5 tips to make your first overnight a great one:

1. Pack good food! A lot of the time people get the idea that they need to pack a small amount of food that is really light and yes it does make it easier to carry your boat and makes it a little bit lighter. But there is nothing better than pulling out a tasty dinner like a steak and veggies while you watch all of your friends eat their bland freeze dried meals.

2. Have a change of clothes for camp. Being able to take off all of your gear including your fleece layers is really nice. Being able to get comfortable in a fresh pair of clothes really makes the experience a lot better.

3. Flip Flops. Having a pair of camp shoes that aren’t your wet river shoes can be key. Although you don’t want to make your boat to heavy flip flops are a nice choice for a camp shoe.

4. Packing your boat. It’s really important to make sure each side of your boat has the same amount of weight on it. Another option is packing in the nose of your boat, that way you don’t have all of the weight in the back. Something else to think about when packing is what you will need thought the day; don’t put your lunch and first aid kit behind all of your sleeping stuff.

5. Always go with a great group of people and find the best camp site you can!
Also.. Have good dry bags! No one wants a wet sleeping bag.

– Johnny Chase