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Hi James. Thanks for your comments! Very much appreciated. We didn't release a video on equipment although we did try to capture a few gear discussions along the trip. I have though put a lot of this information into an extensive gear discussion web page. You can check it out at: markoates.exposure.co/aawt-winter-gear It includes a full equipment list with weights at the end of the page. A couple of years later I also did a 60 minute online gear discussion about our equipment choices for the 2020 Victorian Backcountry Festival. Apparently it got recorded (it was a Zoom webinar) but I am unsure of where it can be found online. All the best for your own adventures!

@@MarkOates Thankyou so much for your reply! You’re very welcome mate, you and Andy are a true inspiration, we’re all very lucky to have your footage to refer to! I just looked up that article on your website, that is a MONSTER effort from your end to put that together, a tremendous amount of genuine in depth info and data there on every piece of kit! As a guy who also values the 0.1%ers, I love the extent you and your brother have gone and the decision making process of every single bit of kit. Thankyou so much, hard to find this stuff these days! Thanks again and keep up the great work! James

Great idea Tony! Look forward to it.

We have been using the HMG Porter packs for the past 9 years (I think). They have generally been excellent although can get uncomfortable when we combine canyoning and packrafting gear for cold environments due to the large weight we are carrying. They are not as waterproof as they make out but they have handled pretty tough Tassie scrub well. That said sockdolagerequipment.com is going to be the next pack that I try (I believe it will be released soonish) as they have a more advanced harness system that should handle the extra weight better. I haven't tried one of these yet but am hoping to soon.

@@MarkOates cool, I didn't know he was releasing a bag. I've been using his bow bag for a while and really love it. Thanks mate!

Thanks @ronactive

:) I love that you can cruise down backwards through large whitewater without a worry at all. That takes skill and balance! Well done Rolf, was awesome to paddle with you again!

Thanks @ronti2492 Unfortunately he passed about 9 months after this video. That was a big loss in our lives. We now have an almost 7-year old chocolate border collie though who is awesome too. She is not as adventurous as Hamlet though and is not fully convinced about whitewater or the snow :)

@@MarkOates Hi Mark! You replied! Thankyou and just wanted to say I do very much enjoy your videos, mainly the older ones. I put up your classic 2018 Alpine Walking track trip videos from time to time, as well as the stunning winter ones from Tassie. I won't say I am 'homesick' but your videos remind me of good times now 30 years ago, when I walked and XC skiied extensively in SE Vic, NSW, as well as annual walking trips in Tasmania. I now live more or less permanently in Poland (although we still rent out our house in Hobart)...not sure if I will return anytime soon, but...hey, just wanted to touchbase. Keep well , both of you ( or should I write 3 of you including your collie) and I trust your ambo brother is well too! Go well!

When you say "kick", do you mean drive the opposite foot into the footrest? Or upward motion of the opposite knee? Or something else? Thanks!

Really appreciate your comment. More to come. Just got back from filming our local (Tasmania) extreme race. Low water but some great footage of kayakers (& packrafters) paddling some decent drops in a pairs race. Cheers

Thanks @joshuaresta. I’ve always liked sliders and panning with a BoomBandit but was amazed at how well the boom pole worked with the new GoPros.

@JoshuaResta gotta love styling it backwards😍

Many thanks! Greetings from Australia 🇦🇺

It is a whitewater self-bailer. Such boats are designed so that you sit on an inflatable floor above the water and the vast majority of the water drains away through holes in the floor. Although you may get wetter (& colder in some environments) I wont be going back to a decked boat. Self-bailers (if built well) have so many advantages!

@@MarkOates i just purchased a kokopelli recon self Bailer. I was deciding between that and an aire outfitter 2.

Hi Scott. Yes it is. It is actually Kokopelli's 2019 advanced whitewater prototype and is not a Nirvana at all (despite the labelling). I think at the time Kokopelli was considering calling it the 'Nirvana Pro'. Both Dan and I are fortunate to have each had one since mid 2019. They are awesome to paddle and we both love ours. As you might be able to tell they are quite narrow and hence tippy but this makes for super quick edge to edge transitions and assists in carving. They also boof better than any other packraft I have tried and are quite fast. It is more like the 2017 Nirvana self-bailer but faster and is nothing like the 2018 and later Nirvana's or the Recon, etc which have minimal rocker and are very rectangular. This prototype rides over seams, boils, holes and drops amazingly well. They are currently in the process of further testing additional prototypes based on this model so hopefully next year we will see something similar available for purchase.

It is a Hyperlite Mountain Gear Ultamid 4 pyramid tent. It is a great tent despite not being a true 4-season tent. You do need to be careful of strong winds but it handles snowdumps well. I love it for the amount of space and volume it provides at such a small weight and package.

My main job is as an outdoor education teacher at a school in Hobart. There I work mostly with teenage boys. Although I run whitewater paddling courses on weekends and in holidays for adults (through Paddle Tasmania) I do not run any winter skills trips for adults unfortunately.

Visited your Web page. It's perfect for me, kinda over the top in detail which is perfect if your mad enough to venture into the white stuff. Legend bro

Many thanks Pete! Appreciate the comment and the wishes. Hope you also have a great birthday this July. Currently at Cradle Mountain & enjoying the mountain air here. All the best for your own adventures!

Sorry but I do not have any unused packrafts or spare ones.

Thanks James. Planting the final stroke on the downstream side does make for super quick eddy turns. Partly it helps initiate the turn but perhaps even more importantly it allows the last decent stroke to be in fast green water and from this you can gain a lot of power. This power can be used to lift the bow up and over the eddy line / eddy zone and really drive the boat into the eddy. In spots where the water drops quickly beside a rock you can use a boof stroke (simply a more dynamic stroke with full body commitment) to drive the packraft up and almost over the rock whilst getting a lot of power out of the stroke. You then initiate a fast edge change and plant strokes on the inside of the turn. In micro eddies you need to plant that inside stroke right in the sweet spot of the eddy. The boat should then snap around this stroke. Sticking to the inside for additional strokes then maintains the edge and allows you to carve back out again. If you go for a stroke on the outside the boat will flatten and be more inclined to spin and/or drift rather than carve forward towards the top of the eddy or exit point.

Not at all. Achievable in most packrafts with thigh straps but certainly better in some. I briefly saw your post on Packrafting Revolution about catching mid-stream eddys but didn’t reply as someone else suggested edging. A Wolverine can edge like this but it’s shape (when edged) produces a bit less carve. Edging is the real solution to your question on FB however you can also ferry glide into mid stream eddy’s in order to catch them. Much less dynamic and less powerful but works well for some mid-stream eddys.

@@MarkOates I didn't mean to say that you can't edge with other packrafts, more that the achieving the level of edging in this video, holding it, and carving a u-turn at such an extreme angle without tipping seems difficult without a curved floor. I've paddled with someone named Chris Barnard who has the same generation of Kokopelli and I can't really edge like he can (in my self bailing classic with diy 4 point aire straps) without putting myself at risk of suddenly tipping, but maybe its more of a skill issue and not committing? I'm going to experiment with ferry gliding for really tiny eddies where the width of the eddy is far less than the length of my packraft.

@@JustinBaker2567 Sorry Justin but I've been sea kayaking. Balancing on edge in a Classic is definitely tricky and does take skill and commitment. It is slightly easier at speed (similar to riding a bike) but they definitely do not have good secondary stability. I am away lots the next week or two but if you wanted to send me a video of you trying to attain a small mid-stream eddy I am happy to make some comments as to what might be occurring (both good and bad) and why it might not be working well for you. All the best, Mark

Yes, there will always be a small amount of water in the bottom of a SB. The inflatable seat should generally keep you above the water line, but you'll probably get a little wet. Based on the research I've done, not from personal experience, yet (boats on order).

Thanks. Greetings back. Love Norway!! :)

I see a lot of packrafters who roll consistently (like Jeremy) finishing very much on the back deck. Personally my kayak roll sees me finishing really early and on the front deck however this style does not work as well in a packraft which is much slower to roll. I actually finish with a short sweep forward at the end of my paddle/arm motion to finish off. Occasionally I’ll resort to a Pawlatta roll in really aerated water in order to achieve a longer sweep. Good luck with it!