Primitive Camping & Bushcraft

Primitive Camping by Kayak

Episode Summary

Primitive Camping by Kayak looks at how traveling by water changes the way you plan routes, pack gear, and choose campsites. This episode breaks down why kayaks are practical tools for reaching remote camps and how river travel forces discipline, intentional packing, and smarter camp decisions.

Episode Notes

In this episode of the Primitive Camping and Bushcraft Podcast, Chris Speir breaks down why kayaks are one of the most overlooked tools in primitive camping.

This is not about extreme whitewater or stunt paddling. It is about using waterways the way people always have to move gear, reach remote camps, and think differently about access. Rivers and lakes become highways, and a kayak becomes a working tool rather than a toy.

Chris shares real experience kayak camping on Black Creek in Mississippi and at Shepherd State Park, covering how kayak travel changes the way you plan routes, pack gear, and select campsites. He explains why kayak camping forces discipline, how it reshapes your gear choices, and why dry bags, load balance, and route planning matter.

The episode also connects outdoor skills with stewardship, drawing a parallel between caring for your gear and Paul’s careful transport of resources in the book of Acts. Whether you paddle, hike, or drive in, the lesson is the same. Plan ahead. Secure your load. Carry what serves the mission.

If you are interested in primitive camping, bushcraft, or finding new ways to reach quiet places off the beaten path, this episode will give you a practical framework for kayak based camping without fluff or hype.

Episode Transcription

(upbeat music)

 

Welcome to the Primitive

 

Camping and Bushcraft Podcast.

 

I'm your host, Chris Speir.

 

So here we're gonna talk about gear,

 

red and the kind of stories

 

you only get around a fire.

 

It's all about learning, adapting

 

and keeping your faith strong.

 

So whether you're a seasoned outdoorsman

 

or just looking to unplug and reconnect,

 

you're in the right place.

 

So pull up a chair by the

 

fire and let's get into it.

 

(upbeat music)

 

All right, welcome back to 2026.

 

So I think last year I started back

 

the last week of January.

 

And this year is getting close,

 

but it's not quite as late.

 

But anyway, welcome back

 

to the Primitive Camping

 

and Bushcraft Podcast.

 

And man, let me tell you,

 

I've had a good time over the past month

 

and I have really enjoyed the time off.

 

I took a break and just really relaxed

 

and did some reflecting

 

and all that good stuff.

 

So we got a lot of stuff happening,

 

a lot of stuff's going on.

 

And I got some videos in

 

the works and the group,

 

oh man, the Facebook group is just

 

exploding right now.

 

We went from the week before Christmas,

 

it was 7,200 and something.

 

And now it's 11,500 in

 

just a couple of weeks.

 

I mean, that's crazy.

 

And if you can't tell from the video,

 

I am actually sitting

 

right next to the fire pit

 

getting smoked out and it is very smoky.

 

It's supposed to get cold here in a

 

little while right now.

 

It's a little warm, but yeah,

 

it was a huge boost to the group.

 

And we got a lot of folks in there,

 

a lot of new folks, a lot of new names.

 

We got people that's really

 

joining into the conversation.

 

A lot of stuff is

 

going on, a lot of photos.

 

I got some people getting

 

all disgruntled and leaving,

 

but oh well, that's what it is.

 

It's not for everybody.

 

And if you are

 

looking for a place to come

 

and show your pictures and talk about

 

primitive camping in Bushcraft, come on.

 

Primitive camping in

 

Bushcraft on the Facebook group

 

and go ahead and

 

swing by Amazon right now.

 

Hey, this is coming out February 3rd,

 

the Kindle version or the digital version

 

is coming out February 3rd.

 

The Primitive Camping in Bushcraft book.

 

And that's what this

 

podcast is based off of.

 

That's what the entire

 

Primitive Camping in Bushcraft

 

group on Facebook is based off of.

 

So swing by, pick you up a

 

copy while it's still on sale.

 

And anyway, let's get into today's topic.

 

And I figured that Dave Smith and I,

 

if you follow us on the

 

Primitive Camping group,

 

you'll see Dave is,

 

he's one of the moderator,

 

mentor or admin guys.

 

And he and I go camping a lot.

 

And starting last year, well really,

 

yeah, last year or so,

 

we really started doing

 

a lot of kayak camping.

 

And well, year four last actually.

 

We did some kayak

 

camping, went down Black Creek

 

here in Mississippi and

 

we, in the middle of August,

 

ain't that right, Dave?

 

I think it was August.

 

But he taught me into it

 

against my better judgment.

 

(laughing) Now the truth comes out.

 

Now it was hot and it

 

was a very hot trip,

 

but you know what, we had a blast.

 

We had a real good time.

 

It was very hot, but we

 

got to cool off in the water

 

and we hung some hammocks up.

 

He had his hammock

 

and I had the night cat,

 

night cat lay flat hammock, set it up.

 

And it was just hot,

 

but it was still fun.

 

We still had a blast.

 

And sometimes you can

 

have a good time camping

 

with no purpose.

 

I mean, really, what's the

 

purpose of going camping?

 

Just to go relax and just

 

recharge your batteries.

 

And that's what we did.

 

So this topic really came up naturally

 

because I saw a post about

 

it on our primitive camping

 

and bushcraft group on Facebook,

 

where someone posted a

 

picture of their kayak

 

with their camping gear in the back.

 

And it triggered

 

something in me to go ahead

 

and discuss something like this

 

because not everybody has a kayak,

 

not everybody has a boat, not everybody,

 

not everybody primitive camps the way

 

that we primitive camp

 

or practice as bushcraft,

 

not everybody's the same.

 

And that's what's the

 

beautiful thing about this group

 

that we come together

 

as a bunch of people

 

that know that our

 

skills are not all the same.

 

And, but yet we are all meshed together

 

and people learn, people teach, you know?

 

But I saw a post on Facebook

 

and it really

 

triggered something inside me

 

to do an episode about it on the podcast.

 

And if you're

 

watching the video, you know,

 

you're seeing me sit out and I just,

 

I'm gonna be sitting out in

 

a different location today.

 

I've tried to do something

 

different with the sunlight,

 

but when we get out

 

into the great outdoors,

 

how do you get to where you're going?

 

That is the question.

 

The thing about a kayak is that

 

it changes how you think about access.

 

It changes how you get

 

to where you're going

 

and what you're doing.

 

Most kayaks are not powered.

 

Now, Vibe Kayaks

 

contacted me here for last

 

and sent me two kayaks to do

 

videos on on spare outdoors.

 

And I've been doing videos

 

on them almost every month,

 

as often as I can, as

 

often as I can get out there

 

and trying to do a real

 

good job for them guys

 

to post some videos.

 

And dude, I've had some doozies.

 

I've had some videos

 

that were very boring,

 

but it turned out to be funny

 

because of the stuff that happened.

 

You know, we went down

 

the river, my brother and I,

 

we got down the river, but

 

the river was a little too high

 

and we could not get back up the river.

 

It was, the current was too strong.

 

And I had a pedal, a pedal drive on mine.

 

He had a paddle on the other one.

 

I took out the riot Mako.

 

He took out the shear water and we get up

 

down to where we're going.

 

No problem going down.

 

It was just coming back up the river,

 

which is the hardest part.

 

The hardest part

 

because man, let me tell you,

 

that was a chore.

 

And if you want to work

 

out, that is a workout.

 

We had a, we met an

 

individual that he drug us back

 

to the boat launch.

 

And I think I talked

 

about this last year,

 

whenever we were after

 

it happened, but you know,

 

a kayak actually changes

 

the way you're going to get

 

to where you're going

 

and what you're doing.

 

You have to think it

 

through how you're going to do it.

 

You know, most of the time,

 

if you're going down a river

 

or something like that,

 

you're going to drop it off,

 

go down the river, and then you'll be

 

picked up down there

 

and then come back and get another

 

vehicle or do whatever.

 

And like Dave and I,

 

when we went to Black Creek,

 

we drove to a certain

 

spot, left the vehicle there

 

and then drove 18, 20 miles up and

 

dropped off the kayaks

 

and then came back down.

 

Now, actually one trip was

 

18, the other trip was eight.

 

And I think we did the

 

eight mile trip, but still,

 

we were taking our

 

time fishing and it took,

 

it took two days to do it.

 

So we dropped the boats off.

 

We got in, I mean, we

 

dropped the truck off.

 

We got all the way up

 

there, got in the boats

 

and then went downstream.

 

The water was kind of low on this trip.

 

We had to get out, we had to

 

drag the boats a little bit.

 

And then we got down to the,

 

a place that was good

 

enough for a camping spot.

 

And that is what, you

 

know, the real use of the kayak

 

is really, really

 

comes in because, you know,

 

I have a 12 foot kayak,

 

the sheer water, which is,

 

it's stable and it is, it cuts through

 

the water pretty good,

 

pretty quick.

 

If you're lake fishing,

 

I have the riot kayak,

 

which has a pedal drive.

 

And, you know, we're going

 

to get into some of the other

 

experiences I've had, but

 

it's got the pedal drive

 

and you just pedal that

 

dude around and like a bicycle

 

on the water all day.

 

And you got this little knob

 

down on the right hand side.

 

You turn left, turn right.

 

And man, let me tell

 

you, that thing is cool.

 

That thing is cool.

 

When you get out there on

 

that water and you're just

 

pedaling around, it is

 

cool to be out there.

 

And literally it's cooler

 

on the water than it is.

 

Anywhere else, a lot of

 

people argue with that and say,

 

no, it's hotter on the

 

water, but you know, it's,

 

it's cool on the water, especially

 

towards the evening time

 

the sun starts going down and all the

 

shadows start kicking in.

 

And it is awesome.

 

But the boat that I

 

particularly choose is the riot,

 

the Mako, riot Mako.

 

Dude, I'm telling you,

 

that thing is amazing.

 

It's got enough room to haul all my gear.

 

Anywhere I want has a

 

pedal drive with it.

 

And, you know, I'm not

 

trying to sell anything.

 

I'm just, you know,

 

trying to describe it to you,

 

what I use and the, the extra length is pretty cool

 

because it just cuts through.

 

It's the same length

 

as a flat bottom boat,

 

like a John boat, and it's 14 feet long.

 

It handles the wind a

 

little bit better than the,

 

than the 12 footer.

 

And it is, it is a little bit wider.

 

It's more stable, you know,

 

I don't have to worry about,

 

I could take Ranger, Ranger

 

will jump in the water and swim

 

and he climb into the back of

 

the boat and jump in and out

 

as he pleases, you

 

know, that dog's a nut.

 

So once you start

 

thinking of kayaks as not toys

 

and you start looking

 

at them as a vehicle

 

to get you to where you're

 

going, it changes things.

 

Most people, when they think kayaks,

 

they see these videos of

 

these extreme kayakers in Alaska,

 

like going down waterfalls and, you know,

 

I'm not that brave.

 

I am not that brave to drop a,

 

jump a waterfall in a kayak

 

and, and I'm not going to do it.

 

So it's, it's not that kind of kayaking.

 

And I'm not on that kind

 

of a river whenever I'm,

 

I'm saying I'm going

 

somewhere to go camping

 

or perimeter camping.

 

Some people do it.

 

I'm not that guy.

 

I am not that guy.

 

I'm just going to let

 

everybody know right now.

 

I am not it.

 

So what we enjoy about it

 

and, and Dave and I really enjoy

 

taking our kayaks, going

 

down a river and finding a spot.

 

Now when you're kayaking,

 

it's a little bit different

 

because you have to,

 

you have to really

 

search out a spot to camp

 

because the, depending on the river,

 

depending on where you're at,

 

you got your, your bank,

 

which you could be steep.

 

It could be a steady slope.

 

It could gradually come down.

 

And we have to really

 

search out a spot to camp.

 

Now, I don't know,

 

maybe five or six times

 

we got out of the boat and

 

we'd walk around and look

 

and see if we could find

 

something to, to camp in.

 

And, you know, and that was

 

over all the trips we've been,

 

but it, you still have to search it out.

 

Now, once I do, I usually

 

bring my GPS with me on my phone

 

and I'll mark it.

 

And so we go down and

 

next time we'll come back

 

to the same spot and camp

 

there because if we like it

 

and it's a good camping

 

spot, why reinvent the wheel?

 

You know, that's the way I look at it.

 

You ain't got to keep

 

reinventing everything

 

and keep going back and

 

redoing the same old thing

 

every time whenever

 

you can find a good spot.

 

You know, it has plenty of firewood.

 

You know, has good access to the water

 

so you can make your drinking water.

 

And you just go ahead and go for it.

 

Plenty of trees to hang a hammock.

 

So the, the reason I feel like primitive,

 

that kayaks belong with a primitive

 

camping conversation

 

is because water is and was,

 

and always has been the original highway.

 

You think about it,

 

people will get on rivers

 

and go upstream and

 

downstream do whatever.

 

So before roads,

 

before they have vehicles,

 

before they had trails,

 

people move goods by the water

 

and it was efficient.

 

And dude, we, I

was like,

 

"Oh, I'm gonna go get a water." And we built an entire

 

country off of waterways

 

until the railroad was built.

 

And once the railroad was built,

 

then it was game over for then.

 

But it was quiet.

 

It allowed for heavy

 

loads to travel further

 

and less time and with less strain.

 

So we didn't have to

 

use so many horses or oxen

 

or whatever it is to haul stuff.

 

A kayak lets you bypass obstacles

 

and a lot of these kinds of obstacles

 

could stop

 

backpackers, people that's hiking,

 

you know, going through private land or

 

something like that.

 

You could still, you

 

could still go down a waterway

 

in a kayak, whether it's

 

private land or public land.

 

It doesn't matter as long as it is

 

navigable, you can go.

 

And it doesn't matter the terrain,

 

the steep terrain.

 

Now it does in like

 

places where you got the rapids

 

and stuff like that,

 

because all that is

 

is underwater terrain.

 

You move and you can

 

go straight to places

 

that were beyond reach if you're walking.

 

Now, there's a place on the Black Creek

 

that we love to camp

 

out close to a sandbar.

 

And I've talked about it

 

several times here on the podcast

 

that you get in your kayak, you go down,

 

you pull up to the sandbar,

 

and then there's an embankment,

 

a little bit of an

 

embankment, and you go up that,

 

and then it's all flat

 

and it's all hardwood trees

 

and it's perfectly spaced for hammocks.

 

And it's like, hey, you

 

get out of your kayak,

 

you walk up the hill and it's like,

 

oh, the angels start singing.

 

Oh, there it is, Johnny.

 

So I recently saw

 

someone paddle across the lake

 

and they camped overnight.

 

And that really made

 

me wanna talk about it

 

here on this podcast.

 

And so kayaks, if you

 

own one, if you have one,

 

how do you load it down?

 

Now, this is not

 

gonna apply to everybody.

 

This is a real niche item

 

within a niche category,

 

but kayaks lets you

 

carry more and lets you,

 

you don't have to backpack,

 

it's kind of like a

 

four-wheeler of the water,

 

but it also forces you discipline.

 

Now, whether you have a kayak,

 

whether you don't have a

 

kayak, here is the deal.

 

You load your gear in this kayak

 

and you know it's a one-way

 

trip to where you're going.

 

How are you gonna think about your gear?

 

Is it gonna cause you

 

to rethink what you pack?

 

Is it gonna cause you to

 

really, really deeply think

 

about what you pack with you,

 

what kind of gear you're gonna bring?

 

For me, it really changed

 

my mind about my backpack.

 

I went from a 35, 40

 

liter, 50 liter backpack

 

to a waterproof bag, a

 

waterproof duffel bag.

 

I forget the name brand of this thing,

 

but it's just like that

 

heavy duty rubberized canvas,

 

I guess, that you fold over

 

a couple of times, clip it,

 

and then your stuff is

 

waterproof inside there.

 

Now, I started using that

 

when I get onto the kayak

 

because I don't want all my clothes,

 

and you know, right now being January,

 

with us kayaking here recently,

 

I don't want all my clothes and

 

everything to get wet

 

and not have a change of

 

clothes and have some hypothermia.

 

And so it teaches you how to really pack

 

and consider different things

 

that you're gonna take with you

 

to head out in the great outdoors.

 

Hey, there it is again, Clay.

 

I said the great outdoors.

 

It makes him think of that movie,

 

the great outdoors every time.

 

But he's one of our

 

members of the primitive camp

 

in the Bushcraft group.

 

So, but once you get outside,

 

you get down to where you're going,

 

and you're heading down that river,

 

are you thinking about,

 

is the gear that I

 

brought gonna be sufficient?

 

Or did I screw up and not

 

bring what I really needed?

 

Now, if you've been out into the woods,

 

it doesn't matter if you went kayaking,

 

if you went by a four-wheeler,

 

if you go by a boat,

 

or if you hike in or whatever,

 

most people have their gear down pat

 

to what they're gonna bring

 

and what they're gonna use.

 

But some folks will not know,

 

especially people that are

 

just beginning and starting.

 

And that's what we're all about

 

is the people that's

 

beginning and starting

 

and trying to help

 

people and encourage them

 

that it does not matter.

 

You might make a wrong

 

choice every once in a while,

 

but there's no wrong way to do something.

 

And just encourage them.

 

Now, camping from a kayak

 

changes how you choose your site.

 

You gotta read the land from the water,

 

and a lot of times you can't see that.

 

And so what I was saying a while ago

 

was stopping, getting

 

out, going up the embankment,

 

looking to see, and

 

then get back in the kayak,

 

because you didn't like

 

that one, going on down,

 

and then going and finding something,

 

and then it's starting to get dark,

 

and then you're like, "Oh, I should've

 

went back to the other one."

 

You paddle upstream for a little while,

 

and you're exhausted by

 

the time you get there.

 

So it really makes you think

 

about how you find your camp.

 

You're looking for clean landings.

 

You're looking for gentle slopes.

 

You're looking for the

 

high ground in case it rains

 

and the water comes up.

 

You're looking for trees

 

close enough for shelter,

 

but not overhanging with dead limbs,

 

you know, the Widowmaker

 

thing and stuff like that.

 

Now, that's a whole different discussion.

 

We're gonna do a whole episode on

 

Widowmakers in the future.

 

So you're thinking about wind direction

 

and water rise overnight.

 

Now, a lot of times, if you

 

know there's not a lot of rain

 

or anything coming, the

 

water ain't gonna come up.

 

But you also need to

 

keep it in your mind.

 

In the event that it does,

 

how high is it gonna come up?

 

And you want to go ahead

 

and get your camp set up

 

normally how you normally would.

 

Primitive camping from the

 

water forces you to plan ahead

 

instead of reacting.

 

And that's a lot of

 

people will plan their trip

 

before they get out there.

 

If you go out into the

 

woods without a plan,

 

something's wrong.

 

You need to know at

 

least where you're gonna be,

 

a generalized area, the

 

weather patterns, the temperature,

 

the is it gonna rain

 

in the next four days

 

that I'm gonna be gone, stuff like that.

 

You need to know that.

 

Now, when you're on the water,

 

your gear really does matter.

 

Everything's got to be secured.

 

And this is where I was

 

talking about that backpack.

 

So everything's got to be

 

able to tolerate moisture

 

to a certain degree.

 

And dry bags, dry bags are

 

a huge, huge, huge thing.

 

You're gonna need a dry

 

bag if you're going on.

 

I mean, you don't have

 

to have it, but excuse me.

 

You don't have to have it,

 

but a dry bag really does help.

 

And you're gonna worry about

 

your cutting tools, your fire,

 

your shelter, your metal containers,

 

and whatever kind of cordage or whatnot,

 

your five Cs, I guess.

 

But how you pack it is gonna change

 

because you don't want

 

everything to get all soaking

 

and drenched.

 

Heavy items are gonna

 

stay low and centered.

 

Fire kit and your first aid kit,

 

if you're bringing one to those,

 

I highly recommend

 

bringing a first aid kit with you

 

whenever you go out

 

into the great outdoors.

 

Shelter stays quick to deploy.

 

You got a plan on the weather.

 

You got to know about

 

what the weather's doing.

 

Is it gonna be moving faster?

 

And when you get out in open water,

 

it seems like it is a magnet for bad

 

weather or lightning.

 

Every time I get into the

 

water and it's like a cloud

 

in the sky, there's gonna be

 

lightning striking somewhere.

 

And that goes all the way back

 

to pre-parameter

 

camping and bushcraft days.

 

My fishing days as a 10-8 teenager,

 

me and my buddies would get out there

 

and we would start fishing.

 

And boy, would it start raining.

 

And we'd just say,

 

"Ah, we're gonna catch us

 

"some fishing to rain."

 

And so on, sure enough,

 

the bass would turn on

 

and we would tear them up.

 

And then so would the lightning turn on.

 

You talk about scared.

 

Ain't nothing worse

 

than hiding from lightning

 

underneath the pine tree.

 

A pine tree is nothing

 

more than a lightning rod.

 

So when you get out into the woods,

 

you need to understand

 

the weather patterns.

 

You need to know what the

 

weather's gonna be doing

 

while you're out there camping.

 

Now, Dave and I get out into the woods

 

and we set up our camp.

 

And we've done it several

 

times now and it's really fun.

 

And I've done several videos

 

of it on Spear Out the Oar,

 

so if you haven't, check it out.

 

But our most recent one, we

 

went to Shepherd State Park

 

right down here in South Mississippi.

 

And that place is beautiful.

 

They have hiking

 

trails all over the place.

 

They got three and four

 

and seven mile hiking trails

 

all over the place down there.

 

And then they got the waterways

 

where you get into the

 

water and you go all the way out

 

to the Pascagoula River.

 

And then, I mean, there's

 

all kinds of stuff down there

 

and the place is beautifully kept.

 

I mean, beautifully.

 

I've been to a lot of state parks

 

that always look like the

 

rundown, out of budget, no money.

 

And the state parks seem

 

like they're always leftover

 

afterthoughts, after all

 

the budget of the year.

 

The state parks are always

 

afterthoughts, but not this one.

 

This one, dude, let

 

me tell you right now,

 

I will be back to that one.

 

And David's the one that recommended it.

 

And we said, yeah,

 

let's go, let's try it.

 

Let's see what we're gonna do.

 

And we went down there and I used a,

 

we used a 10 foot by 10

 

foot by 10 foot pop-up shelter,

 

like a pop-up canopy,

 

but it had side walls.

 

And it was 25, six degrees,

 

something to that effect that night.

 

And I mean, it was pretty cold.

 

And so we had a buddy

 

heater inside the tent.

 

And the only thing I

 

didn't have was a fan

 

to blow the heat rises, you know,

 

but we did not freeze

 

this time and slept on a cot.

 

And it was good times, man.

 

We just sat around the fire.

 

We ate some steaks, burned a couple of

 

steaks on the grill,

 

had some, I make us a little

 

dish at home on the barbecue

 

for my beautiful bride.

 

And it's oysters and shrimp and with,

 

with asparagus and let's see,

 

Parmesan cheese and a

 

little bit of garlic butter

 

and some mushrooms.

 

And man, I covered that

 

thing with Parmesan cheese

 

on the top and I'll put

 

the moistures and everything

 

on there and I'll just grill it down.

 

Son, it was good.

 

It was good.

 

And we use that as a steak topper.

 

Man, it was a triple good.

 

And I really enjoyed that.

 

I really enjoyed that meal.

 

It was a real good meal,

 

but I'm pretty sure Dave is

 

gonna be commenting on that

 

because it was a pretty good meal.

 

And it was 10 out of 10.

 

Dave, highly recommend.

 

(laughs) But anyway, so we get, we get down there,

 

we set up our tent or set up the camp

 

and we just sit around

 

and talk in all night long,

 

and then the next morning

 

we got up, we had breakfast.

 

And then we went kayaking in the canals

 

till we got all the way

 

out to the Pascagoula River.

 

And the tide was out because this river

 

is gonna be tidally controlled.

 

So the low tide, the water's down,

 

high tide, the water's up tight.

 

But it was still good times.

 

And I still learned a lot about that.

 

And some of our other trips,

 

by the time we get

 

down to where we're going,

 

the boat has either took on some water

 

or before I started using a dry bag,

 

I had a bag that was a dry

 

bag, but it punctured a hole.

 

I tried to keep it wet.

 

I mean, keep it dry.

 

It was a, it had my camera

 

and stuff like that in there.

 

And the camera

 

punctured a hole in the side

 

and it was in a compartment and that

 

compartment got wet.

 

And luckily, you know, the

 

camera did not get ruined,

 

but it still would

 

have been a possibility

 

it could have happened.

 

So we get to the point

 

and I had that

 

precious cargo of my camera

 

going down the river.

 

And I mean, we're

 

talking about Sony FX30,

 

you know, a decent price camera.

 

And that's what I was using to film

 

all the Spirit Outdoors videos with.

 

And so on the way down there,

 

I was using the GoPro,

 

not thinking nothing of it

 

because, you know, it's in a dry bag,

 

but when I get there

 

and that's when I realized

 

that a hole was punctured in it.

 

So that gives me a segue

 

into what we're going into next,

 

talking about how

 

Paul in the book of Acts,

 

Paul and he was going back to Jerusalem.

 

He wanted to be there by the day of

 

Pentecost, you know,

 

and this is in chapter 22 and 21

 

and in a 21 beginning of 22.

 

And so he is going back to Jerusalem

 

and he's wanting to actually get there

 

for the day of Pentecost,

 

but what he's carrying

 

with him is all the tithes,

 

all the money, all the

 

offerings back to the church

 

in Jerusalem.

 

And he's showing that

 

the Gentile churches

 

all throughout Asia Minor,

 

Asia Minor or whatever it is,

 

and they would support the

 

church back in Jerusalem.

 

And, you know, this

 

wasn't a symbolic given.

 

It was real resources.

 

It was real money.

 

It was real supplies.

 

It was real stuff, you know,

 

the economic value is close to either

 

$500,000 or $1 million.

 

It was a bunch of

 

silver and stuff like that.

 

You know, a lot of

 

historians have recounted that,

 

but Paul references it

 

clearly in Romans 15.

 

He gives instructions in 1 Corinthians 16

 

and he spends entire

 

chapters in 2 Corinthians

 

talking about the

 

accountability and the stewardship.

 

And when you're on your kayak

 

and you're heading out

 

into the great outdoors,

 

there we are again, Clay,

 

but when you're on your kayak

 

and you're heading out

 

into the great outdoors,

 

you were stewarding, you

 

were taking close care,

 

very good care of all

 

your gear on that boat.

 

And the reason why is

 

because you don't want it

 

to come up disappeared.

 

You don't want it to come

 

up falling over, falling off.

 

You're gonna secure the load.

 

And whenever he was

 

transporting all this money

 

with all this value back to Jerusalem

 

to present it to the church, you know,

 

he made sure it was secure.

 

And that's what we

 

gotta do with everything.

 

We don't just blindly rush

 

in and throw our stuff down

 

and just go out

 

because they say, you know,

 

if you brought an ax,

 

it can fly overboard.

 

And if you brought

 

gear, it can fly overboard,

 

stuff like that.

 

So Paul wasn't just moving

 

goods to prove his toughness.

 

And that's what we don't need to do

 

is to prove our toughness.

 

We can just throw stuff

 

in the back of a kayak,

 

head on down and blah, blah, blah.

 

We need to secure our stuff.

 

We always need to make

 

sure our stuff is secure

 

and we need to be good

 

stewards of the stuff

 

that we do have.

 

So kayak camping

 

teaches us to be good stewards

 

with our gear and how we pack our stuff

 

and how we get, how

 

we look for campsites.

 

And it teaches us how to

 

navigate down the river

 

or down the lake or

 

wherever we're going to go.

 

It teaches us differently

 

than if you were just hiking in

 

or if you were just

 

taking an ATV in or OTV

 

or whatever you wanna call it.

 

And you were taking a four

 

wheel drive or a jeeping in

 

or you're over landing or whatever.

 

So you don't paddle randomly.

 

You choose your route,

 

you balance your load,

 

you protect your

 

vessel and you carry only

 

what serves the mission.

 

And what serves the mission for us

 

when we're going primitive

 

camping is all of our gear,

 

our food and water filters and such.

 

Unless you don't bring water filters,

 

you bring just regular water.

 

So, but that's gonna be

 

heavy even for a kayak,

 

that's heavy.

 

A kayak is not about

 

convenience, it's about purpose.

 

A lot of people use a kayak for fun.

 

Yeah, it's fun, but

 

there's a purpose for it.

 

Are you going fishing?

 

Are you going camping?

 

Are you going paddling?

 

Are you going to spend time

 

with your kids having fun?

 

You know, stuff like that.

 

It is not, it is a tool.

 

Ultimately, when it comes down to it,

 

a kayak is a tool to get

 

you to where you need it to go

 

and to do what you need to do.

 

When you get out into the

 

great outdoors in your kayak

 

or whatever your transportation is

 

or whatever you're gonna do,

 

take the time to think about your routes,

 

think of time, take

 

the time to think about

 

how you're gonna get

 

to point A to point B,

 

what you're gonna do.

 

This was about, the kayak,

 

I really, I had just a couple

 

of things bullet pointed here

 

and the rest of it's

 

just off the top of my head.

 

But I really feel like

 

kayaks are an underutilized item

 

when it comes to camping,

 

primitive camping at least.

 

That it's a lot of fun.

 

If you have a place where you can go down

 

through a national

 

forest or something like that,

 

like we do here in South Mississippi,

 

you get dropped off

 

in the national forest

 

and just kayaked down the

 

river and get picked up.

 

Now, dude, that is fun.

 

I'm not gonna lie, it's fun.

 

And I highly recommend it.

 

And I'm gonna be going here

 

in a couple of months again.

 

And I'm looking forward to

 

actually taking the kayak

 

and going somewhere

 

else and doing something

 

of that nature.

 

But we're gonna see how that works out.

 

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this one, man.

 

Look, head on over to Amazon,

 

pick up a copy of

 

primitive camping in Bushcraft.

 

You can get it at Walmart,

 

any of your major retailers,

 

any major retailer online.

 

They even got them in the bookstores,

 

Books A Million, Barnes

 

and Noble, all that stuff.

 

All these major places

 

that's sitting on the shelf

 

right next to you, Bushcraft 101.

 

And just go ahead and pick you up a copy.

 

Go ahead and get the

 

Kindle version as well.

 

And go ahead and join the Facebook,

 

the group, primitive

 

camping in Bushcraft on Facebook.

 

Go ahead and join and get in there

 

and start having a conversation with us.

 

I'm telling you, I am firing off in the

 

comments all the time.

 

I get engaged with all these folks.

 

If you leave a picture or something,

 

I like it and comment on

 

it, just to let you know.

 

So hey, I hope you enjoyed it.

 

And happy 2026.

 

I'll see you next time.

 

And remember, in all your ways,

 

acknowledge him and he

 

will direct your paths.

 

Thanks for sitting

 

around the fire with me today.

 

If this episode gave you

 

something to think about,

 

if it helped you feel a

 

little bit more prepared

 

or it even stirred your faith a tiny bit,

 

go ahead and share it with someone else

 

who might need it as well.

 

We don't go camping

 

to run away from life.

 

We come out here to

 

slow down and to recharge.

 

So grab another law,

 

throw it on the fire,

 

and remember this.

 

In all your ways, acknowledge him

 

and he will direct your path.

 

I'll see you next time.

 

God bless you.