Oregon River Trip - Hood River - What to Bring And Wear

What Do I Need to Bring and Wear?

For all of the full-day and half-day trips offered by Wet Planet Rafting, we provide all of the necessary river clothing:

1. Wetsuit
2. Booties for your feet
3. Life Jacket
4. Helmet
5. Paddle jacket when the weather is cooler
6. Fleece pullover when the weather is cold

You don’t have to worry about the weather; we’ll provide the gear you need to stay warm. All that you need to provide is a bathing suit or shorts to wear underneath the wetsuit. In the spring or fall, the weather can be cool or rainy. If you are worried about staying warm, feel free to bring a layer of synthetic underwear to wear underneath your wetsuit. Don’t plan on wearing cotton shirts under a wetsuit. When cotton gets wet, it does not dry fast.

The following items are optional but can also be useful on our trips:

- Hat (if you can fit it under the helmet)
- Inexpensive pair of sunglasses with some sort of strap to keep them on your head
- Water bottle
- Waterproof camera (we do shoot pictures for you on our trips)
- Waterproof sunscreen

A great rule of thumb to remember when planning for your river trip is that things that don’t float tend to sink. No one ever wants to say, "Honey, I lost the engagement ring on my rafting trip." If something has value to you and you don’t want to lose it, don’t bring it on the trip. Items like rings, watches, digital cameras, and expensive sunglasses tend to get lost or damaged on whitewater trips. So, leave the digital camera and expensive Oakley shades at home, and bring along a disposable camera and some $10 gas station sunglasses.

If you are participating in one of our combination trips or are planning to camp at the Wet Planet Headquarters before your trip, then you will want to bring overnight camping gear. Most of our combination trips occur in the spring, so be prepared for cool, rainy weather when camping in between river days. That doesn't mean it will rain; it is just better to be prepared. Any time that you are preparing for weather in the outdoors, stay away from cotton clothing. As one of our guides always says, "Cotton is rotten." Try to find synthetic layers (polypropylene, capilene) or wool that will keep you warm even if you are wet.

The following are suggestions for items to bring when camping in between trips (if the weather is nice or you are joining us in the summer, you may choose to leave some of these items at home):

- Comfortable shoes or boots for wearing around camp
- Wool hat
- Gloves
- Wool socks
- A layer of long underwear bottoms and tops
- One pair of pants
- A dry pair of shorts for off the river
- A dry t-shirt for off the river
- A fleece jacket or other layers to keep you warm in the evenings
- Rain jacket or poncho
- Flashlight
- Toiletries
- Biodegradable soap
- Sleeping bag and pad
- Tent or tarp (we provide these on some trips)
- A sturdy bag or backpack for packing your belongings