How to Pack a Paddleboard for a Multi-Day Camping Trip

A loaded paddleboard has almost none of the room a backpack or a kayak hull gives you, which means every decision about what goes on the deck actually matters. My best friend Michael Whalen and I each paddled our own fully loaded board across five days and seventy-two miles circumnavigating Lake Tahoe, and how we packed those boards shaped everything from our daily mileage to how quickly we could get moving each morning.

Why Board Packing Is Different From Backpacking

A backpack distributes weight across your body and lets you carry a tall, dense load. A paddleboard deck is flat, exposed to water and wind, and weight placement changes how the board tracks and balances in the water. Everything we carried had to be secured against both splashing and sudden swell, not just tucked away for convenience. That constraint forced real discipline about what actually earned a spot on the board.

Weight Distribution and Board Balance

We learned quickly that where gear sits matters as much as how much gear we carried. Weight too far forward made the nose dig into chop. Weight too far back made the board harder to control in wind. We ended up centering the heaviest items, like water and camp fuel, close to our feet, with lighter gear like sleeping bags and clothing secured toward the front and back. Testing your own loaded setup before launch, not on the morning you depart, is the only way to know how your specific board handles real weight.

Dry Bags and Securing Everything to the Deck

We came up short on dry bag capacity the night before departure, which forced some last-minute improvising that could have been avoided with better planning. Every piece of gear needs to be both waterproof and secured to the deck in a way that survives getting knocked around by chop. We used deck straps and bungee systems to lash dry bags down at multiple points, since a single strap point isn't enough once you're paddling through anything rougher than flat water.

What Goes Where: Our Actual Layout

Camping gear, sleeping bag, and a compact tent or bivy setup sat in one large dry bag toward the back of the board. Food, camp fuel, and cooking gear sat in a separate bag near the center. Camera gear, given how important documenting the trip was to me personally and professionally, got its own dedicated waterproof case mounted where I could access it quickly without unpacking the whole board. Clothing and personal items filled in the remaining space toward the front.

What We Underestimated

We underestimated how much extra capacity we'd want for consumables like sunscreen and water once we were actually living with the setup day to day. We restocked both partway through the trip rather than the amount we'd originally planned for. If you're packing your own board, build in more room for consumables than your first estimate suggests, particularly anything tied to sun exposure across multiple consecutive days on open water.

Keeping the Load Manageable Day to Day

Repacking a loaded board every morning at camp adds real time to your day if your system isn't efficient. We kept our layout consistent from day to day rather than reorganizing each morning, which meant packing became faster and more automatic as the trip went on. Consistency in your packing system matters more over five days than having the most optimized layout on paper.

What I'd Change Next Time

I'd test the full loaded setup, board, dry bags, camera mounts, and power system together, at least a few days before departure rather than the night before. The specific problem we ran into with a power bank having no clean mounting point on one board is exactly the kind of issue that only shows up once you try to actually use the setup as intended, not when you're just looking at a gear list.

How Packing Changed From Day One to Day Five

Our system got noticeably faster as the trip went on, not because we redesigned it, but because repetition made the process automatic. By day four, breaking camp and reloading both boards took a fraction of the time it had on day one, mostly because we'd stopped second-guessing where each item went and settled into a routine neither of us had to think through anymore. If you're planning your own multi-day trip, expect the first morning to take longer than every morning after it, and don't judge your system's efficiency based on day one alone.

What Camera Gear Specifically Requires

Documenting a trip like this adds a layer of complexity beyond standard camping gear. My camera setup needed protection from both direct splashing and the general moisture that builds up around a paddleboard even in calm conditions. I used a dedicated waterproof case mounted in a spot I could reach without unpacking the rest of the board, since the moments worth photographing rarely wait for you to dig through several dry bags first. If you're planning to document your own trip seriously, budget real thought for camera access, not just camera protection. A perfectly waterproofed case that takes five minutes to open will cost you the shot every time. The best camera setup for a multi-day water trip is the one you'll actually use in the moment, not the one that scores highest on paper for water resistance alone.

What We'd Tell a First-Timer About Board Selection

Not every paddleboard is well suited to a loaded, multi-day trip. Boards designed primarily for flatwater recreation or yoga often lack the stability and deck space needed to carry real camping gear across open water for several days. If you're planning your first multi-day trip and don't already own a board suited for it, look for something with a wider, more stable platform and enough attachment points on the deck to secure multiple dry bags at different locations. A board that feels plenty stable empty can feel very different once you've added forty or fifty pounds of gear to it, so borrow or rent a similar loaded setup for a short test paddle if you can, rather than trusting specs alone. That single test session before committing to a multi-day trip can save you from discovering a stability problem for the first time in open water, far from any easy way to turn back.

Before You Close This Tab

Have you tested your own loaded board setup under real conditions before committing to a multi-day trip?

How would you distribute weight differently knowing that board balance changes with load placement?

What consumables are you most likely to underestimate on a multi-day water trip?

Would your current packing system hold up to five straight mornings of breaking camp and reloading?

Dalton Johnson is a photographer, filmmaker, and brand storyteller based in South Lake Tahoe, California. Over the past decade he has worked with brands including Patagonia, GoPro, Arc'teryx, Four Seasons, Nike, Rivian, and Ford Bronco across all seven continents. He is the creator of the Follow The Journey distribution framework, which has produced over one million organic views per 30-day cycle without paid media. His work includes two published books, an award-winning documentary that aired on PBS, and more than fifty commercial spots directed. He runs Stories by Dalton on Substack, read by more than 34,000 subscribers.