BWCA gear thoughts

Recently returned from a 6 night trip to Iron Lake. Year 29 was a challenging trip with weather and bugs, and a somber tone being around the final days of the recovery effort for the 2 missing canoeists. This may be the last year as a bed, ice, and my boat are a strong pull for time in the future. We’ll see.

Gear review from some of the things I used and wanted to share my opinion/experience with as I often ask for thoughts on gear from many on this sight. As always, I’m not affiliated nor benefit nor trying to sell anyone anything, just sharing my opinion/experiences.

Simms Challenger rain coat:
***Asked for recommendations on this sight and got many, this being one of them. Worked very well in a windy-rainy and sometimes cold week of the BWCA. Roomy, allowed air flow. So far so good, nice coat. I would purchase again for the 50% off price with no hesitation. I liked this coat more than my previous $300 Under armor cold gear rain coat.

Duluth Trading post Rain Pants:

***Decent pants overal at the sale price. Would like a few more pockets, but fit over other pants and kept me warm/dry. Not the best I’ve had but not the worst.

Suffix 832 yellow vs fireline green: I run braid to a swivel to a flouro leader on almost all of my rod and reel combos. I had fireline neon on a jiggin rod and hi-vis yellow stren 832 on another. The fireline coils and made dropping the jig and reading the line harder. I already stripped it off and put on the yellow hi-vis suffix 832 on everything. Casts well, doesn’t coil, strong, old eyes can see it…the stuff for me.

Onetigris Chairs:
***I bought 2 of these on a lead from a post on this site. Held up great for big (300lbs) guys and were comfortable. Higher back then pictures show, which was good.

Gerber AO knife:
***Good general knife. I sharpened it before leaving, held reasonably well for an edge. Serrated, straight, strong assist opening, lock, one hand close, inexpensive. I’m kind of a knife person and have many, used to carry a 7 inch fixed blade Buck until I decided I wasn’t John Jay Rambo and looked for something more reasonable and efficient. Not the best quality out there, I am putting blue locktite on the small screws around the top of the blade area now that I’m home, but did everything I needed for the week and I didn’t worry much if it broke or got lost.

Garmin Striker 4:
***Good base unit for depth, some sonar, some mapping (waypoints only with the base model). I used my 15 AH Amp lithium battery and it was more than enough for 6 days of use for about 4-6 hrs per day. Not overly impressed with the “vexilar” function but we were current fishing so it was tough to stay in the cone.

Scheels Zippoff pants: Scheels pants
***Our group “lived” in these for the week. We all have a few pair and they continue to be a great piece of gear. They last, are comfortable, and do what they’re supposed to in all areas.

GG#4 pack:
***I asked about this pack in and there is conversation in a different string on this site. For the $132 I have in it this pack it is great. I obviously can’t speak to longevity, yet, but in year 1 I am very happy with my purchase. Held a ton of gear and carried well.

Bball net anchor: Kind of self explanatory but this small change was a positive one for me. For years I had used a mesh bag but had to duct tape it as the rock in the bag would grind on bottom lake rocks and cut holes. Great upgrade.

Weather Radio DT Sangean 400W:
***After about 10 years this radio crashed. Had some battery leakage inside and done dancing. Decent radio, not real strong on reception IMO, will look for something as compact but better in reception.

Shady Rays:
***I have Oakleys and Costas for wearing around and driving, but Shady Rays for fishing and boating for my whole family. The warranty is worth it alone for a BWCA trip. For a good lense that is polarized and works, without having to worry about losing or damaging a pair 0f $300 glasses, these work great for the BWCA.

Tables: We tried two table this year with varying results.
***The Costco table was big, held up well, and stable. Only bad part is that it’s cloth so no hot items. The Trekology (we had a large) table didn’t stay together and was flimsy, not impressed.

Jet Boil:
***Continues to be an invaluable piece of gear. Hot water for coffee and oatmeal in the AM in 3 minutes, used for ramen noodles and broth to warm us up and hydrate on cold days, packs up small/light. If you don’t have one and are considering I can’t recommend enough.

Those were the highlights that come to mind. I’ll post follow ups as my unpacking continues and more things come to mind.

Good info, thanks for taking the time to share!

Wow I’m impressed by the reviews and that you are in your 29th season!

Do you use cots in the BWCA?

Gunter: Started in high school. Trips have changed over the years and we don ‘t portage/paddle nearly as much as we used to, but are still going. Not sure if this is “it” for trips but its a strong possibility.

Jwellsy; we do not use cots. We use air mattresses and sleep in tents. Some have higher end rollup air mattresses, some twin air mattresses from wal mart and bring a blower, even have used the $5 mouth blow pool air mattresses.

Interesting that you are thinking of being done. I did trip 30 last year with my brother and another friend. All but one of my trips have been with my brother and 22 with this other friend. We all pretty much decided that last year would be our last one also. For me it was simply NOT sleeping well anymore. I sleep with a CPAC at home and when I don’t have it I can really tell the difference. I have a great Thermarest pad and great tent, but the lack of the CPAC is the gamebreaker for me. Not saying I would never go again, but it would have to be something special for me to go.

I also love my ShadyRay glasses. I bought my first pair 5 years ago for $55 and have either broken, scratched, or lost 3 pair already and they just keep sending me new ones. Pretty good deal on great glasses.

We have used the JetBoil also and love it. We still have a BIG pot for lots of water and big meal prep.

Glad you have a nice trip

Rick: Yea, a lot of pieces go into thinking this may be our last trip. Best friend and I have both done this for 30 years, 28 trips each, 27 together. We brought our two boys the last two years, passing of the paddle scenario. We can still carry the packs, do the paddle, although we get a tow quite a ways in now. I have a cpap (and others on the trip do, too) at home too and do miss it up there, but its manageable and animal deterrent with the loud snoring our group produces. It will always be a special place but has lost some of the excitement. maybe we need to try a new lake, but finding the new fishing spots can be tricky as we basecamp and fish long days. The trip started out as a way to trade labor-effort-comfort for the chance to catch a ton of fish, enjoy nature, and rough it a bit at a fairly low cost. Now with a tow and other costs we are up there near what we could spend on a cabin for a week and have a relatively new 18.5ft lund at home. Ice, a bed (cpap), bit more bug control, and generally more comfort is making a push as the priorities. Who knows, we’ll see in about 10 months.

Great honest reviews – going to look into the Zipoff pants!

Agree with the Garmin stryker – a good, budget-friendly depth finder for that kind of scenario. I run one on my kayak.

I’ve been tempted to record a fish camp snoring symphony. I think that would be the perfect intro to a country western song.

My favorite piece of canoe gear has to be my thermorest cover that folds the thermorest into a canoe chair with a back.