This article on how to pack your wanigan and what to put in it was originally published in Canoeroots and Family Camping magazine.
While the traditional wanigan—that bulky wooden box, custom-built to fit snugly within a canoe’s contours—has largely been replaced by plastic tubs or barrels, its purpose has remained true: to cram as much kitchen stuff as possible. But one portager’s perfect stash is another’s albatross. Wanigans reveal trippers’ traits, classifying them as one of three wanigan personalities: extremist, minimalist or middle-malist. And there’s wisdom—and warning—to be dished from each camp.
“Most paddlers want to eat like they do at home,” says Andrew Rafton, an extreme tripper and waniganer who won’t compromise on meals. It’s why he invested in a food dehydrator and vacuum bag sealer, which allow him to fill his wanigan with all the fixings for everything from shepherd’s pie to pizza to cobbler. He won’t scrimp on his eco-friendly clean-up, either; he makes room for three—yes, three—folding sinks.
“That’s not gonna happen on any trip I take,” says Jason Picard. “Not even a luxury one.” A self-proclaimed minimalist tripper, Picard uses his cook pots as sinks, eschewing anything that only has one use.
In Eugene Mohareb’s barrel-cum-wanigan you’ll find plenty of lightweight just-add-water meals. Whereas Rafton needs his full assortment of spices, minimalist Mohareb is happy with his tiny vial of hot sauce. Picard does one better by loading up on individual packets of condiments when he’s at a deli counter.
Your wanigan’s contents may also depend on your camping skills. Take Barb Russell, who describes herself as a middle-malist and worked as a guide and chief cook for a tripping company. “A percolator takes up too much room in my wanigan,” she says, before describing how to make cowboy coffee by literally swinging a pot of hot water above your head. “So my kit always includes a billycan.”
The Minimalist
The Extremist
This article originally appeared in Canoeroots & Family Camping, Early Summer 2011. Download our freeiPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.
