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3 gadgets came in handy on my multi-day canoe trip – but there was one more I wish I'd brought
TechRadar's Wellness Week is all about using tech deliberately instead of mindlessly, empowering us to experience life to the full instead of getting sucked into our phones and computers.
Coincidentally, a friend's recent bachelor party took the form of a multi-day canoe trip along a scenic river. From our start point, we canoed 10 miles following a (paper) map to a local campsite, setting off again to our end point the following day.
This is exactly the kind of offline experience I was craving, and a perfect example of what Wellness Week is all about. Of course, despite canoeing being a distinctly analog activity, we took a little bit of technology along to make the going easier.
Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2)
Overkill? Almost certainly. Do I care? Absolutely not. The Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2) is a beast of an adventure watch, a 4.5-star marvel, one of the best Garmin watches available and absolutely proved useful on our trip.
Admittedly, I didn't need most of its extensive list of features, but the on-device GPX map of the area, combined with the compass feature, allowed me to cross-reference our location with the paper map, even when signal was hampered or I didn't want to dive into our waterproof storage barrel for my phone. This helped ensure our boat didn't miss our lunch stop, overshoot the campsite or miss our finishing point.
In addition, during the night, I was conscious not to overuse my phone after dark, as the flashlight sucks a lot of battery and I wasn't getting back to the car until the following evening. The Epix Pro Gen 2 packs a powerful LED flashlight and up to 16 days of battery life, which I used to hunt around for the bathroom and clear up the debris from our barbecue dinner.
Power bank
If you rely on your phone for communication, you should never stray far without a power bank – especially in the wilderness. Our best power bank buying guide has a comprehensive list of top-of-the-range devices, but mine was a simple and likely cheap device with multiple cable attachments – similar to this one from UK store The Range – that I received in a goody bag from an industry event.
With smart use of my phone – not relying on the torch at night, turning it off while it was in the storage barrel, and topping it up on the second day – I saved loads of battery in case of any kind of emergency that (thankfully) never arrived, and lent my power bank around to friends in need. It's always good to be prepared.
Speaker
During several points in the canoe trip, when we hit the deepest, slowest parts of the river, we ran the boats ran alongside each other and linked them with ropes. The "mega raft", as we called it, drifted lazily downstream as we tossed snacks and cans between the boats, generally having a grand old time. The piece de resistance? Some tunes, via a portable Bluetooth speaker.
I tend to pack my old Bose Soundlink Micro for these sorts of events, but if I had a do-over, I'd go for something a little bit more robust and powerful.
Pure Audio (which, coincidentally, is our sponsor for Wellness Week) does a nice line in Woodland outdoor speakers, including one that doubles as an LED lamp. That sort of two-in-one functionality would have been ideal for the camping too.
What I didn't take...
A proper camera. The river and its banks were bursting with wildlife, from blink-and-you'll-miss-it flybys from kingfishers, to buzzards in the sky and deer on the banks. We had our eyes peeled for otters, but never saw one. Round one memorable bend, a small herd of cows allowed to roam free by the farmer were grazing on the riverbank, and several were washing themselves in the river, forcing us to row nervously within a couple of feet of them.
With my phone in the waterproof storage bin, I wished I had my trusty Canon Powershot around my neck to capture all the fauna. So you don't make the same mistake, our cameras editor Tim Coleman has recommended the perfect camera system he takes into the great outdoors when hiking.
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