Repair, First Aid, and Safety Kit for Winter Boating
If you're considering some winter boating it's crucial that you have solid kits with you along with some extra items for cold weather and shorter days. This article contains the contents of my combined repair, first aid, and safety kit that I bring with me for winter day trips. All of these items can be found on my Winter Boating Amazon List.
Everything is stored in a Watershed Chattooga dry bag with padded liner.
Winter Boating Extras
For cold weather day trips I throw a small extra bag in my Watershed bag with a few extra things.
- Butane Lighter (SOTO Pocket Torch)
- Firestarter (UCO Strikeable Firestarter)
- 2 Emergency Blankets (Foil Mylar Thermal Blanket)
- Headlamp (Petzl E+LITE Headlamp)
- Small Bag (SealLine Waterproof E-Case)
Folding Saw
During the winter months it's more likely that trees and limbs will fall in the river or across the road to put-in. There are a variety of saws that work but I really like Silky Folding Hand saw.
- Hand Saw (Silky PockeyBoy 170mm hand saw)
Safety Kit
These are items I bring with me an any boating trip. Some people call this a z-drag kit or pin kit but I call it a "safety kit." I generally follow the 4:3:2:1 guideline for safety kit items.
- 4 Carabiners (Rock Exotica RockO Carabiner)
- 3 Pulleys (Rock Exotica Machined Rescue Pulley)
- 2 Prussics (Sterling 6mm AutoBlock)
- 1-2 15' to 25' Lengths of Webbing (1 Inch Milspec)
First Aid Kit
The first aid kit you bring should depend on your training, access to a hospital, and the length of trip you're on. For winter day trips I like to bring a medium sized first aid kit that has contents to stabilize injuries and handle cuts and scrapes.
- Medium First Aid Kit (Adventure Medical Kits Explorer)
- Trauma Shears (Leatherman Raptor Trauma Shears)
- Headlamp (Petzl E+LITE Headlamp)
Repair Kit
This is particularly important for winter boating since days are short and if something breaks you want to repair it quickly. It's important to note that repair glue probably won't work in cold temperatures so there's no need to bring normal patch material and glue on winter boating trips.
- Type A Tear-Aid (Tear Aid) and Scissors
- Channel Locks (KNIPEX Water Pump Pliers)
- Vise Grips (IRWIN Vise Grips)
- Screwdriver (11 in 1 Screwdriver)
- Spare Oar Lock (Sawyer A Oar Lock) and/or Spare Pin (Clavey Pin)
- Duct Tape (Gorilla Duct Tape)
- Ratchet (3/8" Drive Ratchet) with 1/2" Socket (1/2" Deep Socket)
- Valve Wrench (Valve Wrench)
- Multi Tool (Leatherman Multi-Tool)
- Headlamp (Petzl E+LITE Headlamp)
Miscellaneous
There are a few other things you may want to consider depending on your trip.
- Satellite Communication Device (Garmin InReach Mini)
- Hot Water, Tea, or Hot Chocolate (Thermos)
All of these items can be found on my Winter Boating Amazon List.
