Hullbag for Expedition

[Kettenkoeter]

What Deck/Hullbags do you use for your Expedition if you are travelling long distances ?
If anyone has some pictures, that would be great !

Greetz
Jan

[PJohanson]

I used a big drybag inside, behind the seat. A smaller drybag, 15 litre size, went inside the front, in front of my feet. After I took the kayak out of its zipper bag, I pressed the bag flat and rolled it up as small as possible, then bungee-d it to the back deck. Another time I managed to slip the rolled zipper bag inside the back. I don't like stuff on my deck, but the zipper bag is light enough not to throw off my balance

[Kettenkoeter]

Well, sounds pretty good but my problem is that there is no space left in front of my feet.
A read a lot about putting stuff into the front but it wont work me.
Thats why i consider to put my gear on top.

PS: I always imagine the "frontpacker" this way

[PJohanson]

Your sketch isn't all that in-accurate Two of my friends are 6'4" and 6'3", and in my Expedition they don't use the footbar. Both ride with bent knees pushing up the front deck -- and their toes push up the front deck, too. Size thirteen shoes, size thirteen and a half. For most people, it's the size of your femur that determines whether a kayak cockpit is a good fit for you; for guys with long legs and feet the shoe size can be a factor.
I'd guess that someone with size fourteen shoes would be more comfortable for kayak camping in an AE Convertible.

On the other hand, I am 5'1" and I wear boys' sneakers size 5. I'm comfy in a Lagoon with a 5 litre drybag stuffed in the bow to push my feet against. In my Expedition I set the footbar at its shortest position. And one day when my 6'3" friend joked about my shoes being half the size of his, I put both my feet into one of his sneakers. The joke then was that I now had a new playboat for white water paddling!

There are drybags and deckbags available at REI and MEC stores. I'd suggest you put a 5 litre size bag inside at the bow and see if it does crowd your feet too much. Maybe a waterbag could fit inside between your feet.

The idea is to keep weight inside the boat, and put the heavy things as low as you can. On the deck is where you'll put your pump and the zipper bag. The more weight you have above the deck, the more tippy you'll be. Constant corrections to balance will be tiring. Big objects on the deck will also catch the wind and can affect your steering.

However you pack your kayak, do a safety practise day before you go camping. Pack your boat and take a friend to a safe beach for practise tipping over and getting in. Just how easy is it with all your gear inside and on the deck?

[Kettenkoeter]

Ok, I really should think about a Drybag in the front.
Im 5'11" and my footbar is at the last position but my knees are still pushing against the coaming. I thought about trimming the footbar a few centimeters but now it seems more efficent to use a drybag.

Sorry for my english and thanks for your tips.
Nice to have people around who are really interested

[Sacto]

I am 6'2" and I also have little-to-no room beyond the end of my feet. It's not a big problem because my Expedition is large enough, stable enough and bouyant enough that I can use the deck area (bow and stern) to carry the items I need. I also utilize the space behind the seat. I like kayak camping so I need quite a few pieces of gear, so organization is important. I use a combination of dry bags and drawstring bags.

I have attached my packing guide.

http://postimg.org/image/5hvjcie1j/

[PJohanson]

Now that I've had a chance to use the new deck and cargo bags, I can say they're really nice. The CargoPak fits well behind the seat of my Expedition. The QuickDraw Deck Bag is a nice streamlined deckbag with a waterproof inner bag. That's a good design!

[Kettenkoeter]

Thanks for your answers, i really like the packing guide, so thanks for that.
And nice to hear thete the bags are handy.

Thanks @ all