Equipment

SHELTER
Tentipi Kvarts 5 Light Tipi


Our shelter for this adventure is a 5-man Tipi (nice and spacious). It’s a great piece of kit. It’s tall enough I can stand up in, has only one pole (in the centre) so if that breaks can be easily replaced by wood, and pegs to the ground in 8 points along the bottom and 8 points from around the middle so is incredibly sturdy. The material is also quite robust and has stood up to over 3 years abuse in the outdoors and fewer cleans than it should have had. I first used it on a solo trip in Sweden and for 1 person it can be lived in without any problems. With 2 of us there is still plenty of space for sleeping and gear on one side and the rest free for whatever is needed. It’s nice to have space to move around if you get rained in for days – cabin fever takes longer to develop…

The tipi also has an inner-tent (to reduce condensation and for better protection from bugs), as well as a stove designed for a 6-man tipi. With the stove we should be comfortable, warm and dry in almost any conditions. This model had a change of name and design and I am not sure if it is still longer available from the company. The new models name is Zirkon, I believe…

Here is a build-along photo gallery done during one of our camping trip:


TRANSPORT
Ally 16.5DR Canoe


We are travelling by canoe which is a marvellous method of travel. You really feel the water, weather and wilderness. A canoe is far more comfortable for long journeys than a kayak (I have always used a kayak for long journeys before now), and we can carry substantially more food and equipment.

The canoe is collapsible (seebuild-along below) which allows for easier long-distance portaging (though portaging is never fun), and enables us to start as close to the glacier in the beginning as the water level permits. The carrying capacity is impressive – 380kg – which means both myself and Vicki can be in with all of our supplies and would still be able to carry the weight of another full grown man. All of this still needs to be portaged occasionally however, so we are limiting ourselves as much as possible. The canoe is light – weighing under 20kg – and handles like a leaf on water with nothing inside. It becomes more stable the more it is loaded.

Clik on the following PDF link to see our Build-Along for the Ally 16.5DR: Ally 16.5DR Canoe_Build-along

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