Brooks Range Traverse Gear List

This is a list of the gear we used on our hike/paddle across the Brooks Range. This was roughly 600 miles of hiking and 400 miles of paddling. Gear is super personal; what works for some people doesn’t for others and visa versa.

Compared to a “normal” through hike, in general the gear was a bit beefier then what we’d typically take along. We used mid-style lightweight boots instead of low top runners, high gaiters instead of the little Dirty Girl ones, a larger backpack because you have longer times between resupplies (this was done through two air dropped barrels in ANWR, a barrel left along the Dalton Highway, a USPS mail drop to Anaktuvuk Pass, and another air drop at the Noatak), etc.

Personal Gear List

Gear Item	Specific	Weight (oz)	Thoughts
Back Pack	HMG Porter 4400 w/pocket & shoulder pocket, & water bottle holders	44	Have used Hyperlite for years (Southwest), wasn’t a super fan of the Porter, specifically the water bottle holders. (Couldn’t get water bottle out of it?)
Pack Liner	Trash compactor	2
Sleeping Pad	Therm-A-Rest X-Lite Short	8	This thing has been through the wringer for me, and it’s the bomb
Ground Cloth	Gossamer Gear	2
Sleeping Bag w/stuff sack and liner	WM Ultralite 5’6”	32	J’Adore
Sleeping Mask	MZOO	2	Essential for sleeping in the 24hr arctic sun
Hiking Poles	BD Alpine Carbon	15	Been using the BD Distance Carbon, the Alpine Carbon is slightly burlier and felt appropriate for this trip
Rain Jacket	Noronna Falketind	12	Actually comfortable? Maybe because it’s the north and it was cold cold, but I never really sweat in this jacket
Rain Pants	Norrona Falketind	14	Almost full zip, super easy to put on/remove. Two thumbs up
Puffy	Featherd Friends W’s Eos	9	*adore eyes*
Long John Bottom	Icebreaker 260	7	Wool. It’s where it’s at
Long John Top	Icebreaker 200	6
Underwear x2	Icebreaker Siren	2
Bra	Icebreaker	3
Socks x2	Darn Tough	4	Darn Tough are darn tough. My favourite sock brand
Sleep Socks	Icebreaker Floofies	5
Mid Layer	Ibex Shak	8	Meh. Wanted a hood, and something…cozier? This wasn’t a very cozy item. Took Amundsen Sports W’s Boiled Hoodie to ANWR in ’21 and liked it much better
T-shirt	Icebreaker Tech T	5
Wind Shirt	Patagonia Houdini	3	Worn almost every day, fantastic bug/sun protection
Hiking Pants	Norrona Falketind Heavy Duty	16	10/10 LOVE these pants. Comfy, huge side vents, they rock
Rain Mitts	Norrona Trollveggen	4
Warm Mitts	Norrona Wool	4
Light Gloves	OR	3
Balaclava	Ibex	2	Used because my mid layer had no hood. Hate balaclavas, make me feel like I’m choking
Tuque	Warm cap
Ball cap	Ball cap
Mosquito Head Net	Sea to Summit	1
Gaitors	Outdoor Research Rocky Mountain High	7
Headlamp	BD Spot Light (got this sent to us at Noatak, as there is constant daylight and no need for headlamp till then)	2
Sunglasses	Smith Guide	2
Hairties
Spork	Snowpeak	1
Cup	GSI plastic	1
Water Bottles	Katadyn BeFree filter w/Hydrapak & Gateraid bottle	4	BeFree is awesome filter – get’s clogged quite easily by silty water
Watch	Garmin Fenix 6	3	Great – navigation feature was lovely on the river, should have gotten X for battery life
Feminine Hygiene	Diva Cup	1	Freaking awesome. Be good to our Mother Earth ❤
Toothbrush	Oral B	1
Lip Balm	Ski Naked	1	My favourite lip balm ever
Phone	iphone w/Lifeproof	8
Cards	ID/debt/insurance/vaccine card, etc.
Fishing License
Battery	Anker PowerCore II Slim 10,000	7
Cords/Earbuds	iphone charger, earbuds, kindle charger, watch charger
Notebook/pen	Rite in the Rain	4
Shoes	La Sportiva Ultra Raptor Mid GTX (39)                 x2!!!		Goretex is a highly questionable material here. Dan ended up getting bad trench foot. I used the Joshua Tree balm religiously on my feet and did ok, but I’d recommend something without Goretex in future. Lowe makes a lightweight mid without Goretex, the Inbox Pro Mid, for both men & women
Bear Spray		13
Fishing Rod	Tenkara Hane	10	Didn’t catch no fish. I’m a hopeless fisher person
Mask (covid)
Knife	Benchmade	3	This thing is lovely, but also unnecessary unless you just like carrying a dope ass knife
InReach	InReach mini (yes, we both carried one)	4	Perfect. Connect with home/pilots. Essential to modern wilderness travel?
Total		285

Group Gear

Gear Item	Specific	Weight (oz)	Thoughts
Shelter	HMG Mid w/bug net	43	Love the stormproofness of this shelter. Also, a mid seems key when in constant wet conditions
Stove	Trail Designs Fissure Ti-Tri	7	So…long story short, I messed up our supper rations. Meaning I also messed up my calculations for alcohol needed. This lil thing also burning wood saved the trip. Love this stove!
Cookware	Snowpeak 9000	7
Coozy	HMG coozy	2
Fuel
Lighter	bic
Food Sacks x3	Ursak w/Loksak	29
Water Treatment	Aquamira drops	3	Back up treatment
1st Aid / Repair Kit	second skin, neosporin, band aids, crazy glue, Advil, Tylenol, Advil PM, Benadryl, Peptobismol, needle, athletic tape, KT tape, Leukotape, safety pins, leatherman Squirt ps4, tweezers, nail clippers, arnica, therm-a-rest repair kit, J-Tree salve, sunscreen, Dr. Bronners, Tenacious Tape, hardcore pain killers	19	J-Tree salve is bomb for feet! Also, I now bring Leukotape over KT tape. In future, also bringing antibiotics in addition to the hard core pain killers
Cleansing wipes		6	Awesome because like, you’re never gunna take a shower. The last day that was warm enough to stream bathe was 8 days in
Compass	Suunto MC-2G	3
Solar Charger	Anker 21W	16	Talked to the guys at Anker and they recommended this solar charger and batter combination. Absolute bomb. We’d be getting a charge when it was cloudy and dripping. Sometimes even in the shelter!
Camera	A6400	33
Camera Battery
Memory Card
Binoculers	Nikon 8×25 5.6	11	Another j’adore. Spot bears, see what’s up. Watch all the animals, glass the slopes. Freaking awesome
Chargers	watch, camera, phone
Maps	USGS, plus GAIA on phones	8	Brought 1:250,000 plus 1:65,000. Used the 1:250,000 extensively, not the others
Food
Tea
Toothpaste	Bite Toothpaste Bits	1	Love ❤
Floss	Glide	1
Sunscreen
Bug Dope	3M Ultrathon		Didn’t actually use much. At first thought we’d need a ton, but then the skies opened up and rained a ton, I was 100% covered up and just used a bit on my hands. Perhaps a low bug year?
Checkbook
Total		189

Paddling Gear

Gear Item	Specific	Weight (oz)
Raft w/Seat and Back	Alpacka Classic	114
Bow Bag	Alpacka	10
Skirt	Alpacka	7
Whitewater Spray Deck Coaming w/Voile Strap	Alpacka	6
Inner Dry bags	Alpacka Cargo Fly	13
Inflating Bag	Alpacka	5
Paddles	Aqua-Bound Manta Ray Carbon	30
PFD	Astral V-Eight	22
Croakies	Croakies	1
Fleece Top	Arcteryx Atom LT	11
Fleece bottom	Spare set of long johns	7
Dry Suit	Kokotat Swift Entry
* NOTE	We did not bring dry suits. In retrospect, that was dumb. “Cold water has been a major factor in nearly all known Packraft fatalities.” The Packraft Handbook: An Instructional Guide for the Curious by Luc Mehl. The Noatak was cold. And we paddled the whole thing in flood state, another risk. It was also raining all day everyday (hence the flood state) and froze at night – we were several degrees from hypothermia most days, and that’s not a line I’m willing to walk again. Check out Kokatat Swift Entry – I have the w’s small, weighs in right at a lb. We took these when we went back to ANWR in ’21.
Total		226

Group Paddling Gear

Gear Item	Specific	Weight (oz)
Repair Kit	Gorilla waterproof patch and seal, Aquaseal UV, Aquaseal FD, Gorilla tape, Tyvek tape, Patch-N-Go, multi tule w/pliers (use leatherman from normal first aid/repair kit), needle and dental floss (use from normal first aid/repair kit), zipper repair kit, spare tube material, cap gasket, spare cap, replacement mouth valves, alcohol swabs
Spare Paddle	Ninja
Total