Duffel with Padded Liner

Digital SLR Camera with 2 lenses
Mini tri-pod
Memory Cards & Lens Pen
Small First-Aid
Sunblock
Snacks
Day Wag Bag

Breakdown Kayak Paddle – Werner Sherpa 4-piece (tucked between seat mounts and hull)
Bilge Sponge
Water bottles – 2x Nalgene 2L bottles
Groover – Strapped to the top of the stern
MORE BEER!