First off, let me make it clear. I'm not a writer, blogger, journalist, etc. I'm actually just like most of you. I work a full-time career to take care of a family of 5 and to push a positive adventure community like 10-20 which is my other family of now 14k on Instagram. But let's make this clear, I just recently learned about "working to live" instead of "living to work". Sometimes learning the hard way is the only way, but not in this case, sorry! I wish I took the advice the first time I heard it.

But I had a friend Mickey Self recently (more like today) tell me that I since the website is back up and running that I should share my recent adventure to Alaska. At first I was very hesitate as I follow so many bloggers that inspire me through their writing and was like "there is no way I can do that". But then I came to my senses really quick and reminded myself it's not about "ME" it's about sharing with others.

So here I am at my computer wondering where I'm going to start. Hummmmm......

Okay, let's make this a series of blogs since it was 10 days of Alaskan Adventures. So the first thing I will cover is what gear I decided to pack for the trip with the help of Chase Eckert and what equipment I had to opt test before leaving. So where we go....

Gear List:

• 2 - Kokopelli Pack Rafts 
• Ecoxgear Pebble Speaker - Music is a must!!
• Hiking Boots - Salomon Quest 4d gtx
• Rain Gear - Columbia Jacket / Helly Hansen
• Wool Socks - People Socks from Amazon (worked perfect)
• Thermal pants and top
• Beanie & Hats
• Pack-able jackets
• Adventure Clothes for mid-adventures (5.11 Stryke pants, wind breakers, 1020 sweaters, 1020 shirts, etc.)
• Sleeping Bag (20 degree bag as the weather is still mild)
• Therm-a-rest package pillow
• Dry Bag (Sea Line 20L)
• Good to Good Dehydrated Foods
• Hydro Flask wide mouth 32 oz.
• Light My Fire utensil kit 
• ALPS Mountaineering Compression Sack (Large)
• Sierra Designs 30L Backpack
• Oakley Sunglasses
• Blackhawk Dive Bag.
• Headlamp - Foxelli off Amazon. Worked perfect!!
• Note Pad / Pen
• and much more. 

This is what I was able to compress all my gear into a Blackhawk dive bag and ALPS Compression Sack. I'll tell you this. The ALPS Mountaineering Compression Sack worked amazing. 10 days worth of clothes into a sack that compressed down enough for me to bring it on the plane as a carry on. This help reduce the weight of my check in bag (Blackhawk Bag) that had the Kokopelli Pack Rafts and gear keeping the weight under 50 lbs. 

So before packing the Kokopelli Packrafts we had to conduct a operation check to make sure they were "good-to-go". 

Not only was this my first time inflating a packraft, but it was my first time inflating a packraft with a inflation bag where you trap air. Sounds and looks complicated, but it only took me a minute to develop the technique with the help of Kokopelli's Vimeo of course ( http://www.kokopellipackraft.com/team/ ). 

Both of the Kokopelli packrafts pass the operational check. Since this was my first time, I learn a couple of things to look out for as I lost air the first time and that is the zipper area. There was some dirt/pebbles that were caught in there which caused the air to escape a bit. Once I cleaned that off they both held air like a champ. Just know that you can only inflate the packraft so much before having to plug it and blow the rest of the air with your human lung capacity through a one way valve. It's actually not that bad.

I'm not a expert gear reviewer, I'm just a normal Joe that kind of figures things out on my own. It's part of the adventure for me. To learn something new through experience is the adventure. 

But if you're new or not new to packrafting make sure you check out www.kokopellipackraft.com as these guys are class acts. They are making more improvements for next years models which I'm hoping to get my hands on it once it comes out. I see many uses for this on many adventures. 

Other than that, I think I'm tapped out with writing my first of many blogs. I hope you understand. Sometimes you just have to break away and get a cup a coffee so that's exactly what I'm about to do. I apologize for all my grammatical errors. 

 Stay Lost & Adventure On,

@adventure_rx