“It was fantastic to have the use of the Quasar jacket as it’s super light and weight was critical on this trip. If the weather had really turned on us and we’d had cold days on the river, wearing this at the end of the day would have been essential. I also used this jacket to boost my meagre excuse for a sleeping bag!”

“Once I aligned the mouldable shank with my back along the inside of the pack, it was a comfortable fit. Nice and light with a single sack as the main compartment and enough space in the lid pocket for more accessible items. The exterior pockets were extremely useful, perhaps the front exterior pocket could use the same stretchy material as the side exterior pockets to allow the user to stuff more items in easily. Side compression straps helped with making pack more streamlined with small loads.”

“I didn’t get to wear it all that much because it was so dammed hot but a couple of chilly afternoons on the trail and river I was cocooned in the warmth of its incredibly thin material. The Upper Waiau was 8km of nearly continuous whitewater but I still had dry spots on my layers underneath which is a great testament to any shell. Finally its svelte 246 grams took up barely any space when not being worn. This jacket will see a heap of missions yet.”

“This jacket provided me with all I needed; packed down extremely small, very light, good hood and pocket layout. The pit zips and hood tension bungees provided more comfort allowing airflow and snugness! ”

“This 4 piece split paddle was awesome! The patented system for adjusting the feather angle was extremely easy to use, was compact enough to fit along my handle harness and the plastic blades might be a touch heavier than other materials but allowed for flexion when compressing down in the handle bar harness. ”

“The accent paddle surprised me with its strength, the blades while flexible were powerful in the water and not susceptible to damage being carried on the bike.  The shaft was grippy and the spigots made the joins tight.  The coolest feature was the joiners a unique design that looks cumbersome but is actually really practical making it easier for quicker transitions with tired hands.”

“The requirement for an ultra lightweight river shoe was filled when Chris from Kayak HQ suggested the Astral Brewer. Incredibly light, self-draining. I found them best with bare feet but if you want to wear socks go for it.  ”

“I found the Astral Brewer river shoes invaluable on training trips and the main film expedition. They gave great foot protection while in the pack rafts but also excellent grip on the river rocks while scoping out rapids before running them. While on the bike packer sections they compressed and stored well on my Stealth Packhorse seat bag. ”

“Extremely light, comfortable and adjusts down well around torso. Two handy little pockets on the front for holding snack bars and lip balm. Even has an attachment point for a knife....or in our expedition, a spoon!”

“Astral buoyancy aids are by far some of the most engineered river gear ever created and the YTV is no exception. Minimal but snug fitting, heaps of buoyancy, and 2 compact pockets make this garment a good choice for packrafting due to its compact size.”

“I was Impressed by the size and weight of the Astral YTV PFD. We had some pretty big days 8 to 9 hours paddling on the Clarence river and no issues. The zip pockets were crucial for me to keep food in for the day. Been able to carry the PFD’s on our bike or packs was critical on this trip and the minimal size really helped strapping to bike packing gear. ”

“I had very limited experience in packrafts before commencing training for this expedition but given how stable and manoeuvrable the alpaca boats are, anybody could become proficient with only a limited amount of paddling experience. I was anxious about the ability of the packraft to carry a bike while still being able to negotiate solid grade 3 white water. It only took a couple of swift flowing, boulder choked kilometres to reassure me that these boats are totally capable”

“Below is my Denali Lama pack raft which I used in the film trip. This is a self-bailing pack raft; it has holes in the floor of the raft, which lets out the water when it comes over the sides. The real benefits of self-bailing pack raft are in higher grade white water (grade 3) where white water is coming over the top of the raft regularly. This raft also has a number of white water accessories, whitewater foot brace, upgraded backband and padded seat, thigh straps kit which definitely helps me feel more secure having a bike frame on board and to assist with navigation through white water river features. ”