Thank you guys for all your inputs! I have a very long list written up that may need to be shortened! If the iodine taste bad...will the tang or lemonade powerder freshen it up well? This is my first time...and all I can think of is...the show survivor! hahaha. I'm bringing 2 sets of shoes for sure. Do you guys bring soaps and use them in the water? We'll be renting 45lb kevlar canoes...so weight won't really be a problem. I'm just worried about food...if I'm going to have enough. I'll make more trailmix for emergencies. There aren't any dangerous snakes there right? In California...we had to watchout for rattle snakes. Again..thanks for the input guys! Feel free to let me know if I need anything else. And I'm only bringing a big Rambo knife! No firearm.....I don't even own any!

You be better off with a hatchet than Rambo Knife. What would you use it for? A small saw is also handy.

No snakes. 40 below seems to keep them down. I've been drinking the lake water for 20 years and haven't got sick one time. Just get it away from shore, swamps, and beaver lodges.

There are many suitable food items for sale in grocery store. Mac and cheese, rice a roni, no refrigeration sausage, cheese, etc. Eggs keep for a week. Bagels and Tortillas are also good, and keep well.

bagels, tortillas, and pita bread are great!! don't use loaf bread it gets smooshed. Do not bath in the lake the soap is bad for the water. The forest service will tell you to bath about 150 feet from shore. A saw will be better then a hatchet, when I outfitted we never gave out hatchets unless requested. You can only cut dead or down wood.

Do not cut live trees, or peel bark from birch trees. The birch trees are starting to get whipped out by a bug, they don't need any help dying off from people using their bark for fire starter.

another note, I would filter the water this year. With the water being so high this year it is picking up alot of [PoorWordUsage] from shore. You maybe Ok just drinking right from the lake, just as you could eat raw hamburger. ITS NOT WORTH THE RISK!!!

Premix country time takes the bad flavor out of the treated water. You can drink from the lakes but take the treatment pills also so you have an option. Roll of duct tape is always handy. For fishing gear I bring a couple of rapala's a spoon or two, a couple of slip bobbers and a handful of jigs. Pack leeches if you want they last pretty good or try berkley power baits. They work well also. I prefer small camp saw over a hatchet. Plenty of prepackaged foods in the grocery store that go real good with fresh fried fish.

You've hit the nail on the head - one of the hardest things is figuring out which optional items to bring or not to bring. Weight and space (and your energy) are your only limitations!

Agree with delcecchi there is no need for the Rambo knife - a filet knife and maybe pocket knife would be adequate. A multitool (Leatherman) is actually a good option - I use it as a hook remover as well as a knife.

Here is what I have on my list as optional - sometimes I bring these, sometimes not:

CAMERA
STOVE(s)
Stove GAS
WATER FILTER
SCALE
LEECH CONTAINER
LEECHES
NIGHTCRAWLERS
CISCOES
DISH TOWEL
PLYWOOD-1/8 IN.
COOLER
PAPER TOWELS
PAPER
RADIO
LANDING NET
BINOCULARS
CARDS
SPONGE
Barometer
GLOVES
FANNY PACK
TOWEL-LIGHTWEIGHT
VITAMINS

Other optional items I don't bring but some people do:
Hatchet
axe
Saw
Chairs
Extra paddle
Booze
Collapsible water container
solar shower
canoe seat backs
snorkeling gear
ice
weather radio
gps
etc.

Just don't bring all of the above items or you will be sorry after having to carry it all!

Katman, I was wondering if you were going to leave the hegman lakes, or were you going to base camp at hegman? The portage into hegman is only 80 rods and it is not very far to the camp sites so you could make numerous trips to the car. If you are planning on going out through angleworm the portage is 460 rods, that is about a mile and a half then I would pack as light as possible.

Hmm....how about those saw wires? Are those any good? I'm bringing powder mix for the water for sure....and pills too!

I'm not sure.....this will be my first time. From the invoice...we got 20' wenonah kevlar canoes, camp chairs, transport to/from #77, and permit for hegman. I'm guessing thats where we'll start. I'm the noobie...so I have no idea where we're going. The other guys know where we're going. I'm just another peon to carry the canoes on the portages!

oh...one more thing...when you get water from the middle of the lake....if you hold it up to the sun, will you see things in teh water? Just wondering if it was normal to see a few specks of anything in the water....

I tried one of those wires on a five inch tree and it got hot and snap in two. Get a folding saw like a gerber I think there under 20 bucks.

Tang works good for the flavor of the water.

The water in hegman is stained but it will taste fine.

When I went skiing up there this winter the campsite closest to the portage between north and south hegman had a ton off cut and split birch, worth a check anyways never know some still maybe there.

If you can find room for it, nothing beats a cheap bow saw. I'm a fan of the 30"ers, and we usually bring two, stacked together, two doesn't take up much more room than one.

Thats why I like filtering better. If you are using an outfitter they can hook you up with one for a small fee.

I prefer aquamira water treatment, it won't kill giardia, but it does clear up stained water and does not taste bad. It is fast, only 20 minutes untill it is ready to drink, and easy. 7 drops of each solution, let sit for 5 minutes, into a liter of water for 15 minutes, bam its ready.


Also you will want a liter bottle of some sort, pop bottles work but can get punchured. Other wise they make a couple different brands of nicer heavy duty water bottles.

We went on hegman-angleworm route last year and had a great time. If you get on gull lake in that route the walleyes were abundant there.

Good luck and have fun!!!

Yeah there's stuff in the water, but I never have been squeamish, and its never given me a problem.


As far as food goes, my uncle used to work for Outward Bound in Ely so he's got a system down pat...

breakfast is usually granola (you can use powdered milk or whatnot, i've just started using water, its easier and after a couple days on trail it really makes no difference to me). Usually throw in one pancake breakfast.


Lunches are apples, cheese (sharp cheddar will keep for up to 3 or 4 weeks, especially in June... it'll get a little soft and oils will separate but its still good). Summer sausage and crackers round out that meal


Dinners usually are mac+cheese, chili (can find some decent dehydrated stuff), fish (though don't always want to count on a large portion of fish meals!). We like to take rice and cornbread, they go well with most things.

I like this system because its decent food but doesn't take up much space. I've never used freeze-dried food, but I have cooked up batches of chili and used a food dehydrator to dry it out. Works like a charm.



I'd say a knife and saw are essential survival gear, you may not need to use them but if anything bad happens, you'll be glad that you have them. I just carry a swiss army knife with a saw on it, it works pretty well.