flyboy15
Posts: 264
Registered: 9-30-2008
Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota
Member Is Offline
Mood: wishing I had more time to kite.
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![[*]](./images/perspective/default_icon.gif) posted on 6-2-2010 at 04:45 AM |
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Long Haul Trips - What do you bring?
Hey guys, when you are taking those butt busting long kite excursions, what's in your pack?
Me and John V took a SICK trip this last season to Lake of the Woods MN (saw kiteyakker and relatives/our friends in the beginning and end). I got a
cheap Bushnell GPS off woot this past fall and we logged just under 50 miles.... I think that counts as long haul lol.
We brought:
kite pack,
military surplus folding shovel (excellent snow-based kite stake btw),
camelback - I wore mine inside my jacket, thinking about trying in the pack
First Aid Kit
Extra Gloves
Extra Socks
Extra (thicker) Balaclava/neck gaiter
GPS
Helmet Cam is on the list for this upcoming season
Extra Layers
Proposed additions (need some advice)
Digital Camera - too busy kiting or worth it?
Bundled Rope - I would never kite on marginal ice lakes, but other uses?
Tow Sleds? - For really really long excursions haha tents, etc
Two-way radio to a teammate? and then an earpiece for it?
Binoculars? any use? didn't seem like a whole lot needed it when we went
Let me know what you guys think, and also any sweet long-haul locations, lake or land based that you know of in the midwest. We're breaking personal
records this season 
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rudeboysaude
Posts: 226
Registered: 1-18-2004
Location: Sandstone, MN
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 6-2-2010 at 06:24 AM |
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We started making gear for a long haul trip. Haven't done it yet due to life getting busy, but in our test runs, we found that two radios would be a
big bonus. We had white out conditions in one test and we were far enough apart that we could see each other. I put my kite down to go smaller and
my buddy couldn't even see me. Radios would certainly be a great safety feature. Then you have batteries to deal with. We wanted to get small
solar panels to mount to our sleds we built to keep batteries charged. For the sleds we used old creek boats. The displacement hulls work good
because they keep the selds from tipping. My buddy put a snowmobile hifax along the bottom of his to make it track better and keep tight in the
turns. We use poles from Ed at skipulk.com. He makes the best pulk towing system, I highly recommend it. His pulks are sweet too. One of our guys
bought his high end sled to use and it's nice! Since us midwesters are mostly looking at lake travel with sleds, you can't beat it. You can bring
all kinds of crap and be set. Even hot tents for drying out gear and hanging out in your t-shirt after trekking all day. In our test runs, I found
if you have to travel upwind the whole way, it was faster just hiking it. Plan your trip with prevailing winds so that you don't have to hike the
whole way and leave room for no wind days. If you get a good day of kiting, you can have a layover day. Also... Beer freezes. Better bring the hard
stuff. Here's a pic of my buddies sled.. can't find any in action at the moment, but they really do work:
Let us know when you go. maybe we can finally put all of our gear we put together to use on a trip with ya. Ohh, and you really should get some tele
skis. We got touring skis. Like XC skis with scales on the bottom and metal edges. Then you can trek when there is no wind. WAY better then
snowshoeing it. Plus you can use them while kiting. Get a soft boot for trekking, but stiff enough for kiting. Like a tough leather boot or
something like the Scarpa T3.. which they don't make anymore. But there are other options. Just a light 3 pin binding works fine. I got Voile
bindings and they work fine. They have a removable heel strap that you can choose to use or not.
Start planning now, it'll take a while to collect all the toys you'll want for a long trip in the snow!
Charger- 19 Syn-24,12
V2- 16,13,10 V1- 16,13
B-17,10.5 S630 F12 F16
Twister- 3 Viper- 2.6
Speeds 19,10,5
http://www.mnadventure.com |
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Bladerunner
Posts: 4423
Registered: 10-17-2006
Location: Vancouver
Member Is Offline
Mood: Need AIR
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| posted on 6-2-2010 at 06:35 AM |
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I have tossed a road flare in my bag when I have gone on my own . It happened to be in the trunk and I was mostly visible from the road so it seemed
like a good idea ?
I was dumb enough to think my cell would work 
Kites:1.5 SLE Rev', 2.5m Profoil , 4.9m QuadrifoilXL kitesurfer, 3m Pansh Blaze, 5m Pansh Ace, , 9m Flexi Blade II, 7m Flysurfer Pulse , 18 /
14m Vio, 4.6m NPW-5,
Peter Lynn :15m Charger , 15m Synergy, 10m Charger, 4.6m S-arc, 5m Peel, 4.2m , 6.4, 8.5 C-Quads
Rides: Flexi / P.L. Frankin'Buggy , 170 switch board, Shaped + straight skiis, Technica + Coyote blades. Core 95 ATB. Skorpian Skates.
Skatewing
KC96 NAPKA - Going Chapter 11 can be fun
Ripsession Kiteboarding Shop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy-YyFVDAJU |
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flyboy15
Posts: 264
Registered: 9-30-2008
Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota
Member Is Offline
Mood: wishing I had more time to kite.
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| posted on 6-2-2010 at 06:45 AM |
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wow that got my stoke on.....
Yea we will have to get together sometime. We threw around the idea of kiting on lake Winnipeg or Manitoba one of these times for a full weekend.
They are both obviously huge. Also the red lakes (if you wanted to meet more in the middle).
Most of us are boarders, and although it did take a long time to get upwind, we still made excellent progress on lake of the woods. We started at the
south-west ramp and upwinded to springsteel where we had lunch and booked it back downwind (35 mph ). Sleds and radios would be our biggest advantage items if we really wanted to stay on the lake for a long time.
We could haul for 10 miles or so to the middle, then drop the sleds, do some freestyle and setup the tents to get warm again. That sounds pretty
sweet
I'll post on the meet up when we are thinking about going places this winter
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flyboy15
Posts: 264
Registered: 9-30-2008
Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota
Member Is Offline
Mood: wishing I had more time to kite.
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| posted on 6-2-2010 at 06:51 AM |
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Road Flare... nice
Also! some blinking LED's on a stand or something for night time so a snowmobiler doesn't tear through the tent (and us) and night doing 97mph .
What did you guys use for tent heaters? Food suggestions? Ice Auger?
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rudeboysaude
Posts: 226
Registered: 1-18-2004
Location: Sandstone, MN
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 6-2-2010 at 07:02 AM |
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I just sold my Snowtrekker tent to my buddy because with the little kids, I couldn't see getting much use out of it with the family or I'd have
little kids with burn marks all over them. Check it out:
It uses a little wood stove and MAN they are nice. Probably the best hot tent money can buy. They pack up small too. It can be -10 outside and 70
degrees inside. Our plan was to kite from Waroad MN to Kenora across LOTW. It was going to probably take us 2 weeks I bet. All those little island
would most likely tear up the wind and trekking would be involved. Plus, you need a border crossing permit. Lots of hoops to jump through and red
tape, but someday we'll do it.
If you bring a sled, you can pack steaks! The cold will keep them chilled. Otherwise standard issue freeze dried goods pack up small and only need
boiling water to cook. I like BACON and recommend it for winter camping. Get your food load up before bed and you'll stay warm buring all that fat.
You can wax your board with the grease... haha, probably not the best idea, but maybe! See if you can get a bear to chase you on your kite following
the bacon grease trail.
If you insist on boards.. Get a split kit and some skins. Saw that board in half. If you're only basecamping from a tent and kiting, then it's not
a big deal, but if your 2 kite days away from your car, and you have no wind to make it back, that could easily be 3-4 days walking and if you're in
snowboards boots, you might as well lay down and die. Or at least be prepared to have a miserable trip back. At least bring the snowshoes. But you
know as well as I do, you can kite in lighter winds on skis then with a board. I prefer a board too, but for long distance travel, skis are just so
much more useful.
Charger- 19 Syn-24,12
V2- 16,13,10 V1- 16,13
B-17,10.5 S630 F12 F16
Twister- 3 Viper- 2.6
Speeds 19,10,5
http://www.mnadventure.com |
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rudeboysaude
Posts: 226
Registered: 1-18-2004
Location: Sandstone, MN
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood.
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| posted on 6-2-2010 at 07:07 AM |
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My buddy has an old blog site from when we started this idea. Originally it was going to be in the BWCA, but it's illegal and we couldn't argue our
way in and didn't want to stir up any problems. In those cases it's best to say.. OK and move on. He talks more about his pulk there and some
other ranting. When BWCA shot us down, he pretty much gave up on it, but there might be something useful in there for you:
http://crossingthewindigo.blogspot.com/
Charger- 19 Syn-24,12
V2- 16,13,10 V1- 16,13
B-17,10.5 S630 F12 F16
Twister- 3 Viper- 2.6
Speeds 19,10,5
http://www.mnadventure.com |
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flyboy15
Posts: 264
Registered: 9-30-2008
Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota
Member Is Offline
Mood: wishing I had more time to kite.
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| posted on 6-2-2010 at 07:34 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally posted by rudeboysaude
Our plan was to kite from Waroad MN to Kenora across LOTW. |
 Holy.....
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stetson05
Posts: 651
Registered: 3-15-2008
Location: Pasco, Washington
Member Is Offline
Mood: wanted: wind please
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| posted on 6-2-2010 at 11:22 PM |
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Flare is a good idea. I would get the ground and gun kind too. They sell them at walmart. I bought a SPOT for hunting and I think it might be a good
idea. Works to communicate with home too and can be used to track your progress. I send a message a couple of times a day and my wife knows I am ok
and has an accurate last known location. Of course you can send an emergency message too. I think it would be amazing to do a trip like that.
How well would a solar charger work on batteries at that temp.
When talking about radios I use the garmin rino series. Sends your location to your buddy. My bro in law was hunting with a friend and they got
seperated. He drove up and down the back roads until he got a response. the gps led his friend straight to him.
US40
HQ 1.4m which my 5 and 8 year old fly
Pansh Legend 3m, Blaze 5m
HQ Hydra 300 PZ depower mod, Neo 11m
Flysurfer S1.5 17m
PL V2 10m
Homemade Buggy, Radbuggy
DaKine Speed Seat
SIMS snowboard, MBS Core 90, 95
Crazy Fly 145
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Hardrock
Posts: 875
Registered: 6-12-2008
Location: Upstate, SC
Member Is Offline
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| posted on 6-3-2010 at 01:00 AM |
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Gona need this. It even fits a Reese Hitch. On sale now at Northern Tool.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200308541_200308541?
check out the other pics.
PL V19m, P15m, V13m
Ace 7M (FOR SALE) 130.00 plus ship. RTF
Ace 5M
Beamer 5m, 3m
Hydra 350
P3 and a few smaller kites
Flexifoil Buggy, E-Trex Legend
LF Proof 151,,,GI Flight93 ATB
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flyboy15
Posts: 264
Registered: 9-30-2008
Location: Grand Forks, North Dakota
Member Is Offline
Mood: wishing I had more time to kite.
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| posted on 6-3-2010 at 09:27 AM |
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You guys kill me lol.... Didn't even think about it though... Will add TP and some handwarmers for the after effects
But man for real Kenora is so so so so far..... Like holy damn! It isn't impossible, just so much more than i was expecting.
Do you guys know about the yogaslackers team?
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indigo_wolf
Posts: 1699
Registered: 12-25-2008
Location: MA
Member Is Offline
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| posted on 6-3-2010 at 09:37 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally posted Hardrock
Gona need this. It even fits a Reese Hitch. On sale now at Northern Tool.
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"Not for use when vehicle is in motion."
I just love disclaimers.... truly.
The Top Gear boys used this on there Arctic trip (episode actually had some snowkiting in it) and Clarkson started to slowly drive away while May was
using it.
ATB,
Sam
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