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Gear guide · The whole kit

Everything I carry

Everything I carry, and why. One body and a second that is always on me, the long lens the bear photographs were made with, the drone for the aerial perspective, and the gimbal, bags, drives, light and power. The rules of the places I go chose a lot of it: no tripods on the skiffs, no carry-on on the floatplane, no outlet after the generator stops.

My own kit, carried on the trips on this site.

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The Sony 200-600 on the A1 resting on the tube of an inflatable skiff, the strait and forested islands ahead

The body

The Fujifilm X100VI held to the eye in both hands, a rust-coloured knitted hat above it, sunlit mountains and sea behind
The X100VI, which is the camera that is always there.

The second camera, always on me

One fixed lens, one pocket, and it comes everywhere the A1 does not.

The author seated in a skiff in a red cap and life jacket, the Sony A1 and white 200-600 raised to his eye, forested hills across green water
The 200-600 from a skiff seat. No tripod, no rail, elbows in.

The long end, which is the point

Bears, whales, birds: everything worth this lens is far, and the rules keep it that way. The photographs are better for it.

The iShoot Arca-Swiss replacement foot fitted to the collar of the white Sony 200-600, its locking knob and dovetail plate visible
The iShoot foot on the collar. Arca dovetail built in.
The front element of the Sony 200-600 with a K&F Concept 95mm UV filter threaded on
The 95mm K&F UV, which meets the rain first.
The padded JJC lens pouch for the 200-600 standing open on a wooden floor beside the black Sony lens hood bag
The JJC pouch the lens flies in, beside the Sony hood bag.
Grizzly bear sitting upright in tall estuary grass, scanning its surroundings in low afternoon light
Knight Inlet, on the 200-600. This is the distance the rules keep, and the lens closes it.

The short lenses

Small, fast, and between them they cover everything that is not a bear: the lodge, the dock, the people, the dinners, and the sky at night.

Filters

Green aurora over the snow-covered lodge and surrounding ridges at night
Purcell Mountain Lodge, stars and aurora, on the Sony 14mm f/1.8 GM.
DJI Mini 3 Pro kit laid out on a wooden floor: the folded drone, the RC controller with screen, three batteries in their charging hub, a case of ND filters, spare propellers in a bag, and a black shoulder bag
The whole drone kit. It fits in the small bag on the right, which is the point of a sub-250 g drone.

From the air, with permission

The aerials on this site come from a sub-250 g drone. Read the rule below before you pack one; at most places the answer is no.

Aerial view of Orca Camp on the forested shoreline of Johnstone Strait
Orca Camp from the air, flown with permission.

Holding it steady

Some places do not allow tripods at all; Knight Inlet bans them in the skiffs and on the stands. So this section starts with the gimbal, and the tripods are for the places that allow one.

Carrying it

The ALLPOWERS 600W folding solar panel unfolded on gravel in a sunlit clearing, with an RV parked among the trees behind
The 600W panel out in a clearing, feeding the F2000 in the van.

Monitor and power

At most lodges the power stops when the generator does. The evening charge has to be quick and cover everything at once.

Light

For the rooms and the dining tables, when the window is not enough.

Sound

Computers, cards and drives

Three copies of everything before a card is formatted: two SSDs and one spinning drive, in different bags.

On the road

Most of these places start with a long drive to a dock. The van does the first round of charging.

What I wear

Always in the bag, whatever the trip. The coast is wet, the water is cold, and most of these places have a sauna or a tub and a beach to walk into after it.

Guests in the wood-fired hot tub at sunset on the bluff above the beach
Orca Camp at sunset. The tub is why the swim shorts are on the list.

Safety and signal

The iPhone 14 Pro has emergency satellite messaging built in, which covers the worst case. These cover the rest, and the small things that go wrong before it.

Not in the bag yet

Two things I want and have not bought. Listed so you know the difference between what I carry and what I covet.

The rules that chose the kit

Read before you pack

Tripods: ask first
Knight Inlet does not allow tripods in the skiffs or on the viewing stands, and it is not alone. A beanbag on the rail, a monopod, or your elbows. Plan the lens weight around that.
The flight in has a weight limit
Floatplanes and helicopters both weigh your bag, and on a floatplane Transport Canada rules mean nothing on your person beyond what fits the seat pocket. The camera and the long lens fly in the duffel, inside the limit. That is where a second long lens loses to the first.
Drones: assume no
Most lodges will not allow drones at all, and Knight Inlet prohibits them during the season under its environmental management plan. I flew with special permission, for the lodge, under a Transport Canada Advanced Operations certificate and with commercial liability insurance, and stayed well clear of any wildlife. If you do not have that permission in writing, leave it at home.

Where it was carried

The trip behind it