First trip up to AK to chase caribou this year, early September hunt. Figured I share the hits and misses I found on gear.
Gear of the trip - Patagonia waders and Vivo desert boots (one size larger than normal). Picked up the waders (the more durable offering) on clearance last year and wasn't sure how much I'd need them/use them. I wouldn't go back to AK without them. I spent one day in traditional hunting boots/gaiter combo, but being boat based and crossing the the river bottom the boots were not the best option. The boots and gaiters were heavy, picking up your feet higher than normal in the tundra adds up and honestly the ankle stability wasn't all that helpful for me. I was worried about ankle stability in the Vivos on the very unstable footing, non issue for me. Warmer weather I might think differently about wearing waders all day, but the boot/gaiter combo was hot anyway. Why aren't rain jackets made from wader material?
Swazi Wapiti Rain coat- not a backpacking jacket, front pockets are annoying (but workable) under the pack belt and the jacket is heavy. That being said I stayed warm and dry (think 30's and blowing rain), the long cut rain jackets are what all rain jackets should be. The Ibex jacket offering might be better suited to wearing under a pack. Haven't used enough to comment on long term durability.
Swazi Cairnsman wool/possum sweater. I really liked this piece, except for active hiking I didn't take it off pretty much the entire trip. Temps from 30's-50's, over thin sun shirt, plus or minus rain jacket, the puffy jacket never came out. I don't think it stinks yet, opinions may vary.
Seekoutside 8 man tipi. Great for 2 guys and gear to spread out, 3rd guy would be doable (but annoying). Wood stove with the fake logs (store bought wax log things) was really nice to dry out, take out the spark arrestor (they plug up and try to kill you). Propane heater was nice to get warm, but not great for drying stuff, I'd likely plan two fake logs a day and skip the propane. There was enough brush and wood along the river we could have used some of that to get by.
Exo pack with S2H bag. Exo frame continues to be outstanding. The S2H pack was only utilized in day hunting, but worked well for this, everything quickly accessible. Exo pack frame plus a soft sided cooler is a pretty viable option for carry on caribou meat.
Gastro gnome food was outstanding. I love Thai food, but was not a big fan of the green curry offering, it was probably very authentic Thai (heavy on cumin?) and wasn't bad, but a normal green curry Thai would have been the jam.
@hereinaz's mini CBK was a pleasure to use.
22CM and 80gr ELDMs brought all the necessary wallop. I don't like to look for animals, if they are on their feet I shoot (quickly and frequently), this does lead to some meat loss even with "small" bullets. I need to check zero on the Tikka/Maven/Rokstok/UM ring combo, but took a single shot at a 10" plate at 690 yards and ringed it upon returning home, so prob gtg.
Food in Coldfoot was pretty dang good, wish I had waited for the buffet.
Misses.
Traditional heavy boots/gaiters- stayed dry until I got impatient with camp in sight and got water over the top. Heavy to walk in, required wasting time looking for shallow crossings, didn't add much stability (if anything was worse).
The airboat operations sucked. Clearly they are in it for easy short term $, packing all the people they can in, at 3-4k per person they are printing $. Ruins the experience for their customers and everyone else on the river systems. We lucked out and caught animals crossing as we were leaving the area to find less crowded places.
By all accounts the haul road was "special" this year, mud and potholes were impressive. Not so much a miss, as it was beautiful, but required your full attention for 12 plus hrs.
Gear of the trip - Patagonia waders and Vivo desert boots (one size larger than normal). Picked up the waders (the more durable offering) on clearance last year and wasn't sure how much I'd need them/use them. I wouldn't go back to AK without them. I spent one day in traditional hunting boots/gaiter combo, but being boat based and crossing the the river bottom the boots were not the best option. The boots and gaiters were heavy, picking up your feet higher than normal in the tundra adds up and honestly the ankle stability wasn't all that helpful for me. I was worried about ankle stability in the Vivos on the very unstable footing, non issue for me. Warmer weather I might think differently about wearing waders all day, but the boot/gaiter combo was hot anyway. Why aren't rain jackets made from wader material?
Swazi Wapiti Rain coat- not a backpacking jacket, front pockets are annoying (but workable) under the pack belt and the jacket is heavy. That being said I stayed warm and dry (think 30's and blowing rain), the long cut rain jackets are what all rain jackets should be. The Ibex jacket offering might be better suited to wearing under a pack. Haven't used enough to comment on long term durability.
Swazi Cairnsman wool/possum sweater. I really liked this piece, except for active hiking I didn't take it off pretty much the entire trip. Temps from 30's-50's, over thin sun shirt, plus or minus rain jacket, the puffy jacket never came out. I don't think it stinks yet, opinions may vary.
Seekoutside 8 man tipi. Great for 2 guys and gear to spread out, 3rd guy would be doable (but annoying). Wood stove with the fake logs (store bought wax log things) was really nice to dry out, take out the spark arrestor (they plug up and try to kill you). Propane heater was nice to get warm, but not great for drying stuff, I'd likely plan two fake logs a day and skip the propane. There was enough brush and wood along the river we could have used some of that to get by.
Exo pack with S2H bag. Exo frame continues to be outstanding. The S2H pack was only utilized in day hunting, but worked well for this, everything quickly accessible. Exo pack frame plus a soft sided cooler is a pretty viable option for carry on caribou meat.
Gastro gnome food was outstanding. I love Thai food, but was not a big fan of the green curry offering, it was probably very authentic Thai (heavy on cumin?) and wasn't bad, but a normal green curry Thai would have been the jam.
@hereinaz's mini CBK was a pleasure to use.
22CM and 80gr ELDMs brought all the necessary wallop. I don't like to look for animals, if they are on their feet I shoot (quickly and frequently), this does lead to some meat loss even with "small" bullets. I need to check zero on the Tikka/Maven/Rokstok/UM ring combo, but took a single shot at a 10" plate at 690 yards and ringed it upon returning home, so prob gtg.
Food in Coldfoot was pretty dang good, wish I had waited for the buffet.
Misses.
Traditional heavy boots/gaiters- stayed dry until I got impatient with camp in sight and got water over the top. Heavy to walk in, required wasting time looking for shallow crossings, didn't add much stability (if anything was worse).
The airboat operations sucked. Clearly they are in it for easy short term $, packing all the people they can in, at 3-4k per person they are printing $. Ruins the experience for their customers and everyone else on the river systems. We lucked out and caught animals crossing as we were leaving the area to find less crowded places.
By all accounts the haul road was "special" this year, mud and potholes were impressive. Not so much a miss, as it was beautiful, but required your full attention for 12 plus hrs.
