Our kayaking checklist

Feel like you’re forgetting something?

You’re rushing out the door after clumsily piling some bits and pieces into a bag, telling yourself you’re ready, only to get halfway there before realising you’ve left your phone on the kitchen table. It happens to the best of us. 

This is why we’ve put together a checklist of a few essentials that we take with us on our kayaking adventures, so you know you aren’t leaving anything behind. 

First off is inside the pockets of your drysuit. We suggest this is where you keep your phone and car keys, both in waterproof cases. You may have put these things in your dry bag already, but if in some unfortunate event your dry bag goes overboard, then so does your way of communication, and your ride home. 

Next up is your buoyancy aid. This is where we keep a few smaller, miscellaneous safety equipment pieces that can be used for some different situations, such as a karabiner and tape, folding knife or multitool, press hook and pulley and maybe a spare screwgate karabiner. 

Now, you’ll probably want to keep the things lying around in your boat to a minimum, so the only things we have in this section is a throwline so that we have easy access to one in case of an emergency, and a water bottle, again for ease of access for a quick refreshment. 

Inside our boat, or attached to the deck, is our drybag, holding any extra items that you could rummage around for when you have stopped on the side of the water. Most importantly, food! High energy snacks are great for any intense activity to keep you going for longer. Depending on the weather, different hats could be a good idea for you to have - whether that’s a wooly hat for the winter or a baseball cap for the summer time, it’s important to listen to and look after your body when out on the water.
This brings me on to keeping a first aid kit in your drybag. It doesn’t need to be an in depth kit, but some essentials are key, and maybe take some extra care that it stays dry and protected by putting it inside another dry bag or choosing the waterproof first aid kit if one is available to you. 

Now that you know you have everything, you’re ready to dive straight in. Remember to tag us in your adventures @escapewaterports and use the hashtag #whateveryourescape.