The best days on the Avon are decided in the driveway, not on the water. Twenty minutes with a proper list beats an hour of improvising from the boot of the car, and the paddlers who look relaxed at the put-in are almost always the ones who packed the night before.
Which Avon you're on matters a little — the Warwickshire Avon with its locks and weirs, the Bristol Avon below Bath, or one of the smaller namesakes — but the short list of things that should be aboard before the first stroke barely changes. Here are fifteen of them, grouped so you can pack in a single pass.
Safety kit: five things that should always be aboard
A buoyancy aid that lives in the bottom of the boat is a cushion. Put it on and fit it properly: zip it up, tighten the waist strap until it's snug, then take up the shoulder straps. Pick it up by the shoulders — if it slides up over your head, it's too loose and it will ride up the moment you hit cold water.
A throw line belongs clipped where you can reach it with one hand, not buried under the lunch bag. Fifteen to twenty metres in a bag is plenty for the Avon's widths.
In an open canoe or a sit-on-top, carry a bailer or a small bilge pump plus a sponge. Water arrives from paddle drips, from feet, and from the occasional wave over the bow on an exposed reach near a weir pool.
A whistle on a cord and a small waterproof torch cover the two situations where your voice isn't enough — a windy bend, or a late return when the light goes early.
Keep the first aid kit small enough that you actually carry it: tape, gauze, blister plasters, tweezers, a foil blanket, and any medication you personally need. For anything beyond bumps and blisters, ask a pharmacist or GP rather than improvising from the bank.
- A correctly fitted buoyancy aid — worn, not stowed
- A throw line in a bag, clipped within reach
- A bailer, bilge pump and sponge for open boats
- A whistle and a waterproof torch
- A compact first aid kit with a foil blanket
Dress for the water, not the car park
Air temperature lies in spring. River water warms far more slowly than the air above it, so a mild afternoon can sit on top of water still cold enough to snatch your breath away if you go in. Dress for the swim you don't intend to take.
Start with a base layer that wicks — polyester, merino, any proper sports fabric — and leave the cotton T-shirt at home. Cotton soaks, stays wet, and pulls heat out of you for the rest of the day. Add a fleece or wool mid layer, then a windproof and waterproof shell. On the Avon, more trips are spoiled by wind and drizzle than by dramatic weather.
Footwear matters more than most people expect. Old sandals give no protection against glass or gravel; wellington boots fill with water and become anchors if you swim. Wear something that stays on your foot and drains, and pack spare socks in a dry bag. A warm hat costs almost nothing in space and rescues a cold, grey afternoon.
- Quick-drying base layer and a warm mid layer
- A windproof, waterproof shell
- Footwear that stays on and drains — no wellies
- Spare socks and a warm hat in a dry bag
Weather and water conditions: three things to bring
Check the forecast for the whole length of your route and for the hours you'll be out, not just for the put-in. Rain falling twenty miles upstream can reach you well into the afternoon, and river levels tend to rise after the sky has already cleared.
Bring printed notes. Phone batteries die, signal comes and goes along wooded banks, and knowing your next access point before you need it turns a long day into a manageable one.
Sun is the sneaky one on the water. A river reflects a good deal of light back at you, so a hat, sunglasses and decent sunscreen do more work than they would on a walk. A light waterproof takes up no room and settles the question of whether to launch.
- Printed route notes and access points, in a dry bag
- A phone in a waterproof pouch, with a battery top-up if you use it for photos
- Sun and rain protection — hat, sunglasses, cream, packable shell
Boat kit and spares: three items that save a trip
A spare paddle is dead weight you will resent on every portage — until the day a blade cracks a mile from the car. If space is tight, a split paddle stows inside the hull and disappears until you need it.
Your repair kit can be tiny: a roll of strong tape, a few cable ties, a multi-tool, and a couple of metres of cord. Tape will hold a split blade, a cracked seat or a weeping seam together long enough to get you home, and cord fixes more things than anyone expects.
One dry bag for keys, phone, wallet and the car key, clipped to the boat. Keys in an open pocket end up at the bottom of the Avon, usually in the deepest, coldest part of the weir pool you just paddled through.
- A spare or split paddle
- A repair kit — tape, cable ties, multi-tool, cord
- A dry bag for valuables, clipped in
The five-minute pre-launch check
Before you lift the boat off the roof, run this once. It takes five minutes and it catches nearly everything that goes wrong on the water.
- Buoyancy aid on and properly adjusted before you touch the boat.
- Confirm your exit point and the time you expect to be there.
- Tell someone at home: where you're launching, where you're finishing, and when to start worrying.
- Everything loose is in a dry bag or tied in — nothing valuable in an open pocket.
- Look at the water one more time. Is the level where you expected it to be?
Then push off. The packing is done, the boat is loaded the way you want it, and the river is the only thing left to think about.
Photo: ThuyHaBich / Pixabay
