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Items you bring along that are not required but are nice to have?

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whiteh20

03/08/2009 08:40AM

The water bottle light thread got me thinking about needs vs. wants. What does everyone bring along that is not needed, but makes your trip more enjoyable. Example- I have reduced the stuff I bring so I can get a full sized feather pillow in my pack. Camp pillows or stuff sacks work but not near as comfy!

"With an ax, you can build a life. With a stove, you can boil water. That is if nothing breaks and you don't run out of fuel." -Samuel Hearne

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knothead180

03/08/2009 09:13AM

Hammock!

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Dodger

03/08/2009 09:29AM

This year I plan on bringing in a cot. Dodger

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lorileinenkugel

03/08/2009 09:48AM

My GSI micro table. Its not a needed item but I wont go into the bwca without it. It fits over logs so I have a nice flat clean surface to cook on. I also use it as a writing desk since I like to journal while in camp. My Taj3 tent for just me. Its big and roomy for 1.

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nolahlm

03/08/2009 10:41AM

Sleeping pad, not required but it is a life (and back) saver

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Jimi

03/08/2009 10:49AM

Acid Blondie cigars.

Jimi

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myceliaman

03/08/2009 11:02AM

My depth/fish finder. Some trips I bring my girlfriend.

I like coconuts because when you break them open it reminds me of women lying in the sun. And if I had my way there be coconuts for everyone "Widespread Panic"

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gutmon

03/08/2009 12:43PM

"The trouble with the world isn't that people know too little, but that they know so much that just ain't so." Mark Twain

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whiteh20

03/08/2009 12:55PM

Jimi,
I like acid blonde cigars as well. Good for a flavored cigar!!

"With an ax, you can build a life. With a stove, you can boil water. That is if nothing breaks and you don't run out of fuel." -Samuel Hearne

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dogwoodgirl

03/08/2009 12:59PM

crazy creek chair....my aging back loves it!

Also an enthusiastic second on the GSI microtable.

~On to Fort Chippewan before the snow flies!

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Blackstick

03/08/2009 01:18PM

Lawn chair! Dutch oven.

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izzy

03/08/2009 01:31PM

Beer

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snakecharmer

03/08/2009 02:18PM

I'm with izzy. A few beers always make it into my pack.

"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after"
~ Henry David Thoreau

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andym

03/08/2009 02:38PM

Fabric kitchen sink and bucket. May add a second sink for rinse water this year.

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Mongo65

03/08/2009 04:42PM

Camp Stool
Spice Kit

This Year

Cast Iron Skillet
GSI Micro Table
Utensil Roll

Sit back, relax, have a home brew.

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Unas10

03/09/2009 04:06AM

Everything beyond a canoe and a paddle.

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Minnesotian

03/09/2009 07:15AM

Thermos of wine and a couple cigars.
Ipod with some Beethoven symphonies.
A flask of whiskey.

"We should go forth on the shortest walk, perchance in the spirit of undying adventure, never to return - prepared to send back our embalmed hearts only as relics to our desolate kingdom." - Thoreau

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Mad_Angler

03/09/2009 08:09AM

Let's see... I was going to start listing items but then I got to thinking about what defined "not required". Hum...

I've I had to list one luxury item, it would be my portable depth finder. It may not be required. But it makes fishing more fun for me and has helped me catch a bunch of fish. If it helps with fun and fish, is it really "not required"?

Fish where the fish are...

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Mad_Angler

03/09/2009 08:12AM

Still thinking...

I guess I would like to take a minimalist trip. Something where I all take is one small pack with the essentials. Here is a thread about that from last year:

Minimal

Here is another thread questioning what folks would take if they could only take a bookbag worth of equipment:
Minimal

Fish where the fish are...

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gutmon

03/09/2009 10:10AM

I had some friends that took a summer day float down one of our area rivers and they brought a generator and blender for on-river margaritas...cooler with some beer seems like a smarter choice to me.

"The trouble with the world isn't that people know too little, but that they know so much that just ain't so." Mark Twain

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bdubber

03/09/2009 10:21AM

A chair, a couple of books, bag of wine and tobacco.

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solotrek

03/09/2009 10:45AM

Folding Coleman beach chair. Although it's getting harder every year to get up outta that thing!

"It is in solitude, in quiet communication with nature that we reach most deeply into truth." Sam Campbell

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Camp Cook

03/09/2009 11:05AM

I also take my full size feather pillow... would never sleep well without it.

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heyrpm

03/09/2009 12:18PM

Walkstool, Its light and collapses down, I lash it to the side of my pack. Walkstool

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Savage Voyageur

03/09/2009 05:45PM

Sorry knothead but my hammock is required. Some of the things that are nice to have are, GPS, GSI micro table, crazy creek chair, cast iron skillet,flask with booze, cigars,book, tripod. They are all going along in June

"So many lakes, so little time."

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Itchy Menace

03/09/2009 09:20PM

I like having music, especially on solo trips it's nice to just chill out with some good tunes at night.

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Merganser

03/09/2009 09:29PM

Required is an interesting term. For instance I "require" a camp chair. A sun shower is "nice to have" for me but my wife "requires" it.

"That sort of thing is my bag baby."

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greenandblackplaid

03/09/2009 09:55PM

An expendable corncob pipe and some quality pipe tobacco - much more relaxing to me than a cigar, although good cigar every once in a while is nice, too.

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tony

03/10/2009 02:36AM

1. chair
2. hammock
3. outback oven
4. solar shower
5. liquid pain killer
6. lantern (sometimes)

tony

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andym

03/10/2009 04:08AM

I guess I really have a lot of items that are not needed but I think that is one of the allures of canoe camping over backpacking is the ability to take more weight and have a more luxurious camp. And that's the view from someone who single portages!

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lostreef

03/10/2009 05:23PM

A secret rubber bear track stamp. Required, heck no. Nice to have around camp? YES, after everyone else goes to sleep. Made the trip immeasurably more enjoyable.

S-W-T

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TomT

03/10/2009 06:30PM

That is hilarious. Where did you get that?

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Mongo65

03/10/2009 09:36PM

Lostreef. That fake bear paw is low-down, sneaky, devious and downright underhanded.

Where do I get one?

Sit back, relax, have a home brew.

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lostreef

03/10/2009 10:01PM

I borrowed it from Kanoes!

S-W-T

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buz

03/11/2009 08:54AM

Wow, I need one of those. The boy scout troop would never camp again in tents after I got done with that thing, lol.

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Savage Voyageur

03/11/2009 09:41AM

Wow I need that rubber bear track stamp, my friends will go nuts when they see tracks all over the place. Too funny. Where can I get one?

"So many lakes, so little time."

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Wolf0503

03/11/2009 12:28PM

Do they have a wolf stamp as well? That & the Bear would be too much fun.

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bdavid1157

03/11/2009 12:43PM

Wild River State Park has them maybe they can tell you where the got them. The number for the visitor center is 651-583-2925. I thought we purchased ours here years ago.

http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/Mammal-Track-Molds-C703.aspx?UserID=17066907&SessionID=0I9Xycn59oHnsU0TOMEV

I only see the female molds but you could fill the mold up with chaulk and make your own male stamp.

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gutmon

03/11/2009 12:49PM

Why not go all out...

"The trouble with the world isn't that people know too little, but that they know so much that just ain't so." Mark Twain

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lostreef

03/11/2009 03:25PM

So much for plausible deniability, here you go.

http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/Track-Replicas---Positives-actual-casts-C48.aspx

S-W-T

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buz

03/12/2009 08:29AM

Wow, nice selection lostreef. There will be all kinds of new species spotted in the BW/Q this year i'm sure, lol. I think near my campsite the wolverine and grizzly are going to make a comeback to Minnesota! Ever seen a pronghorn antelope in the BW? Maybe this year. Or was that a jackalope, lol.

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sandhog

05/20/2009 07:57AM

I am in the aforementioned group that lostreef speaks of....and yes the prints looked realistic.

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bmac78

05/20/2009 10:01AM

those rubber bear prints are just wrong in so many ways :)

Are those Whitecaps ?

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Richwon4

05/20/2009 10:40AM

Bleacher Seat & sleep pad.

Love the Bear Tracks!!! I'll save the idea for when my wife and kids go up with me.

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Wolf0503

05/20/2009 12:39PM

those are so wrong in so many ways, but they may have made a sale

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urbanflyguy

05/20/2009 01:56PM

My aquavu and vexliar, and my float tube

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mc2mens

05/20/2009 02:44PM

camp chair, bag of wine, something to smoke.

"Big fish eat little fish."

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Les Ismore

05/20/2009 11:51PM

wow, wish i had saw that bear print before tonite, i leave in two days so i wont have a chance to get one before the trip...damn....
but as for nice but not necessary? i'd say my canoe partner. he filets the fish, so it's nice to have him, but i could probably get by with out him...

Build a man a fire, keep him warm for a night; set a man on fire, keep him warm the rest of his life.

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Voyageur

05/21/2009 08:53AM

Half my fishing lures. More likly 80% of my lures. A table. Not needed but really convenient.

Remember this is fun... and your having it.

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CaptnDan

05/21/2009 03:20PM

Very interesting discussion! Two years ago, I took a solo trip and tried very hard to minimize pack weight. I wanted to be in the low 30#. I put together what I thought was a nice, light pack; over 50#.No go! It took a lot of work (and leaving my Duluth pack home) to get down to the eventual weight of 36#. All my food was "boil and dump", Steri-pen for water, Jetboil as total cook set (there was a fire ban on), titanium spork, and no footprint. But I still had sfety gear, a tent, sleeping pad, a small book, journal and pleanty of fishing gear. With the prism, I could single portage, but it was still rough on a little old man like me.
This year, I'm going up to 45# and forget single portages.
As many have said, "required" is a relative term.

If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else- Yogi Berra

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buz

05/22/2009 08:42AM

Good man Capn'. Slow down, bring a chair, enjoy the walks thru the woods.

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richard tucker

05/23/2009 03:16AM

I take a small radio with an ear phone, I like tocheck the weather the last day so i can get through Basswood without getting wind bound.
I take extra rope way more than I need.
I take climbing pulleys that work so easy that I can pull myself up with the food pack so the bears or my wife can't get me.
I take two different custom blends of pipe tobacco, one for mosquitoes and one for black flies.
I take along paper bags to store my wet ones in so they can dry faster to be burned.
I take an extra thermarest 3/4 by 2" for my dog, plus his blanket.
When it works out, load wise, I take a 9x9 canvas baker tent with a screened front, so I have a comfortable place to put the lawn chairs.
I no longer take newbies, they are to hard to portage, and their crying in their tents at night keeps me awake.

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Captn Tony

05/23/2009 08:26AM

My wife

You're going to HELL and you're going to drag me with ya!! -Gunsmoke

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