Summer River Trip: What to Bring?

Planning a whitewater rafting trip this summer? If you're like thousands of other first time rafters, you'll be wondering how to prepare. Bringing the correct type and amount of gear will make your whitewater trip more fun, and will put you in good with the guides.

If you're planning a day trip, packing is easy. Bring clothes you don't mind getting wet, a good pair of river shoes or sandals, a sturdy hat and some sunscreen. Having a change of dry clothes for after the river trip is also a good idea.

Multi-day River Trip

Things get a bit more complicated, however, if you're planning a multi-day river trip. The main thing to remember: all the gear you bring is going to be carried by the guides rowing the boats. When you show up with lawn chairs, radios and 50 changes of clothes, you're going to get off on the wrong foot with the river guides. All that extraneous gear means more weight, which means more work.

The gear you bring has to fit into one or maybe two waterproof river bags. These bags are made a specific size so they'll fit on the raft. When you bring something that's going to require its own bag, or will fill most of one by itself, the item is too big and should be left home.

The guides will most likely tell you when you've gone overboard with gear, but it puts them into an awkward situation. Bringing too much gear is also a dead giveaway that you're a newbie to the whitewater rafting world. It's okay to be a newbie, everyone has to be at some point, but there's no need to advertise it in neon.

If you have an item you really can't do without and you know it's going to be too big, call the company beforehand and ask if the item can be accommodated. Whitewater rafting companies make their money in the spring and summer, so they'll do whatever they can to accommodate clients.