The following is a list of essential items all creek boaters should have. Since you should always paddle with a group you don’t necessarily need to carry all of these items yourself. Between your group you should carry the appropriate safety gear depending on the difficulty of the run and size of your group.

Everyone should have:

- Creek Boat
If you plan on creeking at all get a creek boat! Creek boats have high volume and increased rocker that allow them to surface fast off big drops, skip over rocks that other boats would piton on, punch big holes and are generally quite forgiving.

- Booties
You never know what you going to run into creeking. You can easily spend more time out of your boat scouting than you do paddling so it’s really important to have a good pair of booties. Look for something with a rubber sole that has solid grip and decent ankle support. (Remember that it’s a bootie not a hiking boot, ankle support won’t be perfect.) Whatever you choose make sure that you fit in your boat with them on because they’ll do you no good if you swim and they’re in the back of your boat.

- Pants
In general pants are a good idea whenever you go creeking. Bushwhacking in shorts is never fun so save yourself some agony and at least wear some long johns under your shorts.

- Spray Skirt
A good creeking skirt is one that you know will not implode. Look for a neoprene skirt with a bungee cord or rubber rand. Again there are many different styles so it’s up to you to ask around and figure out what is best for you. Higher end spry skirts generally have Kevlar in high wear areas, are less likely to implode and will last much longer. Some skirts even come with built in implosion bars. Dry Decks are a bad choice for creeking. They increase the chance of getting stuck in your boat because the skirt and dry top are connected. A good compromise is a double tunnelled spray skirt. They are much dryer than single tunnel skirts and make it easier to get out of your boat if for some reason you were unable to reach your pull tab.

- Elbow Pads
Since you’ll be creeking in shallow, narrow rivers more often than not it’s accepted that once in a while your going to run into rocks. Elbow pads can save you a lot of pain and time off the water and don’t really restrict your movement. 

- Dry Top
If you plan on doing any paddling in cold water or weather you’ll want to buy a dry top. Although there is no true dry top these baby’s are the best way to stay warm on a cool day. Dry tops are made out of tough water proof material that is fully seam sealed and have latex gaskets at the neck and wrists. Most dry tops are double tunnelled to accommodate a spray skirt and have some sort of closure at the waist. You can also buy dry tops with neoprene gaskets instead of latex. This is less irritating but be aware that it is not as dry.  

- Rescue Vest (PFD)
A good rescue vest can save your life. Most rescue vests come equipped with numerous anchor points, a quick release belt, Knife tab and pocket. The better one’s have built in body armour and generally have more flotation than your average PFD. Make sure that you try hopping in the water with your Vest on every once in a while to ensure that is still has sufficient buoyancy, they do deteriorate over time.

- Helmet
Don’t cheap out on this one! How much is your head worth to you? Helmets come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors, and materials. Ask around to see what works well for other people but in general the $20 skate board helmet is a bad choice. Helmets with beaks and ear flaps are a great choice as they protect your face and ears better than a regular helmet.

- Paddle
When choosing a paddle for creeking there are a few things you should be thinking about. Your paddle is your life line, it’s what keeps you away from trouble on the river and often there is lots of trouble on creeks. You should look for a stronger carbon paddle that’s slightly longer than what you’d use for play boating. Paddle failure can be a nightmare on a difficult drop so try to minimise it by purchasing a paddle you know is going to be hard to break. Extra length will give your strokes a bit more power which comes in handy in most scenarios. Also some say that you should use a paddle with offset as opposed to a 0 degree paddle. The argument is that an offset paddle is more likely to ricochet out of a horizontal pin in narrow gorges. 

- Whistle
Whistles are the best way to communicate with your group if you can’t see each other. Make sure you have a whistle without a ball, that won’t rust, and will work if it’s been in the water. Go over your signals with your group so your not causing noise pollution.

- Throw Bag
You should take a throw bag with you whenever you go paddling where ever you go paddling but very few paddlers can honestly say that they do this. Everyone in your group should carry a throw bag and get in the habit of taking it with them whenever they get out to scout. Make sure you know how to use your throw bag.

- Knife
A river knife can be handy in a number of different situations. The most important would be if you or a friend were to get caught in a rope or in your boat and needed to be cut free. Keep you knife sharp, this means it shouldn’t become the designated cheese cutter on your local run!
Your group should always carry:

- Break Down Paddle
If you’ve ever broken a paddle in a place that was difficult to hike out of and had a break down you’ll agree that these babies are one of the most convenient pieces of gear around. The number of break down paddles your group carries depends on the difficulty and length of the run your doing. Obviously if you plan on doing a multi day trip that’s mostly low volume class five you should bring a few break down paddles.

- Pin Kit
When brute force isn’t enough it’s time for your pin kit. Your pin kit should include at least: two carabineers, 10 feet of webbing, two pulleys (the kind that you can attach in the middle of a rope.), a pre-tied prussic, and 40 feet of rope.  It’s great to have all of this stuff but be sure to take a swift water rescue course so you know how to use it.

- Lighter/Water proof matches
If you happen to misjudge your time and get stuck out over night or someone in your group gets hurt and can’t go on a lighter and/or waterproof matches will come in handy to start a fire.
- First aid kit
Better to be safe than sorry, if you bring it chances are you won’t need it. Take a First Aid course so you can use it effetely.